• southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    19 hours ago

    Wellllll, kinda.

    There’s a no, in that retarded has the strictest meaning of being an inborn developmental barrier rather than an acquired one, but it has had so many usages over time that I don’t think that more limited usage matters.

    So, it’s a qualified yes.

    Animals other than humans can definitely suffer chronic tbi (traumatic brain injury) effects, with symptoms ranging from mild to severe enough it would cruel to not euthanize.

    Dogs in particular can develop problems that would match colloquial usage of retarded for sure. I’ve personally seen dogs that took bad hits from cars have worse effects, but having memory losses, apparent cognitive loss, and definitely coordination loss are pretty common with even milder head trauma in dogs and other animals.

    However, that’s not to say it always has to be from major trauma. You can have issues with repeated minor injury, in humans and animals.

    It’s unlikely the level of play you’ve described would be a problem though. Just running into things on zoomies isn’t likely to cause the kind of bouncing around of the brain it takes to cause neurological deficit. It could, though I suspect it would take longer than most dogs live

  • Apepollo11@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    1 day ago

    You’re asking if head trauma can cause brain damage in animals?

    Dogs do have thicker skulls than humans, wrapped in more muscle than humans. Both of these make the skull better at absorbing shocks, so much less force should transfer through to the brain.

    As long as your dog isn’t regularly running headfirst straight into the corners of tables, I wouldn’t worry too much.

    • Mothra@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      17 hours ago

      Thank the gods you commented this, I had to read this far to understand bc meant border collie. The post title is so confusing and the body doesn’t explain much

    • Don_Dickle@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      Oh man I well we got up to 5 miles a days. And he gets a treat when we come back if he was a good boy. But he will run around slide on some of the hardwood floors nail his head on the coffee table or just going around the house running he’ll hit his head into a wall. and no matter snow ice sleet hell probably a tornado If I am not up by 4am sharp to take him out he will bang his head against the door. When he was younger before we would let him outside we taught him what a leash was so now when I hear the knocking he has the leash in his mouth. And looks at me Just like stupid human you know what to do.

  • DoubleDongle@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    1 day ago

    I’ve heard of it causing dementia regularly in blue-footed boobies because of their habit of high-speed diving to hunt. Every animal I’ve heard of that uses its head to bash things has a lot of special padding in the skull too. I think it’s pretty safe to assume animals can be concussed abd suffer similar forms of brain damage to a human.

  • Squirrelsdrivemenuts@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 day ago

    I heard of a dog in our local dog park who ran into a stone bench so hard he broke his skull and died, so please try to teach your dog not to do that. If you reward his head hitting behavior by taking him for a walk he will keep doing it. Try to teach him something else instead, easiest is that he has to stop hitting his head, give you a paw and only then do you take the leash. Eventually (hopefully) he will paw at you instead if running into stuff when he wants to go out.