Katherine Ayres, PhD The work-to-eat movement has grown steadily in zoos and is really starting to take hold for companion animal owners as well. For those who are not familiar with work-to-eat, the theory behind it is that cats and dogs evolved as predators and predator/scavengers respectively and should not eat food in a bowl… [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]
What Do I Do Now? Conflict Behavior in Cats and Dogs
Jim Ha, PhD, CAAB Some time ago, I wrote an article titled Pass It On, Redirected Aggression in Cats and Dogs. In that article, I wrote: “Redirection of a behavior is one of three forms of conflict behavior seen in animals, and humans. The other two forms of conflict behavior are “approach-withdraw” and “displacement behavior,”… [Read More]
Pass It Along: Redirected aggression in cats and dogs
Dr. Jim Ha, CAAB (Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist) Most pet owners are familiar with the situation: your dog or cat is upset about something, perhaps has been challenged or even attacked. But rather than an understandable response in which the animal lashes out at the challenger, or turns and runs, it will turn and attack… [Read More]
Welcome to Behind the Behavior
Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT Behind the Behavior: Information on ethology, animal behavior, and learning theory Companion Animal Solutions is dedicated to helping owners experience the enjoyment they envisioned when they first adopted their best friend, be it dog, cat, or bird. We help owners modify their pet’s behavior using ethology, classical conditioning, and operant conditioning…. [Read More]