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Bad Dog Behavior Can Be Remedied by Veterinarians

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

The California Veterinary Medical Association issued a statement today that if your dog is uncontrollable, try taking it to a veterinarian to determine if a medical problem is causing bad behavior.

Ron Faoro DVM, President of the CMVA said...
"We urge pet owners to see a veterinarian first when bad behavior surfaces because a veterinarian can determine whether a medical problem is contributing to the behavior problem. Veterinarians can diagnose medical conditions and recommend proper treatment. In cases where there is not a contributing health factor, veterinarians may refer the pet owner to a board-certified veterinary behavior specialist for therapy."
The CMVA cites bad behavior as the leading cause of pets being surrendered to shelters. Many dog owners don't already know that there are board-certified veterinarians who deal specifically with behavior, and that taking your dog to a veterinarian is a great way to determine if a dog needs a such a specialist.

"Early intervention is key for a pet owner when it comes to preventing a dog's or cat's behavior problems," added Melissa Bain, DVM, UC Davis' Veterinary Medical Hospital faculty and one of California's six board-certified veterinary behaviorists. "Puppies need to be socialized and trained at an early age. After 14 weeks, socialization becomes more difficult. For cats, litter training is also an important step in preventing problems."

Dr. Bain goes on to warn that anyone can adopt the title of animal trainer or
behaviorist and, while some may be good at what they do, she recommends pet owners seek a veterinarian first, particularly if a dog or cat becomes too aggressive.

2 Comments:

  • OK, I've dealt with this situation personally. First off, any good dog trainer will try to determine if a behavior has a medical cause. That is just common sense. Second, it is rare that an aggression issue has a medical cause. This is just a scare tactic to get you to spend money at your vets office. Third, these so-called certified animal behaviorists are not all they are cracked up to be. They generally come from a perspective that behavior problems have a medical cause, drugs are often a first choice treatment, that clicker training is the solution to fixing problems, that you should use every politically correct training device and method, and that dog training (and dog trainers) is a waste of time.

    Sorry, but I've worked with many dogs that were dangerously aggressive. I'm working with many right now. They don't need a veterinarian.

    I also have a customer who went to a certified animal behaviorist / vet who diagnosed her dog with obsessive compulsive behavior, and put the dog on an anti-anxiety medication. I knew this dog and had worked with it before... but the owner decided that she didn't want to do the homework and wanted a quick fix instead. Of course, there has been no improvement, and actually the dog is now worse, and the owner admits that. If this vet knew what they were doing, the dog would be better. So, the dog is going to be taken off the drugs and silly old me will fix this with proper training. We had to go through all of this to get back to fixing the problem the way it should be fixed. The dog is not OCD.

    By Blogger Sam Basso, at 8:03 AM, October 12, 2006  

  • I don't know Sam...I see your point but I also know that lots of average people have never and would never consider using the services of a dog trainer; they think its either not necessary ("my dog knows how to sit, stay, etc") or think the $$ will be too great. My mom was shocked when I told her we were bringing someone in to work with our dog; she thought we were throwing our money away.

    I think its always good to get second opinions or even different opinions, that way a person realizes there are different perspectives out there and then can perhaps go back to both the vet and trainer and tell them what they learned from the other party. My vet has several citations from great care, but he demonstrated respect for and interest in the opinion from the trainer we called in. In the end, we ended up using info from the vet and the trainer and all is well.

    I have to add though, that a trainer may be really good, but I could never believe that he/she can successfully diagnose 100% of the time that a bad behavior was due to a medical condition; people need balanced opinions.

    lisa

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:26 PM, October 13, 2006  

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