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 Pets behaving badly are a family menace and the solutions are often frustratingly evasive. You need to know how to set humane and effective limits for wrongful behaviours and the ten hints below will show how to make your pet a better buddy.
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1. Stop your pet teaching itself bad behaviours
The more your pet rehearses an annoying behaviour, the more likely your pet will perform it again. So, try to avoid all situations that will create the unwanted behaviour to prevent the wrongful self-teaching of badness.
Try taking the problem away from your pet, or, your pet away from the problem.
For instance, if your dog barks continually at the front fence, try a midway fence that keeps the dog in the back yard.
If your cat scratches your child when playing, remove the cat from your child by giving your child a feather on a string as a cat toy. The cat's 'spikiness' is directed to the feather not fingers.
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2. Don't try to cure aggression by being aggressive
Dogs which are aggressive are over-aroused. The last thing they want is to be pushed more out of control by being yelled at or hit.
If your dog is aggressive, act like a statue. Let the aggression evaporate and allow the dog to calm down. It won't take long. When it is calm, try a simple command like 'SIT'. Reward the resulting calm behaviour with a 'GOOD DOG' voice or even a food treat.
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3. A dog that barks when you are at work is often bored out of its big brain
Your bored backyard dog will benefit greatly if you provide it with a rich lifestyle while you are away at work.
Try giving Pooch a Kong toy or a roller treat ball stuffed with food or even a frozen bone before you leave. Just be sure any food given is part of its overall diet so you don't create a tubby puppy.
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4. A dog that barks when you are away and also trembles, pants, looks anxious and is destructive may have a serious anxiety disorder
Be careful. Your dog has gone beyond boredom and its anxiety is taking over. Treatment relies on giving your dog a rich 'home alone' lifestyle, making 'alone time' part of every day and being cunning in the way you leave the dog when you have to go out. Soft medication is often needed to stop the anxiety merry-go-round so your dog can learn to be calm.
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5. If your pet has an annoying behaviour, try to minimise punishment
Punishment is overused and often pushes animals further out of control. Instead, work on a system that creates the behaviour you want and then reward this behaviour so your pet can see more value in behaving than misbehaving. There are ways and means to achieve this! The use of electric shock collars is not encouraged as they do little to calm a pet.
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6. Dogs, cats and birds that are fearful or timid have great difficulty learning when they are showing their fearful behaviours
Solving fear-based behaviours can be difficult. Don't try to create the fear and then try to make your pet cope with it. It will learn very little because it is pushed into a defensive or flight mode, not a learning mode.
Create a situation where your pet will be calm and happy and then slowly introduce the stimulus that caused the fear while still maintaining your pet's happiness.
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7. If your cat stops using its litter tray, before worrying about the behaviour, be sure it is not suffering from a medical disorder
Many cats that break their litter tray habits have a lower urinary tract infection causing the behaviour. Visit your vet for testing and if all is well, then seek a behaviour solution. Clean trays are the first step.
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8. If your dog is annoying visitors, get it away from visitors before they arrive
You will find it too difficult to manage a rambunctious pet and to greet your visitors simultaneously. Place your dog in a comfortable room (e.g. the laundry) with a Kong or bone before the visitors arrive.
Then introduce your pet to the visitors later when you, the visitors and your pesky pooch are ready to deal with the outcomes.
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9. If you have a new puppy or kitten, be sure to take it to a Puppy Preschool or Kitty Kindy
At a well-run pet preschool your pet can learn to get on with other pets and with people other than you. The convenor of the preschool will also teach you all about caring for your pet, and about training.
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10. If your cat attacks you, it may be playing
Play behaviour and aggression are very close with cats - and both make humans bleed if they are on the receiving end! Try giving the cat things to play with that don't bleed!! A 'fishing rod' made from a bamboo garden stake, a piece of string and a cork with two feathers stuck to it will cater for most of a cat's need to have rambunctious play and such a device doesn't train the cat that human flesh is a play thing.
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Dr Cam Day BVSc BSc MACVSc is a veterinary surgeon, an animal behaviour consultant and media presenter. In 1995 he qualified as a Member of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in the discipline of Animal Behaviour and is one of only 15 veterinarians with this qualification in Australia. He works full time in animal behaviour management in Queensland, consulting with dog, cat and bird owners on a daily basis as well as appearing on air as Brisbane’s radio Pet Vet, and writing for various magazines.
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