11/12. Preventive behavioural medicine Flashcards
Pre-purchase counselling for owners: What makes a suitable pet?
- No appreciable risk of harm to the community or the environment
- Adequately meet the needs of the species within captivity
- Suitable interactions with humans to ensure continued commitment
- For common companion species:
- Breed
- Health
- Morphology
- Behaviour
- Age
- Energy
- Training
- Health concerns
- Sex differences
- Source
Ethical Sourcing; where should dogs come from?
- ‘Adopt don’t shop’ is a great concept, but not realistic – for dogs
- Only use breeders that prioritize good health, behaviour and welfare
standards - Does large-scale necessarily mean that the breeder is bad?
- Beware of importation
- Sources of further information for clients, for pre-puchase info
- Kennel clubs
- Humane organizations (eg. ASPCA, BCSPCA)
- Online breed selector programs
Overview of early behaviour education for clients
- Appropriate socialization
- Appropriate training methods
- Meeting behavioural needs
- Pet-proofing
- Early behaviour issues
* Housetraining (covered later), jumping up, puppy biting/chewing, kitten rough play
What is the MOST CRITICAL topic to cover during early appointments?
behaviour-related topics
Socialization for puppies and kittens; how do we do it, why is it important
Appropriate early exposure is critical to normal development
* Promoting normal development of social and exploratory behaviours through early exposure to a variety of different people, animals, places and things – socialization
Early learning key to prevention of behaviour problems
* Safe objects and environments
* Appropriate social partners
* Appropriate species-typical behaviours
Sensitive periods; what are they? what happens once they close?
- Attachments and familiarity develop relatively easily and rapidly
- Starts with social and environmental exploration
- Once close, new things are treated with suspicion, slower process
sensitive periods for cats and dogs; when are they?
- Puppies – 3 to 16 weeks
- Kittens – 2 to 9 weeks
Canine Behavioural Development
- Neonatal – first 2 weeks
- Mainly sleeping and nursing, seeking tactile contact
- Transition – 2-3 weeks
- Eyes and ears open, become mobile, start interactions, eating solid
foods - Socialization – 3 to 12(-16* said in previous slide?) weeks
- Maturation of motor skills and nervous system
- Imprinting – dog identification and learning social limits
- 5-8 weeks optimum for socialization
- 8-14 weeks stranger danger develops, also parallel fear of objects
- Juvenile period
- Reinforcement of socialization and environmental complexity necessary
Feline Behavioural Development
- Neonatal – first week
- Eating, sleep, basic interactions with mother and littermates
- Transitional – second week
- Begins adult forms of eating and locomotion, emergence of
social behaviours - Socialization – 2 to 7(-9** from last slide) weeks
- Formation of social bonds/familiarity
- Adolescent
- Maturation of motor skills
- Ongoing socialization
- Adoption ideally at 10-16 weeks?
Inadequate socialization - Dogs; how does it occur?
Complete isolation from humans
* Withdrawal from humans starting after 5 weeks
* Intractable fear of humans after 14 weeks
Hand-rearing with isolation from other dogs
* After 12 weeks, passive with peers leading to later aggression
* Altered interactions with humans
how much socialization is required to avoid inadequate socialization?
- Only minutes of exposure per day is necessary to ameliorate extreme effects
- But reduced exposure to particular stimuli results in increased fear and aggression
Inadequate socialization - Cats; when does this occur? what are the results? how to avoid?
- Increased human avoidance when handling occurs outside of the 2-7 week period
- More handling associated with increased friendliness in adulthood
> Upper limit of ~1 hour per day - Enhanced socialization results in reduced fear in response to humans
in adult cats - Kittens exposed to puppies from 4 weeks of age showed no fear at 12 weeks of age, those unexposed very fearful
Fear-related issues
- Reduced welfare
- Related behaviour problems
- Eg. Aggression, noise phobia, house-soiling
- Consequences of behaviour problems and reduced bonding with pet
Benefits of socialization for veterinary care
Well-socialized pets will be easier to handle for both the owner and veterinary staff
* More complete physical exams
* More accurate diagnostics with reduced stress
* Easier to deliver treatments and increased client compliance * Owner more likely to bring pet to the vet
when should we tell owners about sensitive period?
Engage owners at first appointment
* Sensitive period is a limited window and occurs early
* Ends 12-16 weeks for puppies, 7-9 weeks for kittens
* Many owners aren’t aware of socialization requirements or are misinformed about risks
* Veterinarians are the only consistent exposure that puppy and kitten owners have during this time
* One of the most trusted sources of information
Effects of age of adoption for puppies
- Compared 3—40 days versus 70 days, higher rates of various behaviour problems in early weaned dogs
for socialization; What about older puppies and kittens?
For well-socialized animals
* Socialization should continue throughout the life of the animal
For poorly socialized animals
* Most won’t have complete deprivation, so some base to build on
* Will take longer with more effort, lack of generalization
* Particularly important for experiences to be positive
what types of stimuli should a puppy or kitten be exposed to during their sensitive period?
- Everything the puppy or kitten is likely to encounter later in life
- Use checklists
- Open discussion on lifestyle with owners
- Consider what life might be like over next 10 years
- People
- Dogs/cats
- Environments
- Sounds
- Surfaces
- Handling
- Transportation
Managing disease risks and safety concerns for socialization period; risks of disease? how to manage with vaccines?
- There are disease and safety risks associated with socialization activities… but the risk of serious behaviour problems without proper socialization is much higher!
- Risk of contracting canine parvovirus, but probably small based on studies
- Encourage owners to start vaccine series as early as possible
> Wait 1 week after first vaccination for titre to build - Prior to this, socialize but stick to safe activities
- After this, start moderately safe activities
- Following complete series, expand to more ‘risky’ activities
after first vaccination, how should we manage risks of socialization?
Choose safe dogs for socialization
* Fully vaccinated adults that play gently
* Healthy puppies with at least first vaccination
Choose safe environments
* Puppy classes with appropriate cleaning and vaccination
requirements
* Low traffic areas where potentially unsafe dogs can be avoided
* Avoid the dog park and other busy areas where control is limited
Managing disease risks and safety concerns - caveats
- Disease risks can vary by region and with season
- Be aware of risks in your area
Primary goal of good puppy classes
- Primary goal of good puppy classes is socialization
- Safe environment with various staged encounters
- Many owners aren’t aware of this
- Not all classes offer these opportunities
- Kitten classes are also available, but not as common
Choosing a puppy/kitten class
- Encourage owners to ask lots of questions
- All puppies should have at least first vaccination
- Clean and free of potential dangers
- Positive-reinforcement based methods
- Good rapport with instructors
- AVSAB handout on finding a trainer
puppy class expected outcomes
- Puppy class attendance
↑ positive response to stranger (Kutsumi, 2003)
↑ retention in the home (Duxbury, 2003)
↑ response to commands (Seksel et al., 1999)
↑ social exposure of puppies (Cutler et al., 2017)
↓ signs of fear of noises and of crate (Cutler et al., 2017)
↓ use of punishment-based methods (Cutler et a., 2017)
Proper methods for socialization
- Make experiences positive for the puppy or kitten
- Gradual, passive exposure
- Limit the number of stimuli at one time
- Pay attention for signs of fear
- Appropriate rest and down time
- Pair exposure with good things like food and attention
- Train owners to manage situations, and to recognize fear and avoid it
What does a fearful kitten look like?
Fear behaviour:
* Hissing, open mouth
* Piloerection
* Arched posture
* Ears and whiskers back
* Pupil dilation
Avoidance behaviour:
* Struggling or moving away
* Refusing treats
Contrast with engaged behaviour:
* Ears, whiskers and posture forward
What does a fearful puppy look like?
Fear behaviour:
* Lowered posture
* Ears back
* Tail tucked
* Freezing and barking
* Subtle behaviours like lip licking, paw lifting, panting,
yawning and flinching
Avoidance behaviour:
* Struggling or moving away
* Refusing treats
What if the puppy or kitten is showing signs of fear? How to respond?
- Some fear is normal
- How to respond?
- Don’t coddle and immediately rescue, but be kind and remove if they escalate
- Encourage approach using vocal cues and gestures, and luring them with treats and toys (if fearful and won’t approach on own)
- Use desensitization and counter-conditioning for persistent fears
When should clients seek further help for fear?
- Exaggerated, persistent, or inappropriate fear given the context
- Signs of emerging aggression:
- Growling, lip-lifting, inhibited or actual bites in puppies
- Outside of the context of play
- Persistent defensive behaviours in kittens
- Discuss with client whether behaviour warrants assistance from a trainer versus a veterinary behaviorist
when is sensitive period for puppies and kittens? what is needed during this period for normal behavioural development?
- Sensitive period is 3-16 weeks for puppies and 2-9 weeks for kittens
- For normal behavioural development, positive exposure to everything in normal life is necessary during this period
- Lack of socialization can lead to fear, aggression, and other related behaviour problems
Learn to earn programs; what are they?
prevent behavioural problems
- Make the puppy work for everything
- No meals – use all for for training (extreme use)
- Develop consistent rules and reinforce them
- Rewards for correct behaviours, ignore/redirect incorrect behaviours
- Can also do training with cats
Destructive behaviours, hyperactivity, separation anxiety, abnormal repetitive behaviours, attention-seeking behaviour, rough play
=>often have what root?
Many behaviour and welfare issues rooted in inadequate mental and physical stimulation
Exercise needs for dogs
- Depends on the breed – not correlated with size
- Minimum 15 minutes 2x/day, most need more
- Working breeds/younger dogs need more duration/intensity
- Should be consistent and predictable
Cats – indoor vs outdoor
Indoor:
* Lower risk of injury and disease
* Eliminate impacts on bird and small mammal populations
* Municipal bylaws
* Nuisance to others
Outdoor:
* Enhanced exercise
* Enhanced stimulation
* Decreased risk of behaviour problems?
* BUT we can meet many of these needs safely without free roaming
AAFP Guidelines on Environmental Needs for cats
5 Pillars
- Provide a safe place
- Provide multiple and separated key environmental resources
- Provide opportunity for play and predatory behaviour
- Provide positive, consistent, and predictable human-cat social interaction
- Provide an environment that respects the importance of the cat’s sense of smell
purpose of pet-proofing
Key to preventing development of problem behaviours
* Destruction, housetraining
Remove potential issues to keep them out of trouble
* Tether when not directly monitoring
* Safe rooms – close doors, use baby gates
* Crate training
Dealing with ‘unruly’ behaviours; general strategies
General management strategies:
* Be aware of arousal levels – stop play when puppy/kitten gets too excited
* Interrupt and redirect to an appropriate outlet (eg. enrichment)
* Negative punishment to reduce the behaviour
how to deal with jumping up?
- Interrupt jumping behaviour, require sit for treat or attention
- Can also remove interactions with jumping
how to deal with Puppy biting and chewing
Teach bite inhibition, plus provide appropriate outlets for chewing to prevent chewing on people and inappropriate objects
how to avoid kitten rough play
- Same general techniques as for puppies with interrupting and redirecting onto appropriate items
- Never use hands and feet for play – toys instead
how to avoid kitten scratching
- Appropriate monitoring
- Provide appropriate scratching outlets and train to use them
- Make other items unattractive
- Preventing behaviour problems hinges on
- Appropriate early exposure
- Appropriate mental and physical stimulation
- Proper management to prevent bad behaviour
- Early training for learn to earn, and ‘unruly’ behaviour issues
- Much easier to prevent problems than to fix them!
