behavior Archives - Page 2 of 3

Pig Out With Treats to Earn Porcine Trust

Mikkel Becker
One of the best ways to earn a pig’s trust and friendship is by appealing to the pig’s big appetite. The saying “eat like a pig” holds true for many pigs who are highly focused on food. At The Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine near Seattle, Washington, Dr. Alicia McLaughlin and her team have found that food talks when it comes to swaying swine to seeing veterinary team members as friends rather than foes, and in doing so, obtaining their calm cooperation.

Creative strategies have also shown big benefits for some of Dr. McLaughlin’s patients. One strategy that works for some pigs is to “fork” the pig using gentle presses of a fork on the pig’s back. Pigs who are calmed by such touch will often lie down on their side to soak up the soothing massage, exposing their underside and allowing belly and foot exams to be completed with the pig’s willing cooperation.

Dr. McLaughlin also incorporates the owner’s participation into the care experience. With one pig, the trick for getting a willing hoof trim was as simple as the owner bringing in a favorite treat: cucumbers! On one end of the pig, a person held on to a whole cucumber for the pig to chomp on, while at the undercarriage another team member performed hoof care. By the time the entire cucumber was finished, so was the hoof care, making it a win-win for pig and people.

One technician during the exam or care is often charged with the task of giving tasty treats with the pig’s owner nearby to keep the swine distracted during the exam. The trick of treats is finding what works best for each patient. Pig owners are encouraged to bring in their pig’s favorites in addition to the ones already on hand in the hospital.

Three delectable delights for pigs to pig out on during Fear Free exams and procedures are peanut butter, cream cheese, and Cheerios. For instance, peanut butter placed on a tongue depressor or smeared inside a small bowl may be used to distract the pig during the exam.

One of the greatest challenges of pig exams is getting a weight. Pigs don’t like to be lifted or restrained, and with the size of many pigs, doing so to get the swine onto the scale would be upsetting, causing avoidance in the future.

A solid approach is to get the pig to move onto the scale on his own. This is best achieved with a combination of teamwork, time, and treats.

“Make your job as easy as possible by creating a chute-type scenario leading up to the scale using human bodies or other items to funnel the pig onto the scale,” says Dr. McLaughlin.

A line of Cheerios or other tasty treats can be placed for the pig to follow through the chute and onto the scale. In the center of the scale, place a pile of treats to keep the pig in place momentarily while being weighed.

Most important, avoiding force is critical for earning trust.

“Don’t push it. I’m a firm believer in giving a pig a little more time, and it will end up taking less time in the long run,” says Dr. McLaughlin.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Mikkel Becker, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, KPA CTP, CDBC, CTC, is lead animal trainer for Fear Free Pets. She is a certified behavior consultant and trainer who specializes in reward-based training that’s partnered closely with the pet’s veterinary team. Mikkel is coauthor of six books, including From Fearful to Fear Free.

Study Finds Link Between Joint Problems and Arousability in Dogs

Linda Lombardi
A number of studies have found a relationship in humans between anxiety and a condition called joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS). Now a study has found a parallel association in dogs. This provides insight into understanding this correlation in people, as well as providing something to think about in dogs with anxiety and dogs with hip problems.

Coauthor James A. Serpell, Ph.D., professor of animal ethics and welfare at University of Pennsylvania, says humans who suffer from this condition essentially have loose joints and are more prone to dislocations and osteoarthritis. They also have a higher prevalence of anxiety, fear, panic, and a range of psychiatric disorders than the general population.

“There’s a lot of speculation about what could be the possible connection between the two,” he says. “One theory is that loose joints cause people to be anxious because they’re constantly worrying about the health consequences of their condition.”

Testing Method

The researchers tested that hypothesis by looking at whether the correlation held in another species that was not capable of that kind of understanding and worry. It was possible to test this on a large scale using already-existing data for guide dogs. The organization The Seeing Eye routinely tests puppies for joint problems at 18 months. Puppy raisers also fill out the C-BARQ, a standardized behavior evaluation. Researchers looked at these records for 5,575 dogs.

“We found that there was a strong association between a behavior variable that we call excitability, but that you could also call hyperarousability, and loose hips in these dogs,” Dr. Serpell says.

Trait and Anxiety Linked?

While they did not find a direct link with anxiety, there is likely a link between that trait and anxiety. “The literature in humans suggests that the reason that some people become anxious is simply because they’re more reactive to things in their environment,” Serpell says.

Finding a link between the physical condition and similar behavioral traits in dogs, then, casts doubt on the “health worries” explanation for the association. “The conclusion is, it’s very unlikely that the reason that people with joint hypermobility are anxious is because they’re anxious about their health condition, because we’re getting the same thing in another species,” he says. “This suggests that there must be some underlying link between the two.”

The exact nature of that link is currently unclear, but it is known that people with joint hypermobility show differences in their brains, particularly in areas related to emotional response. “This would suggest that we would find a similar difference if we were able to look into the brains of these dogs, and that there’s a direct link between these changes in brain anatomy and physiology across species that is involved in this strange link between joints and brains,” he says.

“This study add one more relevant piece to the puzzle of the interaction between behavior changes and medical problems,” says Carlo Siracusa, DVM, Ph.D., DACVB of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. “There is a growing body of evidence showing that animal behavior is regulated by the same immune and inflammatory response behind medical problems. So, it is probably time to retire the question ‘Is it medical or behavioral?'”

Socialization Effect

Serpell says the fact that the association was indirect – the dogs were excitable, but not necessarily anxious – is likely due to the strong impact of early socialization. “So much of anxiety-related behavior in dogs is linked to poor early socialization,” he says. “So instead what we’re picking up is something at a deeper level–a tendency to react strongly to the environment, which my guess is, would be less likely to be influenced by early environment than something like anxiety.”

Guide dog puppies are particularly well socialized, reducing the chance that they’ll be anxious adults even if they have inherited a genetic tendency to excitability and anxiety. Serpell notes that they’ve also been selected for generations against that trait. “I should say this somewhat cautiously, but so in some ways this was the worst population to look for this type of association, because the amount of variation they show is rather limited, because of selection and because of very careful early socialization.”

The fact that an association was found anyway suggests that if we could look instead at the general population of dogs, the association might be even stronger. Another limitation of the study is that the breeds were limited to those typically used as guide dogs. There are breed differences in tendencies to both excitability and joint problems, so further research is necessary.

Another possible explanation for the association, that the anxiety is caused by constant low levels of joint pain, seems unlikely, says Serpell. These dogs are young enough that although they are likely to develop hip problems later in life, they’d be unlikely to be in pain now, and their ratings on the C-BARQ did not show touch sensitivity.

That said, osteoarthritis does occur in young dogs. Even puppies younger than one year can experience lameness and chronic pain from it so that explanation remains a possibility.

These findings can be seen as another argument for the importance of proper early socialization, particularly in puppies who are excitable, since the implication is that they are more likely to develop anxiety. Another possibility, not suggested in the paper, is that we might want to be more aware of the potential for joint problems in dogs with these behavioral tendencies.

“That’s certainly something we could think about,” says Serpell. “If you’ve got a highly arousable dog that reacts very swiftly to environmental triggers and is slow to calm down after it gets aroused, then maybe yes, we should be giving special consideration to the possibility of joint hypermobility, particularly if it’s a medium to large breed dog where the consequences of it are likely to be more severe.”

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Linda Lombardi writes about the animals who share our planet and our homes for magazines including The Bark, websites including National Geographic and Mongabay.com, and for the Associated Press. Her most recent book, co-authored with Deirdre Franklin, is The Pit Bull Life: A Dog Lover’s Companion.

Reduce Bite Risk by Teaching Children Not to Approach Fearful Dogs

Linda LombardiChildren up to nine years old are at highest risk of being bitten by a dog. A new study confirms previous research that children are not very good at recognizing fear in dogs and reveals an additional issue: even when they do recognize fear, children are just as likely to approach a fearful dog as a happy one. This has important implications for how we educate children and parents to minimize the risk of bites.

The study used images and video clips of dogs showing behavior signals in three categories: frightened/aggressive, defensive/aggressive, and happy/playful. These were reviewed for accuracy by an experienced dog trainer with a bachelor of science degree in animal behavior. They were shown to children ages 4 to 5 and 6 to 7 years who were then asked questions to assess how well they identified the dog’s emotional state, how confident they were about their interpretation, and how likely they would be to approach the dog.

Study Method

Children rated the dogs’ emotions on a chart using cartoon images and a five-point scale. They also rated on a five-point scale questions about how they would act toward the dog, including “Would you pat this dog?” “Would you cuddle this dog?” and “Would you sit next to this dog?”

The children were relatively good at recognizing angry dogs but less able to recognize frightened ones: only 56 percent of 4- to 5-year-olds and 76 percent of 6- to 7-year-olds accurately recognized frightened dogs.

Knowledge Doesn’t Mean Safety

However, the ability to recognize a frightened dog did not mean that a child would behave safely by avoiding that dog. Children were unlikely to approach an angry dog, but 81 percent of children answered that they would approach dogs they recognized as frightened. Statistical analysis also found no difference in the likelihood that children would approach a frightened dog compared to a happy one.

Children’s intuition about how to behave around an angry dog seems good, so why the difference with fearful ones? Coauthor Sarah E. Rose of Staffordshire University says, “It is possible that young children may think that it is okay to approach a frightened dog as when they themselves feel frightened, physical comfort can be reassuring. They fail to recognize that the dog’s feelings and reactions in this situation may be different to their own.”

The study also looked for effects of age and whether children lived with a dog or not but did not find consistent differences. “Children do show some improvements in correctly recognizing the emotion with age, and there is also some evidence that those growing up in a house with a dog may be a little better at recognizing the emotions,” she says. “But these findings are not consistent for all emotions.”

Lisa Radosta, DVM, DACVB, says, “This study shows at least one reason–there may be others–that children are the most common bite victims. They are not adept at recognizing frightened dogs, and even when they are able to recognize them, they don’t know how to interact with those dogs.”

Practical Prevention

This has implications for parents, behaviorists, and the design of dog-bite prevention programs. Dr. Radosta says parents need to educate themselves and their children. “The best practical advice is to prepare the dog for the child before the child is born and educate little ones with pictures that they can comprehend as soon as they are born,” she says. “We read with kids from day one, why not read picture books about dogs and cats?”

Adults also need to be aware of both their dog’s signals and the risk that a child may approach a fearful dog. “Adults don’t recognize fearful behavior and they do not understand that any animal can bite if the circumstances are stressful enough. As a result, chances are taken that should not be taken,” she says. “Make sure to practice proactive supervision all the time.”

The authors note that while there is evidence for at least short-term benefits for dog-bite prevention education programs, this mostly evaluates children’s ability to recognize risky situations and their performance on tests of knowledge, rather than their ability to recognize dog signals and how they behave in response. The results of this study suggest that programs should explicitly teach children both how to recognize behavior and that fearful behavior means that a dog wants to be left alone, rather than wanting the hug that they themselves would find comforting.

“Children seem to have a relatively good understanding that they should not approach an angry dog, but this is lacking for frightened dogs,” says Rose. “We recommend that children should be explicitly taught not to approach frightened dogs.”

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Linda Lombardi writes about the animals who share our planet and our homes for magazines including The Bark, websites including National Geographic and Mongabay.com, and for the Associated Press. Her most recent book, co-authored with Deirdre Franklin, is The Pit Bull Life: A Dog Lover’s Companion.

Getting Pigs on Board With Care

Mikkel Becker

Fear Free is a concept that benefits both animals and the people working with them. This is especially evident when the animal being cared for is of tremendous size and strength, such as the pig patients of Fear Free certified professional Dr. Alicia McLaughlin at The Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine near Seattle, Washington.

“When pigs are stressed, they communicate their stress very clearly, both vocally and with their body language, which can be very upsetting for their family and veterinary staff. When pigs are less stressed, their families are more relaxed, and their veterinarian is able to provide better quality medical care,” says McLaughlin.

Handle With Care

Coercive handling causes increased tension for everyone. Forced handling is also likely to create fear memories and aversions that make the pig more challenging to work with and create a greater safety risk for both pig and people.

“Pigs are very touchy about their bodies. Many don’t like being touched unless they are being scratched in certain areas. If they feel that any handling attempts are coercive, they’re likely to react strongly and negatively,” says McLaughlin. “Most pigs have an extreme dislike for restraint, having their facial area handled, or being picked up. Forcing a pig to remain still with restraint even momentarily for sedation can cause tension for everyone. Many will vocalize in distress when this handling occurs; with squeal decibels rivaling those made by a fighter jet.”

Most pigs who come in are open to the veterinary experience if the staff interacts in a way that signals they are friendly, not threatening. Encouraging the pig’s willing participation during care using treat rewards, setting a soothing care environment, and using calming aids are all approaches resulting in less stress and greater success.

Reading Porcine Body Language

Rewards and food aren’t the only things that work to keep pigs calm during Fear Free care. Carefully observing the pig’s body language for signs of fear, anxiety, and stress (FAS) throughout care is also key for keeping the pig in a calmer, more amenable state and for keeping both pig and humans safe in the process.

Signs of FAS in pigs include muscles tensing, shying away, lowering the head, moving into a corner, or finding security by moving their body next to a wall. In some cases, FAS may be subtle, with one potential indicator being the pig coming up to take treats, but then retreating to a safe distance immediately after the interaction. Loud squeals and excessive vocalizations are audible signs of a pig’s distress.

When in a state of FAS, pigs will attempt to avoid the situation and move away or hide. If pushed, though, pigs on rare occasions may try to bite. Biting is rare, a last-ditch escape effort from pigs who are responding to the situation as if they’re going to die.

Sedation Can Help

It’s far better to note early signs of FAS and make ongoing adjustments to keep the pig calm than it is to risk escalation and the creation of fearful memories of the experience. Sedation isn’t a last resort for pig care, but a protective practice used early and often when it comes to reducing the FAS pigs experience. In many cases, full sedation is recommended to eliminate the distress and ensuing struggle that could otherwise occur if the pig becomes upset. But before jumping immediately to sedation, Dr. McLaughlin is careful to make the sedation itself as non-stressful and Fear Free as possible.

Sedating a pig can be tricky, especially since most pigs are averse to having their faces touched or to being held in place even momentarily. It’s important to Dr. McLaughlin to keep sedation minimally stressful. Oral pre-sedation medication, such as Valium that’s ground up and placed on food, can take the edge off before sedation. With pre-sedation medication on board, the pig is often calm enough to tolerate minimal restraint while a gas mask is placed over the face. No more than a minute later, the pig is out and ready to be cared for.

“Time pressures can result in handling and care being more coercive than we want it to be. There is something to getting it done quick and dirty. But there are long-term effects that go with that and it’s not my preference to do that,” says Dr. McLaughlin.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Mikkel Becker, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, KPA CTP, CDBC, CTC, is lead animal trainer for Fear Free Pets. She is a certified behavior consultant and trainer who specializes in reward-based training that’s partnered closely with the pet’s veterinary team. Mikkel is coauthor of six books, including From Fearful to Fear Free.

Feline Needs in Confinement: A Tale of Two Kinds of Cats

Linda Lombardi
Spending extended time in a shelter or veterinary hospital is stressful for cats. Judith Stella researches how they respond to their environments and what we can do to make life easier for them.

“The quality of the environment is going to impact their welfare, whether in homes, shelters, or research facilities,” she says. “So I’m interested in, how do we optimize that environment to minimize distress, particularly when they are singly housed in cages?”

In a series of studies, she has looked at effects of various environmental factors and, more recently, how cats of different personality types respond. The results provide food for thought about what we should provide for cats who must spend time in confinement.

Surroundings

One study looked at the properties of the room in general, comparing the importance of that environment to what was provided in the cat’s cage. One type of room, which she called “managed,” was quiet, with a consistent caretaker who fed, watered, and cleaned cages at the same time every day. The “unmanaged” room tried to mimic the typical shelter or vet hospital. “We played recordings of dogs barking, had loud music playing, people walking in and out, and we turned lights on and off when we walked in and out of the room.”

It’s not surprising that cats preferred the quiet room, but Stella was surprised to find that the room was even more important to them than the environment in their cage. “In the managed room they did better regardless of whether they had an enriched cage or not,” she says. “Even in the absence of an enriched cage, they still tended to adapt more quickly than the cats in the unmanaged room.”

Personality Variances

Using what that work determined was the optimal environment for the room, the current study then looked at individual differences. Fifty-five cats were housed for three days with enriched cages and a predictable husbandry schedule. Behavior was recorded hourly, as well as the cat’s response to the approach of a familiar and unfamiliar person at the end of the third day.

Owners completed a questionnaire about their cats’ personality traits, and an analysis found that the cats fell into two groups. The 22 cats in Cluster 1 were described in terms such as shy, mellow, and timid; the 33 in Cluster 2 were active, curious, and easygoing. It turned out that the cats’ use of the resources in their cage depended on which cluster they were in. Cats in Cluster 1 tended to be alert and tense and used the hide boxes; cats in Cluster 2 were more relaxed and spent much of the time on the perch.

The results of the familiar/unfamiliar person test also differed by cluster. Owners described cats in Cluster 2 as sociable and cats in Cluster 1 as timid with strangers but friendly with familiar people. Cats in Cluster 1 took a longer time to investigate a new person but were just as social with a familiar person as Cluster 2 cats.

Cats Love Consistency

The “familiar” person was the one who had been taking care of them over the three-day period, whom they hadn’t known previously. This shows that the cats developed something of a relationship in that short period of time and indicates the importance for at least some cats of trying to keep down the number of people they’re exposed to.

“For those cats that are more stressed by unfamiliar people, having a consistent person take care of them every day will help them adjust a little more quickly,” Stella says. In most institutional settings it can’t be the same person every day, but in a shelter, two caretakers per cat instead of many could help. In a hospital, cats might benefit from having the same tech do all the treatments over the course of a day.

The researchers also looked at fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in an attempt to use a physical measure of stress that could be collected non-invasively, but results were not significant. Stella thinks this is partly because the time period was too short, but also because most cats did not produce a sample every day.

“This research aligns with previous work that demonstrated cats display individual variation in their behavior,” says Kristyn Vitale of the Human-Animal Interaction Lab at Oregon State University. “This can be applied by any person who owns or works with cats. It is important to recognize some cats will be more stressed in certain situations than other cats, so we should make management and housing decisions based on each cat’s behavior and stress level. Through a consideration of cat individuality, we can work toward forming healthier cat-human relationships and increase the welfare of cats.”

Stella says that since we won’t always know the cat’s personality type and coping style, for example when admitting them to a hospital or shelter, we can make the environment work for the largest number of cats by being aware of these different needs.

“The cats are going to need different resources, or will use the resources provided to them differently, depending on those temperament traits. For some cats, having a hiding box is going to be imperative for them to be able to cope; for others, maybe not, but providing it for everybody will make sure we cover the ones that really need it,” she says. “Give them those resources in the cage, make sure we keep the room quiet, minimize traffic, have consistent people working as caretakers as much as possible, and it will give the greatest number of cats the best opportunity to cope and adapt to the environment.”

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Linda Lombardi writes about the animals who share our planet and our homes for magazines including The Bark, websites including National Geographic and Mongabay.com, and for the Associated Press. Her most recent book, co-authored with Deirdre Franklin, is The Pit Bull Life: A Dog Lover’s Companion.

What Current Science Tells Us About Cat Play

Linda Lombardi
For a long time, the behavior of pet cats and dogs was of little interest to science. Times have certainly changed, but one area that’s somewhat neglected is the question of how and why cats play.

A recent review of the literature published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science sums up the findings and points to directions for future research. While there’s much we still don’t know, there are a number of results we can put into practice to give cats more enriched lives.

Play With Toys

Research into cat play with toys confirms a common observation: it is a lot like hunting. “The patterns of behavior are similar, and the things that entice cats to hunt also get them excited about toys,” says coauthor Mikel Delgado. “What we see from research is that the more similar to realistic prey the toy is, the more of a response the cat shows.”

There’s always going to be the individual cat who likes to play with a ball. But for the most part, the more a toy looks, feels, smells, and moves like prey, the better cats like it. They do have preferences, so it’s best to offer choices: toys that resemble different kinds of prey like mice, birds, bugs, and snakes.

Movement is important as well. After about 21 weeks of age, kittens start to lose interest in things that don’t move. Sure, you can bat a ball with your paw, but it’s not the same.

“They can’t really get lost in the hunting experience like they can when someone else is moving the toy,” says Delgado.

Novelty also matters: cats get bored quickly. In one study, cats presented with the same toy three times became progressively less interested, then showed more response to a new, clean toy that was identical except for color.

The practical takeaway: leaving a bunch of toys lying on the floor all the time isn’t enrichment, because they don’t move, and they don’t change. Owners need to play with their cats: move the toys and remember that they get bored with the same object before they’re bored with play itself.

Why Play?

Although cat play resembles hunting, research doesn’t really support the idea that play is a kind of practice; it doesn’t seem to help cats be better hunters later. “What seems to be most effective for hunting later is exposure to prey. Hunting experience helps you be a better hunter,” says Delgado.

Play does seem to be important to social development, however, which makes it all the more important to understand, given that most of us want sociable cats more than we want mousers.

It’s a common misconception that cats aren’t sociable. “Even cats that are living outside of human homes, free-roaming cats, live socially in colonies together,” say Krystin Vitale of Oregon State University. “They live both socially and solitarily. We see a lot of flexibility.”

Kittens learn to get along with other cats by playing. The first type of play seen in kittens is social, and research shows that kittens who don’t have playmates have difficulty with other cats later. Singleton kittens tend to direct play at their mothers, even though their mothers find this behavior irritating.

“As a cat behavior consultant, I get so many calls from people who can’t understand why the kitten is attacking their legs and hands,” says Delgado. “Kittens who don’t have littermates will direct that behavior toward other beings: their mother, their human, or the poor 12-year-old cat who the person adopted the kitten to be a companion to.”

The takeaway: encourage people to adopt more than one kitten at a time. “When we allow kittens to get adopted without littermates, we’re not recognizing that we’re tearing apart families,” she says. “Social play is very important for kittens and a lack of outlets for social play can be very problematic. Toys don’t fulfill that social need.”

What We Don’t Know

Research into cat behavior lags behind the recent explosion of studies about dogs, partly because they’re harder to study in the lab. “Dogs are used to being in new environments. But a cat that is friendly and playful in a home environment, if you take them to a strange place, they’re going to be terrified,” says Delgado. “So their behavior is not valid beyond that context; it doesn’t tell you anything about how they normally behave.”

Now that we have better technology that lets us study cats in their homes, research is increasing, but many questions remain. For instance, little research has been done on play between adult cats, so right now, science can’t tell you whether your cats are getting along. From her observations, Vitale suggests concentrating on what happens before and after the interaction to distinguish rough play from aggression.

“Before, was there aggressive vocalization? Was their fur already standing on end and were their eyes dilated and were they baring teeth? After, what did they do? Often when it’s play, you’ll see that afterwards they’ll plop down and lay together and start grooming each other. If you see one run off and try to get away that might be more of an indication that it was aggression.”

Social play with humans also hasn’t been well studied, but it may be important to cats. In one study, Vitale tested how cats reacted to a moving toy controlled by a human who was in the room, or one controlled remotely from outside the room. Cats preferred the person moving the toy to be visible, which suggests that kind of play may have a social component.

Delgado also wants to see more research into the process of object play. Prior studies have focused on actual contact with the toy, but for cats, watching and stalking seem important. This makes sense given their natural hunting style. “The way cats hunt is not highly cardiovascular. It’s very cognitive,” she says. “When they play with cats, people tend to concentrate on the cardiovascular aspects and expect backflips and running around, but that’s not really cats’ hunting style.”

Play and Welfare

Delgado says there’s an assumption that play must have a survival benefit. We don’t know for sure if it does, and in fact, research has shown that cats spend a fairly small proportion of the time playing and that it’s not very energetically costly.

But we’re not just concerned about what helps animals survive. We also want to know what helps them thrive.

“I think that one big thing that’s come out of studies about cat play and that this paper shows is that it’s really important for cats to engage in play in order for them to engage in healthy normal behaviors,” says Vitale. “If you’re giving your cat an under-enriched environment with low stimulation, potentially aggression can come out of that, and stereotyped behaviors like overgrooming, that they’re doing because they don’t have anything to engage with.”

One measure of an animal’s welfare is whether they have the opportunity to engage in species-specific behaviors. Owners need to understand what those behaviors are and how to provide the right toys and social situations to “allow cats to behave in the ways that make them cats,” she says. “They need something for all those motor patterns and biologically relevant behaviors to be directed towards.”

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Linda Lombardi writes about the animals who share our planet and our homes for magazines including The Bark, websites including National Geographic and Mongabay.com, and for the Associated Press. Her most recent book, co-authored with Deirdre Franklin, is The Pit Bull Life: A Dog Lover’s Companion.

Time, Training Help Pet Pig Overcome Fears

Mikkel Becker

The fear of visiting the veterinarian and the anxiety of riding in the car isn’t limited to dogs or cats. Other animals experience these anxieties as well, including pigs. I know, because I was part of a major effort to help one adorably sweet and sizably grand pet pig, Dee Dee, to overcome her fear of car trips and veterinary visits.

Dee Dee’s fears were anything but mild when I met her. At one time she enjoyed riding in the car and veterinary care was a non-issue. But that changed after a spay surgery with a previous veterinarian when she was received third-degree burns from a heating pad during the procedure. The extreme pain and distress of the experience changed her behavior any time she rode in the car or was taken to the veterinary clinic. Any indication that she was going to be placed in the car sent all 250 pounds of Dee Dee into a flailing, fighting fury to flee to safety. She seemingly paired the car ride and traveling to new places with the distress and pain of the one experience.

From Chaos to Calm

Just getting Dee Dee into the car involved recruiting neighbors and the strength of many large men to push, pull, and pick her up into the car while other people blocked her movements and view using cardboard boxes. Dee Dee squealed in panic the entire trip and in her distress peeing and pooping all over the inside of the SUV in which she rode.

By the time I met Dee Dee, not only was she in distress, so was her owner, Olive. She was overwhelmed by the impossibility of getting her pig the care she needed, including hoof trims, a long overdue necessity. Olive was trapped between the duty of caring for her pig’s health and the guilt of not wanting to put Dee Dee through any more terror to get the care she needed. Thankfully, with the right Fear Free partnerships and training, Dee Dee was able to get the physical care she needed without losing her emotional wellbeing in the process.

As a trainer who is Fear Free certified, I was able to incorporate aspects of reward-based training that I commonly use with dogs into my training with Dee Dee. In addition to training, an essential step was to find a Fear Free-certified exotic animal veterinarian. We came across Dr. Alicia McLaughlin from the Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine near Seattle, Washington, who was equally committed to reducing Dee Dee’s fear, anxiety, and stress.

We taught Dee Dee to touch and follow a target, in her case a plastic serving spoon. This became her go-to way to say hi to new people. Targeting was also an excellent way to encourage her to willingly follow toward, away, onto, or off certain spaces to better guide her movements. This was useful both for getting her to willingly approach the car and walk up the ramp, as well as to move onto spaces such as the scale or into the exam room.

Dee Dee also had an impressive array of other fun tricks we capitalized on as relationship builders for her care, including sit, down, and Zen down, during which she would lie on her side. Such behaviors were vital to earn her participation during care, for keeping her in a stationary position, and for getting a better view of her hooves and belly.

Training for Travel

To get Dee Dee ready, an essential step was to replace her car ramp with a far sturdier version. Dee Dee was petrified of her previous ramp and avoided it at all costs. This time we took ramp training slowly by introducing it on a flat surface and teaching her to walk across it following a treat trail and her target spoon.

After successful ramp crossings on the flat surface, she graduated to higher spaces, including the curb and couch. Dee Dee liked this training so much she often opted to walk across the ramp and lie down atop it in her free time.

Separately, we desensitized Dee Dee to being around the car, including opening car doors or turning on the car while she did tricks, without actually getting in or going anywhere. We incorporated “go to your space” by training her to move to her blanket, which was useful as a portable safe space during trips in the car and at the vet.

In preparation for the visit to the hospital, Dr. McLaughlin prescribed pre-visit medications to help keep Dee Dee calm and reduce her panic.

Edible and Physical Treats

For training treats, we chose small, healthy snacks, including measured portions of her regular food, a cut-up apple or banana, and Cheerios. Our go-to treats were veggies cut into bite-size bits, including red, green, and yellow peppers, and her favorite, cherry tomatoes (reserved for the most challenging behaviors). Dee Dee’s previously expanding waistline began to shrink.

Dee Dee also liked back scratches and “getting forked”: a massage-like action with gentle poking of a fork that sent her into a euphoric trance. We used this to encourage her to relax as well as a reinforcer for performing certain behaviors. In getting Dee Dee up the ramp and into the car on the actual day of her veterinary trip, a human to scratch her back helped to keep her settled.

Challenging Setback

Unfortunately, our gradual acclimation timeline was thrown off because of a hoof injury that required veterinary care sooner than we had planned in our training timeline. We had to adapt the foundation we did have to help Dee Dee into the car, despite not having the full timeframe to practice with the ramp. This big jump was undeniably going to be too much for Dee Dee, so we coupled our training efforts with Dr. McLaughlin to provide pre-visit sedation that would keep her calm while still alert and mobile.

The first attempt at sedation wasn’t enough to take off the edge. Rather than forcing the issue, we settled on stopping with her moving partway up the ramp for treats and then taking a break when we noticed that past that point she was showing increased signs of FAS. The dose was adjusted, as was the angle of the ramp, so that it had a more gradual incline. Dee Dee then loaded calmly and was on her way, this time with less distress and visibly less mess.

Dee Dee’s list of known tricks was used when she arrived at the vet to increase her familiarity and cooperation with the staff and to pair the positives of trick training alongside care. The team also created a relaxed ambiance by dimming the lights and playing calming classical music. Then, by giving her pre-sedation medication of oral Valium hidden within food treats, she became sleepy and calm to the point that a sedation mask was easily placed over her nose. The care for Dee Dee’s hooves was then able to be performed without fear, anxiety, and stress being associated with the experience.

Continuing Education

After her visit, Dee Dee’s instruction continued, along with desensitization to hoof care at home. She has also learned to give in to pressure rather than to fight against it to help both with her walks and with tolerating minor restraint or guidance. Dee Dee has also been working on informational cues that teach her to turn when asked, even learning to differentiate left from right turns when asked; yet another sign of the brilliance of pigs.

The future for Dee Dee is full of hope with the help she was provided through Fear Free care. Despite a less than ideal start, she’s on track to become the healthiest and happiest pig she can be.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Mikkel Becker, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, KPA CTP, CDBC, CTC, is lead animal trainer for Fear Free Pets. She is a certified behavior consultant and trainer who specializes in reward-based training that’s partnered closely with the pet’s veterinary team. Mikkel is coauthor of six books, including From Fearful to Fear Free.

4 Reasons to Start a Puppy Socialization Class in Your Clinic

Valarie V. Tynes, DVM, DACVB, DACAW

Do you still believe that a puppy should have all her vaccinations before ever meeting another dog? Do you think the safest place for every new puppy is within his own home until after the last set of vaccinations? If so, you may be running the risk of the puppy’s early death due to behavior problems.

Studies have demonstrated that behavior problems likely result in more pet deaths than any other single cause.^{1, 2,3}A properly run puppy socialization class should not put your patients at any increased risk of communicable disease.⁴

If you do not have a reliable, safe place to refer your clients to for puppy classes, then consider offering them at your own clinic. Puppy classes are fun and, when held at your clinic, allow you and your staff to reap the benefits. Here are four reasons to consider adding puppy classes to your practice’s programs:

1. Proper socialization is critical to the puppy’s proper development and the window for this period of development is only open until about 14-16 weeks. After that time, puppies are not as able to learn to cope with novelty and develop new relationships with other individuals.

Your clinic is a safe place for this experience to happen because:

You can sanitize the surfaces puppies will contact.
You can be certain that all puppies who attend have had at least one vaccination several days prior to their visit.
You can give each puppy a brief exam and send puppies home if they appear to be sick.

2. Puppy classes help create more cooperative patients. When puppies come to your clinic once a week for a few weeks, and the only thing that happens there is they get to play with other puppies, meet some new people, see some strange things and get lots of treats, they learn that there is nothing scary about the vet clinic.

Part of at least one puppy class session should involve demonstrating to pet owners how to handle their new puppy’s ears, toes, tail, and other body parts in a way that mimic handling for veterinary and grooming procedures. When this is done while giving treats, puppies learn that this type of handling is routine and “no big deal.”

You can help set the puppy up for success in advance by recommending the owner use an Adaptil Junior collar. This is a collar impregnated with dog appeasing pheromone, the same pheromone that mother dogs release during the period of time when they are nursing puppies. Numerous placebo-controlled studies have demonstrated its ability to help decrease signs of fear and anxiety in many situations.^5,6,7 When placed on puppies during their critical period for socialization, the collar has been proven to help with the socialization process.⁸ Puppies between 8 and 16 weeks of age who wore an Adaptil collar for just 30 days while attending a puppy class showed signs of being better socialized 1, 3, and 6 months later than puppies who wore a placebo collar.⁹

3. Puppy classes will bond clients to your practice. When clients see how much you care about their puppy’s healthy development and good behavior, they will appreciate your commitment to their puppy’s overall health.

When they see how happy their puppy is to return to your clinic time and time again because he only has good memories associated with the visit, they will have no reason to ever consider going to another practice.

4. Puppy classes provide an added revenue stream. They do not have to be managed by the veterinarian. It is very possible that you have a staff member who is interested in learning more about how to do this and would love the opportunity to take on such a valuable and rewarding project. There are several excellent resources available for learning how to teach a puppy class and with some training and practice most anyone can add puppy classes to their clinic’s list of services. One of the best is the Puppy Start Right for Instructors Course, which offers a discount to Fear Free Certified Professionals using code FEARFREEPSRI.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

References

This article was brought to you in collaboration with our friends at Ceva.

Dolan ED, Scotto J, Slater M, et al. Risk factors for dog relinquishment to a Los Angeles municipal animal shelter. Animals (Basel) 2015; 5: 1311-1328.
Dreschel NA. The effects of fear and anxiety on health and lifespan in pet dogs. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2010;125: 157- 162.
Houpt KA, Honig SU, Reisner IR, Breaking the human-companion animal bond. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1996; 208: 1653-1659.
Stepita ME, Bain MJ, Kass PH. Frequency of CPV Infection in Vaccinated Puppies that Attended Puppy Socialization Classes. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 2013; 49:95-100.
Pageat P, Gaultier E. Current research in canine and feline pheromones. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 2003: 33;187-211.
Mills DS, Ramos D, Esteller MG, et al. A triple blind placebo controlled AABS investigation into the assessment of the effect of Dof Appeasing Pheromone (DAP) on anxiety related behaviour of problem dogs in the veterinary clinic. 2006;98:114-126.
Gaultier E, Bonnafous L, Vienet-Lague, et al. Efficacy of dog-appeasing pheromones in reducing stress associated with social isolation in newly adopted puppies. Vet Rec 2008;163:73-80.
Gaultier E, Bonnafous L, Vienet-Lague, et al. Efficacy of dog appeasing pheromones in reducing behavours associated with fear of unfamiliar people and new surroundings in newly adopted puppies. Vet Rec 2009;164:708-714.
Effects of dog appeasing pheromone on anxiety and fear in puppies during training and on long term socialization: Denenberg S. & Landsberg G.M. JAVMA, (2008) 233;12

Can You Spare 15 Minutes? Study Shows Value of Brief Petting Sessions for Shelter Dogs

Linda LombardiWhen asked why they don’t volunteer at a shelter, people often say they don’t have time. What if they knew that just 15 minutes of quiet petting could have a measurable effect on a dog’s wellbeing? That’s the result of a recent study.

Research has shown the benefit of repeated sessions of human interaction for shelter dogs. “We wanted to see, if you only had time to stop after work for fifteen minutes and go in and pet a dog, would it have a positive impact on that dog?” says lead author Ragen T. S. McGowan, research scientist at Nestlé Purina.

To answer this question, researchers chose 55 shelter dogs who could safely interact with strangers. The dogs were fitted with cardiac monitors, and saliva samples were taken before and after the session. Volunteers were asked to sit in a small room with the dog and pet them calmly, speaking in a soothing tone of voice. The session was recorded for behavior analysis.

Petting Benefits

Measurements showed that the dogs had lower heart rates at the end of the session, as well as increased heart rate variability. Heart rate variability — whether the distance between heartbeats is regular or irregular — is an indicator of emotional state. Under stress, heartbeats are more regular. The increase in heart rate variability showed that the dogs had become more relaxed.

Cortisol measures did not show a difference, which McGowan says is not surprising in such a short time. She also notes that cortisol can be tricky to interpret because it’s really a measure of arousal, which can be negative or positive. However, the fact that cortisol did not increase suggested that the dogs were not stressed by the experience.

The dogs’ behavior also showed increased signs of relaxation, although the study did note individual differences, with the dogs falling into three general groups. “We had a good portion of the dogs that enjoyed this so much that they just melted into a puddle in the person’s lap,” she says. “We had other dogs that enjoyed it but also enjoyed walking around checking out the room, then going back to the person.” The third group seemed to not quite get it. “They stood at the door, like they were saying, ‘Are we going for a walk now? What are we doing in this room?’ ” she says. “But regardless, in all the dogs we saw a positive impact in their behavior.”

Volunteers Benefit Too

Erica Feuerbacher of Virginia Tech, who studies shelter dog welfare, calls this study “fascinating and very important.” She says, “The idea that you can just pop in and spend 15 or 20 minutes with a shelter dog and improve its welfare opens the door for more people to interact meaningfully with shelter dogs and know that they’re making a difference.”

Since the study shows the value of just sitting quietly with a dog, it also opens up opportunities for volunteers who don’t have the physical ability or inclination for more strenuous types of interaction, she says.

Volunteer training is important, since first meeting a stranger is exciting, and most people aren’t naturally inclined to greet dogs in a calm way. Volunteers for the study were given specific instructions on how to pet and interact with the dogs. “I don’t think it would take too long to train people to interact appropriately and let the dog have some say in whether they want to approach and interact,” Feuerbacher says.

The study also highlights the importance of providing shelter dogs opportunities to relax. McGowan says the interaction in the study was different from what dogs usually had with volunteers at this shelter. “In most cases the volunteers walk dogs, so dogs see a volunteer and think, ‘Oh, I’m going on a walk,’ which is exciting,” she says. “We wanted to try to trigger the opposite positive emotion, that state of relaxation, because that’s something shelter dogs often don’t get much opportunity for.”

Relaxation Nation

Dogs in shelters are already in a stimulating environment, with lots of noise and activity, but often the only enrichment they get provides even more stimulation. “You go into a shelter and often the dogs are bouncing off the walls, and there is the idea that they have this pent-up energy and what they need is to get out and run,” says Feuerbacher. “We’re now starting to challenge that notion a little bit. Do we know, is that really what they need?”

A lot of what we do with our dogs at home — cuddling on the couch watching TV, say — is like the calm interaction in this study. While it seems as if we’re doing nothing, it’s an important bonding experience. And while shelter dogs may appear to already spend a lot of time doing nothing, it’s a different kind of nothing. “They may be doing nothing active, but are on high alert the whole time, rather than getting to relax,” she says.

Shelters can give dogs breaks from that stimulation in several ways. One that Feuerbacher suggests is an office foster program, where a dog gets to hang out in someone’s office at the shelter for a few hours.

McGowan also notes that relaxed dogs are easier to work with. Sitting quietly with a dog for 15 minutes ahead of a veterinary exam or grooming is worthwhile for everyone involved, she says. “Spending that time to get that dog into a more positive relaxed state ahead of that handling makes the whole interaction go a lot easier.”

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Linda Lombardi writes about the animals who share our planet and our homes for magazines including The Bark, websites including National Geographic and Mongabay.com, and for the Associated Press. Her most recent book, co-authored with Deirdre Franklin, is The Pit Bull Life: A Dog Lover’s Companion.

Crisis Communication: Tips for Calming Pet Owners

Maggie MartonA 2018 article published in Veterinary Sciences synopsized a dissertation examining the connection between owner loyalty to their pets’ veterinarians and their perception of the communication from the veterinarian and staff. The study found that good communication delivered all kinds of benefits, from customer loyalty to trust in the veterinarian to likelihood of following treatment instructions to perception of a greater value for services rendered.

But good communication can be difficult, and it can feel nearly impossible in times of crisis–when a pet is ill or injured, when an animal is dying, or when a client doesn’t understand or can’t afford care options, for instance. While many communication tools are available, one promising model for veterinarians to help calm pet owners is Nonviolent Communication (NVC).

What is NVC?

The goal of NVC is to communicate and express yourself clearly, then receive what you hear back without judgment. The communication model avoids language that promotes disconnection, such as blaming, comparing, judging, or doling out advice.

Leslie Ritter-Jenkins, a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication, says NVC is being practiced in the human medical field and fits veterinary medicine well. “Because veterinarians, like many people in the medical world, are people of authority, we tend to give them a lot of power,” she says.

Being mindful of language used matters because people tend to either rebel or submit to perceived authority. This is critical in times of crisis because when a client is triggered–by fear, anger, grief, and so on–that lack of control makes communication more difficult. As the “authority” in the room, using NVC tools can establish trust and confidence between the veterinarian and client while avoiding or mitigating conflict.

It’s just one framework for clear communication, but its principles fit veterinary medicine because the foundation is built on one thing: compassion. In times of crisis, especially when life and death decisions must be made, a compassionate response can shift the tone of the conversation.

The NVC Process

According to the Center for Nonviolent Communication, the model consists of two sides: empathetically listening and honestly expressing. You can’t control what your client says–or hears–especially while facing stress or fear, but you can control your listening skills and your response. Here are the four steps to the NVC process to employ:

Observations: without judgment
Feelings: underlying emotions
Needs: universal and what makes us human (e.g. mutuality, respect, freedom, choice, partnership)
Requests: a clear, doable ask

Ritter-Jenkins points out that what a client poses as a feeling is more often a need, so the NVC skill involves drilling down to identify what’s really going on. She says, “If someone says, ‘I feel disrespected,’ their feeling isn’t disrespect. The feeling is probably hurt or scared. Their need is respect.”

Listen closely to the data your client provides either overtly or through your observations and consider whether there’s an emotion or need masked by the language. It’s a skill that takes time to hone. Practice sessions during staff meetings may be helpful.

How Can NVC Help in the Exam Room?

“All humans share the same feelings and needs. When we get out of right and wrong thinking, better or worse, appropriate or inappropriate, and we speak this language of feelings and needs, we have a language that connects us universally. When a vet can hear behind what the customer, the human customer, is saying and then use a sentence or two of empathy, it’s very efficient connecting with feelings and needs. You can get to the heart of things, what’s really happening with the customer, fast,” Ritter-Jenkins says.

She shares an example from her own life when she faced an end-of-life decision with one of her cats. Her cat suffered from an undiagnosed GI disorder. They tried various approaches, and she ultimately went to the vet for help because her cat wasn’t eating, he was losing weight, yet he was acting completely normal.

“She could hear in that data and say, ‘It sounds like you’re feeling torn because you know that there’s something physiologically wrong and the cat is likely in pain and suffering, and you’re torn because you’re seeing some normal behavior and you’re needing clarity about what’s going on.’ That would’ve been exactly right–an empathic guess,” she says. “Or she could have said, ‘It sounds like you’re feeling exasperated and want some clarity or want some support in this decision.’”

When faced with a potentially costly procedure, a devastating diagnosis, or an end-of-life decision, client reactions run the gamut, but people often shift swiftly into panic or crisis mode. Listen, then present the data, the science, while being clear that you’re not telling the client what to do. Jumping in with unsolicited advice, especially when a client is in crisis, creates a barrier to empathy, as does judging, storytelling, one-upping, and philosophizing.

One of the easiest ways to achieve this? A quick question.

Take some time during or toward the end of an appointment to ask, “Have your questions been answered? Do you have anything else that you’re concerned about that we haven’t covered?”

Practice NVC

The science supports this model of communication. “What happens is the vagus nerve that goes from our brain and feeds our heart, our lungs, and our digestive system, empathy calms that. When someone empathizes with us, our whole body relaxes. We have the beauty of this connection, and it’s not just emotional. It’s physiological,” Ritter-Jenkins says.

Earlier this year, VIN offered a course on empathy and reflective listening, which included the Nonviolent Communication text as recommended reading. The concept is gaining traction in veterinary medicine. On its website, the Center for Nonviolent Communication posts practice group meetups open to anyone wanting to learn and practice the skills. Or pick up a copy of the book, Nonviolent Communication, and practice with your staff.

Bottom line: It’s a worthwhile endeavor to communicate well with your clients, especially during times of crisis, and it might even help build your business by increasing customer loyalty. The NVC model provides a framework to achieve those goals.

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Maggie Marton is an award-winning pet writer based in the Indianapolis area. She covers dogs, cats, kids, and often the intersection of all three for print and online publications. Maggie is the author of Clicker Dog Training: The Better Path to a Well-Behaved Pup and the blogger behind OhMyDogBlog.com and TheZeroWastePet.com.

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