Greta Kaplan, CPDT, CDBC Most animal training is a mechanical skill. We can take some basic scientific knowledge about learning, about operant and classical conditioning, as well as about the relevant instinctive behaviors and motor patterns of the species we are working with, and we can accomplish most of our training goals with good timing,… [Read More]
Dog Training & Behavior
When Behavior Modification Isn’t the Answer
Greta Kaplan, CPDT, CDBC When we talk to clients about what we’ll do at our initial consultation, we explain that we’ll take some history about the situation, discuss management that needs to be put in place to ease tensions and help the training work better, and then talk about and actually start training your dog… [Read More]
Cat Litter Box Problem Solved: Texture Aversion
Katherine Ayres, PhD Eva came to us at 3 months after being a “stray at large” in Lynnwood, WA. She was sweet, extremely social, fun to play with and of course had a healthy obsession of watching birds out the window making that amusing chatter noise. Her litter box habits for the most part were… [Read More]
Cat behavior and misbehavior
Jim Ha, PhD, CAAB Cats are a mystery to many of their owners, perhaps more so than dogs. Dogs are social, like we primates, and so we can often understand their need for attention, the reward of social contact and praise, and even, at a deeper evolutionary level, perhaps a lot of their signals and… [Read More]
Cat Behavior & Training
Indoor Cat? Outdoor Cat? Why Choose?
Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KA, Katherine Ayres, PhD We know that outdoor cats live shorter lives subject to disease and injury, yet many cat owners believe that their cats cannot be happy unless they go outside. I think one of the reasons people believe this is that many cats suffer from environmentally deprived environments without their… [Read More]
Adopting a New Cat
Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KA National Adopt a Cat Month means that many of us will either be introducing a new cat to our home or at least contemplating whether adopting a cat is a good idea. Cats are very different from dogs in that regardless of whether you’ve socialized your cat well as a kitten… [Read More]
Urine Trouble
Louisa Beal, DVM Wally was a nine-year-old male Persian. His owner was dismayed because he had recently begun urinating in the house. He was destroying her carpeting. Wally had not only missed the litter box several times, but had urinated on the owner’s bedspread, her clean clothes in the laundry basket and the rug in… [Read More]
Tips For Getting Your Cat To The Veterinarian
Miles Bensky, BA, CTC When I read the September edition of the Animal Behavior Associates newsletter, I found a statistic that was quite alarming. It was estimated that 36% of the 81 million cats in the United States did not see a vet in 2006. Why are so many cats not receiving regular healthcare? Regular… [Read More]
Pet Health
Rehabilitation Therapy for Dogs
Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KA Many of the medical treatments that have been available to human patients are more commonly becoming available for our pets. In fact, some research being done at veterinary schools like Purdue and research centers in veterinary oncology are furthering human research and treatments. When I got curious about water therapy and… [Read More]
Do You Dread Going to the Veterinarian?
Christine Hibbard, CPDT-KA and Anna Baxter, LVT Do you dread trips to the veterinarian with your dog or cat? Do you wonder if the veterinarians and vet techs dread your visit as much as you do? The veterinary staff needs to be able to perform thorough examinations, provide treatments and perform procedures. How can they… [Read More]
Western Veterinary Conference 2011
Guest Blogger: Anna Baxter, BA, LVT Recently I attended the Western Veterinary Conference, one of the largest gatherings of veterinary practitioners in the world, for some continuing education. My focus was Behavior, where I went to all 20 hours of scientific programming by some of the best in the industry. Some of the speakers (DVMs)… [Read More]
Don’t Touch Me There!
Louisa Beal, DVM Mario, a West Highland White Terrier had snapped at a two year old girl. If Mario couldn’t be trusted around children, his owners would have to get rid of him. The knee jerk response to this would be to try to modify the behavior of the dog. Mario’s behavior is definitely unacceptable. … [Read More]