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WHAT IS NORMAL? |
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People who keep dogs and
cats for pets are all too often unaware of what is normal behavior for their
pet and what may be abnormal. Millions
of dogs and cats are turned into shelters (in the U.S.) for behavior “problems”
when the behaviors are actually quite normal for the animal. Chewing, digging, barking,
jumping, and yes, biting, are all normal canine behaviors. Some breeds of dogs are far more “normal”
than others when it comes to certain behaviors. Shelties are notorious barkers. Terriers WILL dig. Herding breeds are almost assured to chase
(read herd, please!) cars, bicycles, lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners and the
kids romping in the field. All puppies
will be mouthy to some extent. Yet,
people buy breeds with very specific genetic programs and are totally
surprised when the behaviors surface. Up North more and more
effort goes into addressing behavior issues with the intent of improving the
lives of the dogs and those people who live with them. There is encouragement for veterinarians to
address behavior issues by first learning about what is normal and then
having plans on how to help their clients.
While it is “normal” for pups to chew and for dogs to bite it is not
acceptable for them to chew our shoes nor bite US! It is also a strong
possibility that a cat will stop using its litter box for various reasons and
none of them include punishing the person because she was inattentive, added
a roommate, moved to a new location.
Cat urine found in an undesirable location rarely has the person
asking himself or herself just how to resolve the
problem. Rather, people get into
punishment, and all too often, off goes the no longer favored companion to
the “shelter”. It is a rare vet indeed
with any real knowledge of why dogs and cats do the things they do. This is not part of the basic program of
studies! Often, however, vets will
prescribe medications when that is far from the answer to the problem. At best maybe it proves to be a band-aid
for a broken leg. And, in all fairness
to our vets, they often have little enough time to properly address the
physical health issues they see hour after hour. To add yet another aspect to their often
stressful lives may not be feasible. So, what is the answer to
the people and their pets that need help? There are various
organizations that are working very hard to provide the training and
education necessary to help address behavior problems and come up with
resolutions. For those of you with
computers I recommend investigating Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. This is the site where you can be in
contact with Dr. Suzanne Hetts, a certified animal
behavior behaviorist. Dr. Hetts writes a monthly
column for DogWatch, the Newsletter for Cornell
University College of Veterinary Medicine each month. Go
to: info@AnimalBehaviorAssociates.com
to get started. The conferences offered by
the Association of Pet Dog Trainers are open to one and all and I cannot
recommend them highly enough. The
options for seminars can be as many as 4 per time session (for 5 days!) and
cover topics such as nutrition, clicker training, agility training, and, of
course, behaviorism. The big point is: learn about normal behavior! Learn how to deal with your pet’s issues in
a positive way rather than
punishing. It is so unfair to punish
anyone or any pet for something when no education has taken place and most
certainly for “normal” behavior albeit unacceptable for you and your
lifestyle. Where there are problems
there are solutions. B |