Illustrated Articles
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A successful life with a family dog starts with great training for your puppy. Planning to set puppies up for success, learning how to use management, positive reinforcement, luring, capturing, and shaping will help owners train their puppies successfully. Positive puppy training and socialization classes are also beneficial for healthy puppies over eight weeks of age.
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Life with puppies is complicated, and all puppies will sometimes do things their owners find problematic. Using management, planning, supervision, and positive reinforcement for the right behaviors will help puppies succeed, and owners better enjoy their companions.
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Every puppy will become a dog who needs veterinary care, grooming, and handling. Starting in puppyhood, owners can use positive training techniques to teach their puppies how to accept and enjoy restraint, basic procedures, and home husbandry.
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Training basic cues such as "sit", "stand", and "lie down" can set the foundation for all future training. These basic skills are useful behaviors that encourage good manners and tolerance of husbandry and veterinary care. Training your dog to understand cues improves communication with your puppy and improves the predictability of all interactions. Training methods based on positive reinforcement include luring, capturing and shaping.
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Providing puppies with positive socialization experiences may prevent the development of future fears. Puppy socialization must be done gently to avoid accidentally causing fear. Puppies are most primed for socialization before the age of 14 weeks. By taking precautions, some careful socialization can and should be done even before puppies have completed their entire vaccination series.
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Counterconditioning occurs when the pet's reaction (emotional response) to a stimulus is changed from one that is anxious or fearful to one that is positive and enjoyable. To accomplish this, favored rewards should be paired with each exposure to the stimulus.
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For many cats, a visit to the veterinarian can be stressful. Familiarize your cat with being inside a carrier: make the carrier a cozy and pleasant place to be – it is essential for your cat’s safety. Upon arrival at the veterinary office, try to relax and talk calmly to your cat. Bring delicious, favorite treats and a familiar towel that your cat can snuggle in during her examination.
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Many dogs experience fear associated with veterinary visits. Once recognized, fear can be reduced with gentle handling techniques and structured behavior modification exercises such as desensitization and counterconditioning. Medications that reduce anxiety can be given before the visit, while full sedation may be needed for some fearful dogs or certain procedures. Over time, dogs can learn to cooperate in their care.
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A cat’s claws are an integral part of their anatomy. Scratching behaviors are normal and serve many purposes, yet cats can cause damage and injury with their claws. By gaining an understanding of the reason that your cat uses her claws, you can provide her with alternative outlets and prevent her from causing damage to your property.
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The heroic dogs involved in search and rescue missions optimize their natural abilities to help distressed people.
