Comments for Behind the Behavior

Comment on Cat Litter Box Problem Solved: Texture Aversion by Katherine Ayres

Katherine Ayres — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:30:28 +0000

Hello Laura,
That’s great news! Baby steps and patience are important when trying to figure out litter box issues. Also, keeping a very detailed journal of your cats “elimination” type, time and location can be helpful. Don’t forget to positively reinforce your kitty with treats when they first go into the litter box, then when they dig around in the litter box, and throw a treat party if they eliminate in the litter box. Be careful though as we do not want to interrupt them when they are getting ready or are in the process of urinating or defecating. Wait and give the treat right after they are done with “business”.

Keep up the good work and let us know how it goes!

-Dr. Ayres

Comment on Cat Litter Box Problem Solved: Texture Aversion by Laura

Laura — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:22:31 +0000

OH MY GOSH thank you SO much! I was at my wit’s end. I could NOT figure out why my kitten hated the litter box. Everything else I read online either didn’t work or didn’t describe the situation. The towel on top of the litter was BRILLIANT! I don’t know if it worked or not just yet, but at least she isn’t hopping out of the box 5 seconds after I put her in. Now she’s been in there for an entire 5 minutes and doesn’t seem to want to come out. We may not be all the way there, but it’s progress, which is something I haven’t seen in the month we’ve had her.

Comment on Dog/Dog Aggression, or Is It? by Christine Hibbard

Christine Hibbard — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:11:29 +0000

I would find a positive reinforcement based dog trainer who has experience counter conditioning fear on leash. If you’re having problems finding someone in your area, email us privately at info@companionanimalsolutions.com and we’ll help find someone for you. In the meantime, you might want to read “Protecting Your Dog on Walks” to help your dog in the meantime: http://companionanimalsolutions.com/blogs/protecting-your-dog-on-walks/

Comment on Dog/Dog Aggression, or Is It? by Christine Hibbard

Christine Hibbard — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:08:14 +0000

Wow, no one likes a bully, including dogs. I would recommend a couple of things: 1) Monitor Bella very closely around other dogs. Use a 20/30 drag line if you have to. Do not hold onto the drag line but be ready to step on it and reel her in. 2) Use timeouts. If she bullies another dog say “too bad”, get a hold of her and put her in the car or leave the park. If you’d like our handout on executing timeouts effectively with your dog, let me know and I’ll email the handout to you privately.

Comment on Dog/Dog Aggression, or Is It? by Bthompson

Bthompson — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:03:27 +0000

I have 3 year old female boxer who has always been well mannered with other dogs and people, We have taken her to dog parks to play off leash many times with no incidents. We have another dog, a shiloh shepard and they get along great. Recently she seems to “pick” on small dogs. She especially likes the ones that arent interested in her. If they growl, bark or bite she is drawn to them like a magnet. She dosent growl, or bite back she just WONT leave them alone. The last time we went to a dog park there was a small dog there along with our two. She ran straight for it, not barking or growling. She pinned it to the ground and would not get off her. The other dog in the mean time, is biting her face (drawing blood) and of course doing everything it could to get out from under Bella. We finally got her off, and the only dog hurt was herself. I dont know where this insistance to jump on small dogs is coming from. We try to only go to parks that separate the big dogs from the small ones, but she always seems to find the one. I dont know how to get this to stop. She is very dominate with our other dog, but he doesnt care. She is wonderful with our children and all the neighborhood kids. I am just scared to take her back to the park or day care. Any comments would be appreciated.

Comment on Are Pit Bulls Inherently Dangerous? by Christine Hibbard

Christine Hibbard — Sat, 05 May 2012 15:54:06 +0000

I’d like to thank our readers for keeping the dialog on this important issue scientifically based, respectful and compassionate. I thought I was going to have to step in and moderate but as always, our readers are the best!

Comment on Dog/Dog Aggression, or Is It? by Laura Smentowski

Laura Smentowski — Sat, 05 May 2012 14:04:34 +0000

I have a 6 year old collie shepard mix that I adopped when she was 3. She was given up by previous owner because of a new baby and an alergy to her. My dog is very sweet and gentle. 2 weeks ago she was attacked by another dog. She was meeting this dog for the first time in our driveway. The other dog is a 5 year old Shar pei Boxer mix. It had been adopted by our friends about a month ago. The dog had been a stray. The other dog was on a leash my dog was not. they started to sniff eachother and then the other dog attaked my dog. The other dog put his paws around my dogs neck while he was bitting her just under her ear. My dog as very scared and was yelpping so loud that other people came out of their houses. The other owner myself and my husband were all trying to get this dog off my dog ( I know is was dangerous). The other dog finally let go of my dog. My dog was not injured bad. She had some hair gone and one tooth mark that scabed and is now coming off. My problem is now she bark a lot in the house about noises outside (she rarely barked before) She is also a little scared around even her best friend a yellow lab. On walks when she used to see other dogs she would want to see them. She would only bark if they would start to bark at her first. Now she is barking at them and lungging on the leash at them. How do I help her through this. I know she is scared of being attacked.

Comment on Are Pit Bulls Inherently Dangerous? by BARB d

BARB d — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:21:20 +0000

Thanks for sharing Dennis. I remember when working on my MBA that .com and .org sites were considered jaded research. I’m sure you remember not being able to use these sources when working on your Masters Thesis.
I feel very badly for your friend’s daughter as well as any parent who loses a child under any circumstances. I grew up in Detroit and know many families that have suffered the loss and/or permanent disability of toddlers and small children due to drive-by shootings and child abuse. Statistically, dog attacks are irrelevant compared to the number and types of deaths each year, especially since Detroit has a very large pit bull population. Even the data you provided shows that the number of fatalities compared to the number of pit breeds in this country is minute. My point is the hysteria of people with limited knowledge making blanket statements about any breed being is similar to any categorization of living beings. The recent Trayvon Martin death is a classic example.

Even one injury or death is too much, its sad, but life happens.

I agree with many points in the websites you provided though. I remember when Doberman’s were the feared breed, and before that, Bouviers, Chows, and German Shepherds (which are probably still the most fierce breed since they are used by law enforcement, et al because of their “breeding.” But that is just an assumption–not based on any factual info) The latest bias is against Pit Bull Terriers. I’m glad I live in Maricopa County where Sheriff Joe paid for the placement of all of Michael Vicks’ dogs–NONE of which were put down despite the fact they were used in dog fighting. We also have wolf rescues here where one man I know has SEVEN rescued wolves that share his home.

I appreciate your concern, but I seriously doubt that I will ever be attacked by any canine be it dog, coyote, or wolf simply b/c I understand and respect the relationship between man and beast. Trust me, I have been in situations with dogs and coyotes and never injured. I will not agree to disagree on banning or euthanizing an entire breed based on a few unfortunate accidents.
.
It is important to those of us who are responsible owners to have a forum to share information and training techniques for our animals. I suggest that anyone who does not benefit from this site, keep to sites that share your beliefs and where you can find comfort. Like I stated, I too was hesitant until I did research and actually own a pit bull terrier. These are energetic, loyal, and extremely eager to please animals. I would even consider starting a pit bull terrier rescue group. Awesome animals!

May God bless and console your friend and any other person that has been a victim of violence.

Comment on Dog/Dog Aggression, or Is It? by Kristina

Kristina — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:12:40 +0000

Hi, i have a 5 month old king shepard, rottie, chow, wolf mix male dog. We got him from a local breeder at 8 weeks old. He was well socialized and around the other puppies up until we adopted him. My friend adopted one of his sisters from the litter, and we had play dates for about a month. Then out of nowhere he started baring his teeth and acting fearful and aggressive towards the other puppy. It slowly progressed from there. At first we couldnt walk him because he would just sit down and refuse to move if anything passed us by, a car, bike, person, dog, even if a leaf blew past us. We got him over and ignoring everything except people and dogs now. He luges and barks at other dogs and people, and if they get to close he snaps at them. He hasnt bitten anyone or any animal yet, but it still worries me. I have tried the techniques above as well as many others, with patience, but none seem to work. As soon as that other dog or person is in his eyesight he gets fixated. We have even tried blocking his line of view to get his attention back on us, and he will sit there and keep trying to see around us. ive tried just walking past using the command ‘nevermind’ which he knows very well, but if the person or dog is in his sight before i make the command he will sit down and refuse to move, then bark and lunge when they get near. Ive tried forcing him to continue, and immiedately he puts his paws on the leash and rolls on his back. Ive tried waiting him out, he does the same thing. And sometimes he will sit down, then try to hightail it home. I even tried getting him to sit and focus on he as they person or dog walked past as that is how we got him over his fear of cars and bikes. He is also fearful or loud noises, garbage bags, booming voices (men), and pringles cans and objects like them that make noise.
I have never had a dog with this behavior before so i do not understand where it came from, or how to correct it. All his playdates were well monitored, the breeder he came from was excellent, i knew him and his family personally and they are great with dogs and training them, and there had been no ‘incidents’ at my home, or anywhere else. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Comment on Are Pit Bulls Inherently Dangerous? by Dennis

Dennis — Fri, 04 May 2012 01:13:50 +0000

Barb – you’re going off on the deep end. Nobody disagreed that all animals (and humans) have a dangerous element to them. Let me ask you though, can a cat rip your throat out and mangle you beyond recognition?

Nobody disagreed that there are really lovely pits out there. Nobody would disagree that there are really nasty cats out there. Everybody would agree that they would MUCH rather be facing off against an angry cat over a pit. There are many people with pet chimps out there who have perfectly lovely lives. But then you look at someone like Charla Nash and suddenly its not that simple anymore is it?

So when making analogies, at least try to keep the argument in the right context

And here are your statistics that you’ve asked so nicely for:

http://dogbitelaw.com/dog-bite-statistics/the-breeds-most-likely-to-kill.html
http://www.dogsbite.org/dogsbite-recent-dog-bite-statistics.php

And here is a word or two about ignorance. The next time, my friend goes for counseling over the death of his daughter who was ripped to shreds by a pit, I’ll mention that he is just in the same category as racists, sexists and homophobics. I’ll console myself with the same rationale whenever I think about the pieces of her body we had to gather up.

For all your blame on the OWNERS of pitbulls, just remember that pitbulls were genetically bred for fighting…period. They instinctively have a host of aggressions which other dogs do not.

http://www.aspcabehavior.org/articles/49/Aggression-in-Dogs.aspx

Pitbulls are freaks of nature. We have already committed a huge blunder in breeding these dogs. And now thanks to victimizing the victims even further, we’re at the verge of committing another one.

In spite of all this research and statistics I can’t believe Christie and you could just sit smugly there and insist that there is nothing wrong with pits. Just remember – for you, the above numbers may be simply statistics that can be ignored…until, heaven forbid, you end up being included in them

Peace and out.