ADHD in dogs?

Hello vets! Vets ONLY please! My pup's name is Jazzy. She is a Shar Pei/American Bulldog mix that turned 3 in Dec of 2022. She weighs approximately 50 lbs. Jazzy was purchased at what I was told was 8 weeks old. She was weaned and eating kibble. When she was taken to the vet for her next deworming, she was estimated at 6.5 weeks old. So, she was weaned too early and taken from her mother and litter too early. On top of this, she was the runt. She has ALWAYS been extremely hyperactive to the point she cannot focus properly because of this, and physically shakes at times. She has an extremely active lifestyle because of her energy levels, and she could go for HOURS, and still not crash. She cannot seem to calm herself down. She is NOT destructive, just seemingly stuck in this state of incredibly high energy. I trialed her once recently to try and guage her threshold for how long it would take her to be completely calm, and gave up after waiting over THREE hours with no change. I have tried CBD and calming chews for her, which have done nothing for her. I have tried to wait things out, as some vets (we have a few because I have multiple dogs) have told us she may calm down with age, but as I already stated, she is THREE now and there has been no change. Her behavior strongly reminds me of ADHD. I am not a fan of medication unless absolutely necessary, but I KNOW she is not happy being in that constant state of high energy, and I am willing to try medication at this point if it will help her. Can dogs have ADHD? If so, how is this diagnosed and is there medication that can help? If there is, do I just need to bring this up to my vet?

Hello!  I've done lots of personal research about ADHD and some interesting things are known about it;  first, that the numbers of ADHD people are not rising or falling, but appear to be stable.  The recent spike in diagnoses is very much linked to increased publicity and recognition given to the condition;  previously school kids went undiagnosed and were written off as not trying hard enough or not being accademic or simply being disruprive or disorganised (thankyou to ADHD Uk for this information).  This stability within cases rarely happens with disease incidence in a population and it has been suggested that the genetic predisposition towards the behavour patters that characterise ADHD is arguably not a disease, but simply genetic variation,  within the normal range of the human condition.  In some situations it can even be a huge advantage, but in our society - in the UK school system, for example where a teacher has 30 kids to think about, or where people have to fit in to a timetabled liestyle and meet deadlines - it can prove a very difficult end of life's to be at.  To help these children to focus and to cope in modern society, many are given medication.

The point is, that there is no test for ADHD;  no amount of blood sampling will diagnose it.  Rather, ADHD is diagnosed by asking parents 'does your child do this?  Do they do this?'   There is no disease, just some characteristics that can occur tother - and sometimes, because the behaviours can be quite extreme and prohibit normal function in society, medication can be prescribed.

CORRECTION: from first post, missing word - end of life's SPECTRUM to be at

So.... to come back to your question;  can dogs have ADHD?  ADHD is not a medically recognized syndrome of animals.  To my understanding, it is a bunch of characteristics that occur together in some people, with some genetic basis (likely multiple normal genes coming together rather than a genetic 'mistake' or anything like that) and is likely more applicable to people who need to stick to time limits, deadlines, social conventions e.g. sitting at a desk for long periods of time or thinking about one topic of someone else's choice for long periods of time,  that are not really applicable to animals.     Like prehistoric people, dogs are not often judged on their ability to do these things.

There are actually some diseases that can cause surprising levels of restlessness, for example hyperthyroidism (rare), certain neurological conditions and also, just being bred for intelligence and activity e.g. some border collies.  it is therefore worth chatting to your vet about.....

...however, most often, people who ask this question simply have an extremely active dog.  Dogs evolved for an outdoor life, roaming over large distances and communicating with their pack.  They did not evolve to live in houses or socialise with people.  So, although they are very good at these things, those with a more active social predisposition can become frustrated and need more or different stimulation.  Your vet should be able to go through your dogs' individual circumstances and help you to figure out where there is anything that you can do differently to help them.   I hope that something here helps.

Someone recently used the term "canine ADHD" to describe a  behavioural disposition called hyperkinesis;  if it helps to call a very physically active dog a name, then perhaps this is a better one to use in order to avoid confusion.  This, however, is a behavioural condition that can usually be addressed by addressing environmental issues and lifestyle, the earlier the better.