Pet Peeves!

While this is the time of year we should be thankful, I can’t help but also vent now and then. That’s why I named my radio show PET PEEVES at www.petliferadio.com, as well as my free monthly E-newsletter of the same title--which, incidentally, will go out late Wednesday this week (details at www.shojai.com).

I recently moderated a behavior panel at a conference. Experts included experts on both dog and cat issues. After sending some preliminary questions to the panelist ahead of time, it was interesting to see how similar their responses were.

You see, I wanted to find out what “hissed” them off about the problems they’re asked to solve. And much of it has to do with owners misunderstanding their fur-kids. Or misunderstanding directions given to them by the dog trainer or behavior expert.

While many of the popular training shows on TV promote the idea that problem behaviors can be changed (that’s a GOOD thing!), they also seem to suggest that all you need is a half hour for a cure. But if your dog or your cat has been “practicing” the bad behavior for weeks or even months, it’s much more likely to take an equal amount of time (or even longer) to get good improvement.

So the next time one of your pets hisses you off, makes you show your teeth or puts your tail in a twist, stop: breathe: think. There actually ARE some relatively easy fixes for behavior problems--I offer tips on this from time to time in the Pet Peeves newsletter, as well as here in this blog, and also on this TV segment, below: