#veterinary behavior

Cats were boxed down when I was 16 and started as a kennel technician.

They were boxed down when I was in veterinary school.

And they are still being boxed down in practices that are committed to a WAY higher standard of medicine than this. It has been accepted for so long we don’t think about it. But there are better options and no reason to do this anymore.

https://fearfreepets.com/boxing-down-the-wrong-choice-for-animals-and-people/

One of my absolute favorite clients is a pharmacist. All 3 of their pets see me. This is not the first time we have had a conversation like this.

Me: Is Seamus still on the escitalopram twice a day?

Client: You know, they aren’t because I started giving the clonidine. It didn’t seem to be helping.

Me: Ok, and how long were they on the escitalopram?

Client: Just a few doses.

Me: ...

What kind of med is this?

Client: I know.

Me: It’s an SSRI. How long do those take to work?

Client: I KNOW

Me: 4 to 6 WEEKS! You are killing me.

Client: I KNOW!!! I cannot pharmacist for my own family! I once stayed on a med that caused a skin rash because that possibility didn’t cross my mind.

I didn’t even look at the active ingredient in the Sileo until after I gave a few doses. Then I realized it’s what we use to keep the patients in the ICU calm when they are freaking out.

My pharmacist brain doesn’t work on my pets.

Me: That’s fine. But I am definitely gonna give you flak for it.

I hear it almost every day during my consultations.

“But he’s wagging his tail, he must want to play!”

On Tuesday I saw a dog that was transferred from another vet behaviorist after moving to my area of the country. He was muzzled and lunged at me, barking, many times from across the room. Friends, his tail wagged every single time he barked and lunged.

I call a wagging tail the most misinterpreted dog body language sign. I encourage you to think of a wagging tail as a measure of energy level. I have so much energy! Do I want to play, am I anxious, am I terrified? It depends on the rest of the body language.

Yes, a dog can wag its tail curled over its back, and then bite you. I saw a dog just like this today, who was panting with very tight lips, ears back, looking from one car window to the other, and weaving back and forth. Anxious high energy.

Yup, a dog can wag its tail while tucked tightly under its body when approached by a stranger. Last week I saw a dog that tucked her tail, ears back, turning head away, frozen body, and urinated while her tail wagged during a physical exam. Fearful high energy.

Sure, a dog can wag its tail level with its back while running up to a person, jumping while their entire body wiggles loosely. I also saw this dog today! Happy high energy.

Behavior doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Make sure to look at the whole animal...yes, I want you to be holistic!

Today I saw:

About a dozen rabbits. Most of them traveled in pairs so they would be more comfortable - LOVE

A guinea pig with a head tilt

3 ferrets

2 chameleons

2 sugar gliders

A tortoise

A Moluccan cockatoo, a Blue & Gold Macaw, a cockatiel, 2 lovebirds (I think), an Eclectus (my fave), and a Quaker parrot

Fun fact I learned: apparently feather picking in Quaker parrots is nearly always due to Zinc toxicosis, whereas in other species behavioral reasons are most common

Sorry for the delay in answering, I had to do real-life work stuff for awhile!

To be fair, not all board ‘n train places are bad. Hopefully you ended up with one of the good ones. That being said, the phrase ‘board ‘n train’ has been so frequently paired with aversive training methods that they pretty much go hand in hand. That is why the phrase makes me cringe. Some legitimate reward-based training facilities do offer this service but they are not super common and a lot of times they will call it something else because of the negative association with the board ‘n train phrase.

Board ‘n train facilities were mostly for hunting dogs when I was little. Then they got more and more popular for pet dogs. Basically the idea is that you can send your dog away to be trained and not have to do any of the work! Sounds too good to be true? It probably is.

The majority of these facilities, at least in the USA, use aversive methods like shock collars (make no mistake, an ‘e-collar’ or ‘vibration collar’ is the same thing with a prettier name), choke collars, prong collars, throwing bags full of chains, shaking cans of pennies, and other methods that are meant to be aversive and scare the dog into doing what they want. There are numerous studies showing the increased stress signals shown by dogs trained with these methods. Even military dogs. Even dogs in the presence of their handler when they’re not wearing the scary device.

Now, I will not say that these methods don’t work. They do work. That is why people keep using them. They offer a ‘quick fix’ which most people want from dog training. But they typically don’t last. If the dog is fearful or anxious eventually we expect to see one of two outcomes. When the dog’s adrenaline starts pumping they aren’t even aware of the shock, choke, etc (like if you are in a car accident you may not even realize you are hurt until you calm don a little). Or, the association between the thing that scares or stresses them and the aversive punishment makes the fear of the stimulus stronger. I get a lot of people in my office saying the training worked at first, but it wasn’t effective after awhile.

Last week I saw a very fun and sweet, 6 month old, high-maintenance breed dog. He was diagnosed with separation anxiety and confinement distress, which were feeding into one another.

This dog was fun to work with. Super smart, very pro social and friendly. But given the breed and some other warning signs, and the fact that there were a couple of problems that started at just a few weeks old, we had to discuss that the chance for additional emotional problems was higher than usual.

Puppies are really tough for me to assess because people come to me expecting me to ‘fix the problem’ even more than usual. Their new, beloved family member, who they had huge plans for, is now a project and may never be the dog they wanted. It’s not fun to tell someone that not only is their dog ill, but that it could very well get worse even if they treat it. In this case, we had to discuss that separation anxiety is not curable, but treatable. Even with dedicated behavior modification and medications, there is a chance of relapse with any change in routine.

This client had worked with several trainers already and said that everyone else said this is fixable. I was the first one to truthfully discuss prognosis and what the full treatment plan entails. Today I got an email that he relinquished the dog to a breed-specific rescue. After our talk he realized he did not have the time or desire to treat the dog appropriately. While he was ‘unsettled’ by our conversation, he had the information he needed to decide what was best for himself and this dog.

I really have no idea why I do this to myself. I didn’t really used to be a procrastinator until vet school. Then I got in the cycle of cramming. It generally worked out so I guess I was positively reinforced, then things got real ugly when the depression and anxiety joined in my internship.

So here I am, 2 days before presenting a webinar, and I still need to add in a bunch of photos and videos, make sure the flow is good, and practice so it sounds natural and fits in the time allotted. And this needs to be fun!

I worked on it for ZERO hours over the weekend. And today is that day that I feel so anxious I am almost ill.

And yet somehow in the 24 hours beforehand I always manage to do a huge amount of quality work in a very short time. And I continually get excellent feedback on my presentations. So more positive reinforcement. But you would think I would want to avoid his awful aversive feeling.

Oh and during the practice run today I was informed 600 people are registered for this thing. Dear lord.