Videos
Bringing out the best in a cat or dog is a hands-on task. Seeing it in a video is often better than reading it. My goal with these videos is to make behavior management easier to understand and implement.
Puppies and dogs of any age can be unrelenting chewers and destroyers of all things we may hold sacred. We can love man’s and woman’s best friend like a little person in a furry suit but they are actually members of a different species. Chewing from a carcass for survival is hard-wired into their brains. Rather than trying to put an end to a natural behavior, give your pupsters a productive, canine-specific job: survival by extraction of sustenance from food-dispensing toys and/or puzzles. Mick, the Nichol family Border collie, is working hard at being a real dog. And having…
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Last in a series For many dogs, separation anxiety has a hereditary basis but changes in their environment often worsen the problem. It turned out that Newt had been adopted from a shelter, followed by a few moves with his new family. Videos of him home alone showed him not barking or vandalizing but quietly pacing, nonstop – except for the occasional indoor restroom break. There was no changing Newt’s genome or his life story but we could reduce his anxiety triggers. That confident visiting cat, who routinely scared the daylights out of this nervous little dog, needed to…
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Third in a series Newt did well on his antianxiety medication. He was alert, happier, and playing with a new puppy but there was no home run. He continued to douse the house when his people were out of sight, although somewhat less often. He certainly suffered from separation anxiety but I was still missing something. We needed to gather intelligence on Newt’s activities when his people were away from him. Drones? They’d only cause paranoia. So I advised Anna and Tom to purchase a home surveillance system like a Nest Cam. Of course, this was an invasion of Newt’s…
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Second in a series Our dogs are not little people in furry suits. We love them that way but their upstairs wiring is somewhat different. With his significant anxiety disorder, Newt the Bichon Frise, struggled mightily with life in a human world. He was strongly bonded to his people, Anna and Tom, but his mind overflowed with angst. Contrary to what they had come to assume, urine marking was not his favorite pastime. Newt was often on the edge of losing impulse control; almost anything could set him off. If Anna reached for him while they sat on the couch…
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Pets who age gracefully bring comfort to their doting pet parents. But not all of them do well in their golden years. Some get dementia that their families mistake for normal aging. Alzheimer’s disease is pretty common in older people. The symptoms of dementia and the unhealthy brain changes seen in some older dogs are similar. In dogs it’s called cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS). Like nearly all physical and behavioral problems we can make a bigger difference with early diagnosis and treatment.
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What’s wrong with this kitten? Why go after a child? Cats are hard-wired for predatory behavior to survive in the wild. Kept as pets, they must still be cats. This indoor, 5 month old kitten had no rodents to stalk and hunt. She was riveted by this child’s movements. Punishment? No. Lots of hunt and pounce toys and, if safe for all creatures great and small, plenty of outdoor time.
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Cats aren’t hard-wired to be couch potatoes. They are meant to hunt and pull the guts out of the helpless creatures that keep them alive. It’s not pretty but it’s nature’s way. You can import a dozen lab mice to turn loose in your living room (not a good idea, really) or you can provide all of your cat’s food from food-dispensing toys like the Twist ‘n Treat that Gaston is scavenging from. He expends energy and stays busy doing work that is similar to his innate survival skills. And he’s taken off a bit of that holiday weight gain.…
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There’s a reason these slow creatures with their prickly personalities are seldom seen. They’re mostly active at night, normally spending the day in trees. They may forage for food during the day but are generally shy around humans. If they get their dander up, their quills show it. Nobody should get away with close contact. So why was this relaxed porcupine moving in my direction? We worry about wild animals that aren’t afraid of us. A behavior change can suggest rabies. Another good reason to keep your distance.
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Dogs in the wild survive by their wits. But as our pets they may live lives of quiet desperation because they can’t engage their natural brains and bodies. I tried fetch games with Mick but he wasn’t interested. Then it occurred to me (Doh!) – he’s a herding dog. We could call this game soccer but it’s all about Mick so he makes the rules. Well, I have one rule. I only kick the ball when he brings it to me. There is much more to Mick’s life. He practices agility and obedience, he runs on the irrigation ditches and…
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It was a laid back herd of wild goats who crossed our path, and the road, on St. John island. There was no professional goat herder present; Heidi and her grandfather were nowhere to be found. These critters are not pets but they are safe to be around as long as you don’t bend over. They will butt any unsuspecting head or rear end or climb any vehicle. Nothing is sacred.
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