Tales of Tails and Wet Noses: Cause and Effect

While consulting on a case this week the perfect blog post appeared in my lap.

When you are suddenly dealing with behavior issues with your pet it is very important to consult a vet first. They are an important partner is the lifetime care of an animal. You have a whole cast of people that should be involved. You need a great vet, groomer (don't just stop in at the local pet store), pet sitter (check out Pet Sitters International), and of course your trainer (and yes I do mean your trainer, human. As training a lot of times is more about training the owner rather than the dog. But alas that is a post for another day.)

The case this week was with an older dog that was a rescue and had been adopted out 5 months ago. Prior to being adopted out he had spent 6 months in foster care due to being heartworm positive and going through treatment. After recovery he spent three months searching for the right family. He was playful, friendly, loved playing ball and playing with kids. I spent Christmas with him and six other dogs and he was the most mellow of them all. Zero food , people, or animal aggression. He was adopted in January to a family with a little boy. In fact the first week they had him the little boy was super sick and he laid at the end of his bed the entire time. Fast forward tho last week when the the family called and reported that 3 weeks ago the dog started nipping and becoming distant. I immediately knew it was one of two things-he was being mistreated or he was sick.

I asked if they had been taken to the vet---answer not yet. I said make an appointment immediately. My gut told me this was not behavioral. Answer: It wasn't that he was sick. He is being cared for now and hopefully on the way to recovery. AGAIN VETS ARE YOUR PARTNER!

When looking at animal behavior realize that behavior of an animal is almost always a "reaction to stimulus". Something is creating behavior. In this case it was medical. In another case it might be fear of something that we do not recognize because we are so focused on the negative behavior we forget to look at "causes". I have had a dog that was presenting with OCD type issues and it turned out he was afraid of the ceiling fans in the house. The minute they were off he became a normal dog again.