Behaviour

Behaviour

1. Emotions

   • Frustration
     • Thwarting of an action
       • Common
       • Intensifies existing behaviour
       • Problem animal becomes a danger
   • Relief
     • Successful completion of a motivation
       • Nothing bad happens
   • Fear
     • Has a stimulus relating to it
       • related to negative conception
   • Anxiety
     • anticipation of a potentially negative outcome
       • new situation
       • new environment
       • previous negative experience
   • Phobia
     • Maladaptive
       • Irrational fear
         • out of proportion to risk
           • fear lasts a disproportionate amount of time to the risk

2. Approaches to Behaviour

   • 1. Description of the signs
     • barking
     • destruction
     • biting
   • 2. Description of motivation and emotion
     • anxiety
     • fear
     • frustration
   • 3. Working on the symptoms
     • Aversive (suppressive) methods
       • signal to animals that behaviour is unwanted
         • prevents the expression of the behaviour
         • spray water
         • rattle can
         • shout
         • shock collar
           • !extreme cases!
     • Barrier methods
       • emotion expressed but consequences avoided
         • muzzles
         • leads
         • baby gates
         • safety is paramount
           • of animal, owner and public
         • there are legal implications
           • section 3 of dangerous dogs act.
             • applies to all dogs and owners
         • animal needs to be able to express emotions
       • short term solution

3. Causes of behavioural issue

   • Stimulus
     • e.g. stranger or infection
     • Emotion
       • Behavioural response
         • Consequence
           • e.g injury or mess on carpet
         • e.g biting or diarrhoea
         • could input here to cause a barrier.
           • animal still 'sick' but no consequence
       • e.g fear or pain
     • !!Need to break reaction between stimulus and emotion ideally!!

4. Need to work on the motivation

   • changes the need for the bad behaviour
     • determining the motivation
       • take a behavioural history
         • rearing, interactions, routine, experiences, reactions to stimuli
         • medical conditions
         • observe the animals directly on indirectly
         • interpret body language signals
         • understand the influence of the family system and environment
     • Consider contexts
       • behaviour does not occur in isolation
       • physical and social context
       • information needed: why, where, when, whom?

5. Improving Behaviour

   • Modifying emotions
     • depends on self confidence
     • lack of self confidence fosters anxiety
     • lack of consistency and predictability fosters emotional instability
     • unrealistic expectations fosters frustration
   • Creating emotional stability
     • genetic influences on emotions (breed standards affect this)
     • start early - socialisation, habituation
       • must be in a positive emotional state
     • remember significance of animals natural ethology
       • dogs are pack animals
       • cats solitary
     • enhance self confidence
     • decrease confusion
     • be consistant
   • Enhance self confidence
     • reward decision making
       • spontaneous
       • guided
     • reward appropriate responses even when expected
     • ignore needy behaviour
       • no reward
       • no rejection
     • reward emotional recovery
     • modify environment
       • pheramones
   • Reduce confusion
     • face licking
       • gathering scents, not showing affection
     • hugs
       • form of attack
   • group benefits
     • no bullying in leadership
     • confidence is contagious