Happy new year ! owners and their pets. Christmas and New year are busy times of the year, preparing for family visits or get together's. This is good and fun for some owners, but stressful for others if pets are not used to having a busy household or visitors over. Christmas that recently past, may have been a eye opener for some new owners. Seeing their pet in a different light, showing bad behaviors. Pets can get confused or anxious when their usual routine changes, if their not used to house parties or having lots of visitors it can be a worrying time. Cats are not great with change around their home. When guests come over they may run and hide if scared. If the owner tries to force them out from hiding or others try reaching out to touch the cat they may get scratched or bitten trying. Cat's don't want to fight, but had no choice, due to feeling scared and trying to protect themselves. If your cat shows signs of stress while guests are coming over. Prepare a spare room for your pet. You can make a safety den out of plush blankets between furniture. Putting some cat shelf's in the home can help too, some feel secure in high places out of reach from others. Feliway diffuser(www.feliway.com) can be purchased at your local pet store or vets. It can help some cats, but this depends how high the level of arousal is. Don't force cats to socialize, they will find this more stressful. For more help and advice please contact me on my website or find a local behaviorist near you.
For all the dog owners Dogs are social animals but this depends on whether or not they have had early socialization. The critical period starts around 3 weeks of age and ends around 12 weeks of age.(Scott and Fuller, 1965). During this period puppies won't fear meeting new people, animals, objects, new sounds and going to strange places. Its critical your puppy is exposed to as much as possible before they reach 3 to 4 months, as this is when new stimuli will be harder to introduce. If the dog has little socialization they are more likely to become anxious or fearful of new things. So changes to routines can become more stressful for your dog, especially if they are not used to you having guests over. So its important to help your dog feel more comfortable at these busy times off the year. Practice with your friends or family with role play of visitors. Before guests arrive the dog needs to be fully exercised and had plenty of play opportunities. Have a quiet place of the house to put your dog in or section an area off with a dog pen or a stair gate. Make sure his area is enriched with feeding toys or chew toys, make sure to have a bowl of water too. You can make a den for them using towels and blankets with furniture. They can use this to retreat too if they feel anxious or scared. Using Adaptil, (www.adaptil.com) can help some dogs anxiety, but this depends on the level of arousal. This can be purchased at your local pet store or vets. When the visitors arrive some dogs get so excited that they might urinate, jump up, nip at clothing or hands, scratching and pushing over elderly or young children. This is a lot to consider especially if somebody gets hurt! It's illegal to have a dog dangerously out of control especially in a public place! Dogs that have often bitten strangers are likely to repeat this behavior, owners will need to muzzle train their dog. If you have a dog that is anxious or fearful, whom has previously bitten. Its the owner's decision to make sure this never occurs, again, by keeping the dog secure at all times with a muzzle and lead, as a prevention. But the owner will need to gradually acclimatize the dog to wearing the muzzle(BSAVA, CH17, P198-199, 2012). Owners can face court fines, imprisonment or even worse their dog could be euthanized under the dangerous dogs act 1991, from (legislation.gov.uk). Its really important owners take this seriously as, anyone who is fearful of or has experienced a dog that is dangerously out of control have a right to report the dog in question. This is why its so important to attend puppy courses or even hire a trainer to learn how to prevent your dog from losing control in the first place. As they always say prevention is better than cure. Meaning you can't cure aggression but can prevent it from happening in the future. Some owners believe their is aggressive because it's dominant. This really isn't the case, dogs don't want to be put in this position, they usually show aggressive behavior if they are hurt, scared or anxious. Dogs will show minor warning signs before they attack using facial expressions and body language, but this may go unnoticed by the owner. When the dog displays aggression some owners feel they need to vocally and physically punish their dog. But that's the worst way, your dog will be unable to trust you and its anxiety and fear will be worse, the dog will not learn from punishing techniques. Never use choke, electric, or prong collars they also inflict pain, making the dog more aggressive as he will feel more scared and anxious, then escalating aggressive behavior more. Signs of a dog with anxiety are lip licking, lips drawn back, yawning, sniffing the ground, itching, vocalization, shifting eyes, furrowed brow, not accepting treats, taking a treat in a harsher manner, staring at a stimulus and not listening to the owners commands. The hostile body language shows stiffening, raised lips, staring at the stimulus, Piloerection(hairs stick up), snarling, growling, barking, snapping or biting.(BSAVA, ch18, p219, 2012). If you see the following signs in your dogs behavior its wise to get some help from your local behaviorist, or if your near the North Somerset area, feel free to contact me and I can help. To practice training your dog for a new years resolution and preparing them for the next busy even't. So don't worry about it, prepare yourself for it and enjoy it!
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AuthorAngel Morgan a pet behaviorist ArchivesCategories |