There are numerous behavior issues that can interfere with the special bond that exists between animal and human.

        Our goal at Chicagoland Veterinary Behavior Consultants is to diagnose these issues and educate you as to why they 

        are occurring and what we can do to improve the relationship with your pet. The links that follow will direct you to some

        articles dealing with various types of behavior problems. We hope that this information will give you an better understanding

        of your pet's behavior.

Canine Fears and Phobias
There are a variety of fearful stimuli affecting dogs. They are divided into three main areas:


Fear of People
Fear of Other Animals
Fear of Noises

Development of fearful responses in animals can occur either by inheritance or through negative experiences, especially in puppies and kittens. Fearful, timid and shy behavior is a very inherited trait such that the breeding of a shy animal results in a high likelihood that the offspring will also have timid tendencies. For this reason, breeders need to consider the behavior and personality of a breeding bitch or stud at least as much as they consider their conformation. Early, positive life experiences, however, can be very effective at reducing the fearful tendencies in many pets. A conscious effort to expose an individual within the first 3 months of life to as many varied experiences as possible can help greatly in reducing that animal's later reactivity to novel situations. This is why puppy kindergarten classes begun at 8-10 weeks of age can be extremely beneficial in heightening social skills.

In treating all types of fearful behaviors, the approach is very similar.

  • Manage the Environment - Control the dog's access to the fear provoking stimulus so that the behavior does not continue to occur uncontrollably and thereby reinforce itself. This can mean, for the dog who is fearful of people entering the home, isolate it when people come into the home. This is not a permanent treatment but merely a way to allow you to control the reaction.
  • Manage the Dog - Begin a series of exercises to gain control over the dog's reactions. These are commonly called counter conditioning exercises in which the dog is taught a behavior (relaxed sit-stay) which is inconsistent with the problem behavior. This is taught in a calm setting.
  • Identify Fear Producing Stimulus - Identify exactly what is causing the fear. Is it a certain type of person? A type of animal? A typical situation in which it occurs? Fireworks? Thunderstorms? Common, sudden household noises?
  • Establish a Gradient for the Stimulus - This means to break the stimulus into small parts. If your dog is afraid of large men. We will need to begin by introducing small, familiar, girls and work our way up to large, unfamiliar men. In this way we can gradually begin to desensitize the animal to the stimulus.
  • Desensitization - Gradually expose the pet to the stimulus as defined by the gradient you set up. By rewarding calm behavior while you gradually introduce each level of the stimulus, you are teaching the animal a different response to the stimulus. The mistake often made here is that the owners commonly go too fast with this procedure and overwhelm the animal. This process can take several months to be effective.
  • Medication - With overly fearful animals, we often need to consider use of an anti-anxiety medication to help the animal to focus and be more receptive to the training. While in the past this meant sedating the animal, this no longer is the case in that there are now many alternative medications which address the animals underlying anxiety instead of tranquillizing.
 

Animal News

animal behavior news from mongabay.com
  • Coral reef survival depends on the super small, an interview with Forest Rohwer
    If you take a teaspoon and dip it into the ocean what will you have? Some drops of lifeless water? Only a few decades ago this is what scientists would have said, however, the development of increasingly powerful microscopes have shown us a world long unknown, which has vital importance for the survival of one of the world's most threatened and most treasured ecosystems: coral reefs. A single milliliter of water is now known to contain at least a million living microbes, i.e. organisms too small to see without a microscope. After discovering their super-abundant presence, researchers are now beginning to uncover how these incredibly tiny life-forms shape the fate of the world's coral reefs.
  • A slow comeback for the endangered Eurasian otter in France
    In the late 1970s, the fate of the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra) in France was very gloomy. By just looking at the otter's range map, one could see that most of the country was left with vast regions devoid of a species that was once found in every region. Estimations barely reached 1,500 otters left in the wild for the whole country. Today, 2,000 to 3,000 individuals are believed to room in creeks and rivers mostly in the Massif Central, the Atlantic side (Bretagne) and western area, in particular in the wetland of Poitevin. The upward trend in population size is good news and a step towards reconstituting sustainable populations, however, the overall population is still critically low. By contrast, in the early 1900s otters were quite abundant in France with over 50,000 wild animals.
  • The biology and conservation of declining coral reefs, an interview with Kristian Teleki
    Coral reefs are often considered the "rainforests of the sea" because of their amazing biodiversity. In fact, coral reefs are one of the most diverse ecosystems on earth. It is not unusual for a reef to have several hundred species of snails, sixty species of corals, and several hundred species of fish. While they comprise under 1% of the world’s ocean surface, one-quarter of all marine species call coral reefs their home. Fish, mollusks, sea stars, sea urchins, and more depend on this important ecosystem, and humans do too. Coral reefs supply important goods and services–from shoreline protection to tourism and fisheries–which by some estimates are worth $375 billion a year.
  • Stunning monkey discovered in the Colombian Amazon
    While the Amazon is being whittled away on all sides by logging, agriculture, roads, cattle ranching, mining, oil and gas exploration, today's announcement of a new monkey species proves that the world's greatest tropical rainforest still has many surprises to reveal. Scientists with the National University of Colombia and support from Conservation International (CI) have announced the discovery of a new monkey in the journal Primate Conservation on the Colombian border with Peru and Ecuador. The new species is a titi monkey, dubbed the Caquetá titi ( Callicebus caquetensis). However, the announcement comes with deep concern as researchers say it is likely the new species is already Critically Endangered due to a small population living in an area undergoing rapid deforestation for agriculture.
  • Hunting threatens the other Amazon: where harpy eagles are common and jaguars easy to spot, an interview with Paul Rosolie
    If you have been fortunate enough to visit the Amazon or any other great rainforest, you've probably been wowed by the multitude and diversity of life. However, you also likely quickly realized that the deep jungle is not quite what you may have imagined when you were a child: you don't watch as jaguars wrestle with giant anteaters or anacondas circle prey. Instead life in the Amazon is small: insects, birds, frogs. Even biologists will tell you that you can spend years in the Amazon and never see a single jaguar. Yet rainforest guide and modern day explorer Paul Rosolie says there is another Amazon, one so pristine and with such wild abundance that it seems impossible to imagine if not for Rosolie's stories, photos, and soon videos. This is an Amazon where the big animals—jaguars, tapir, anaconda, giant anteaters, and harpy eagles—are not only abundant but visible. Free from human impact and overhunting, these remote places—off the beaten path of tourists—are growing ever smaller and, according to Rosolie, are in danger of disappearing forever.
  • Captive orangutans: enriching bodies, minds, and lives
    Visitors to the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ) are always delighted by the sight of playful young orangutans. Hairy orange youngsters swinging through the branches or tossing balls around always induce fits of cooing and camera clicking. These activities appear to be so natural that it is easy to forget these are orphans in rehabilitation school and one of the main classes is Enrichment. The term enrichment has become a catchword in the world of captive animal husbandry in the past few years and for many organizations, enrichment has become a new focus as more and more research reveals how critical enrichment is to the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of captive animals.
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