Harvey has been more sensitive to sounds since arriving home - running under the bed when he hears a noise from outside out apartment. Now that he has had time to settle in we have started some work on this - starting with simple, basic associations - resting in a calm location, making different noises within his tolerance level, and pairing with food.
In the meantime, I can't noise-proof the house or stop the traffic but I can mask some of the noise and the suddenness of noises by playing music or an audiobook. Both of these have been shown to reduce stress for pets in different environments.
This is Badger, she is scared of new things such as this rubbish on the nature strip, new people and sudden noises. She also finds being separated from her caregiver worrying and frustrating.
Badger didn't get the best start to life - she was surrendered after her breeder was unable to pay for the cost of treating her tick paralysis. She has now been in her new home for just 2 weeks and they have reached out to me so we can optimise her emotional development to give her the best chance of becoming a confident and resilient little dog.
Some of the steps we are taking to work towards this:
- Making sure she is getting enough sleep (at least 12-14 hours a day)
- Using treat scatters and brain games in the house to encourage sniffing and finding treats on her own to build confidence
- Repeated treat scatters on the ground on walks
- Shorter walks to prioritise positive experiences over many experiences.
- Rewarding her for moving towards or looking at something by dropping treats behind her (to give her a brain break and not force her to go closer than she can manage)
- Use of play to build social skills
I can't wait to see how Badger progresses.
Loved watching these cuties on our honeymoon but excited to be back working with just dogs and cats. #justmarried #DrWoods #namenowmatches #stilllovecockerspaniels
Saturday puppy fun with this spunk, Winston.
Case study time - This is Rosie🦮. She suffered from noise phobias from puppyhood.
When I first met Rosie for her consultation, she would hide under the table, pant, tremble and hypersalivate when she heard traffic going past the house, helicopters, fireworks, thunder and even heavy rain.
She would then show signs of anxiety in anticipation of thunder or fireowrks during the following weeks and wouldn't want to go outside after dark.
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Due to Rosie being fearful of many noises, especially those we could not avoid, she was prescribed specific medication to help reduce her sensitivity to noises and to bring her associated emotions down to a level where she could start to learn that noises are ok.
Along with her caregiver's diligent work on her behaviour management plan, this has made significant improvements to Rosie’s life and we’re extremely pleased with how she is progressing.
For example, Rosie can now listen to a motorbike passing the house, put her head up but stay settled - Something she would have never managed previously!
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The months of November and December aren’t too kind to our furry friends with noise phobias as Guy Fawkes Night, Christmas, and New Year’s celebrations are often noisy affairs.
Fortunately for Rosie, we have started a treatment plan and we hope she continues being a happy, healthy golden Labrador.
How are you keeping warm today?
#soundon #purring #happydrool #lazysundays #itstoocoldoutside #backtobed
Harvey Update 3
Co-ordination is improving - check out the two step execution….but some supervision is still needed.
#cattraining #catcurious #harveythecat #animalbehaviour #behaviourmedicine
Harvey UPDATE: After many, many sessions of rewarding the paw movement to the board, he has finally built some co-ordination(!) and can get the close ones himself. Still very good at also pushing the kibble away, and so back up required.
#internaltionalcatcare has posted that 95% of cat owners what more advice on training their cat - What advice do you want for your cat training?
#Harveythecat #BeCatCurious #progress #catbehaviour
Step one for Harvey - Shaping behaviour - taking the smallest, first step that is offered and rewarding it.
Aim: To encourage that tiny behaviour to be performed more and more.
Top tips: As soon as the behaviour is performed-REWARD - this gives Harvey the best chance of knowing what he did to get the reward.
2. A verbal "good' can mark that the reward is coming. This allows a little more time to get the reward (food) to his mouth
3. Go S L O W - - - decide on the smallest step to reward and stick to it. It is 100% better to reward every time at the simple behaviour than raise the stakes too quickly and they get confused at what they need to do.
#Harveythecat #BeCatCurious #shapingbehaviour #catbehaviour #whatareyougoingtoteach
I decided it was time to level up Harvey's food toys, however he currently thinks this one is too hard... Time for some training; putting my skills to the test.
See tomorrows video for an update on our first steps.
#Harveythecat #internationalcatday #BeCatCurious #indoorcatlife #catenrichment #cattraining #catbehaviour
