Reisner Veterinary Behavior Services, LLC

06/08/2023

Good article. "Dogs are social animals, yes, and need exposure to other animals. But much like us, they’re not necessarily well suited to random interactions with a rotating cast of strangers, each with disparate social skills and reactive tendencies."

It’s not an oasis. It’s a thunderdome for pooches.

17/07/2023

Herschel demonstrates a new cynosport: Walnut Herding.

01/07/2023

Tips for a Fear Free Fourth of July -- short notice for an interesting Zoom event today (Saturday, July 1) at 4 pm EDT.

Join pet professionals and a professional pianist for a calming dog-focused concert and tips for reducing stress during noise events.

28/06/2023

While we're trying to , here's one more fight to fight.

Stop fireworks. There are no real benefits, as they terrify many pets, veterans with PTSD, and humans on the spectrum, and they pollute

31/05/2023

In the past week there have been several incidents of aggression by neighborhood dogs who have either left unfenced yards or have pulled out of the control of their humans.

1. A neighbor with a recently rescued, fearful and anxious dog - who has worked diligently to help her overcome her fear and defensive behavior with unfamiliar dogs with avoidance, feeding and gentle handling - was walking past another neighbor's house when an unleashed and quite aggressive dog attacked hers.

2. A friend was walking her sometimes reactive dog when she spotted an elderly woman approaching with two dogs on leash. The friend took her dog up a quiet driveway to feed/counter condition and reassure her. She saw the woman turn back towards home, counted to 60, and resumed her walk, feeling reassured that the two dogs were now in their own driveway, held on leash. When she got closer, the two dogs both lunged aggressively and - yes - the woman dropped both leashes. One of the dogs attacked her dog, biting her face; the other bit my friend in the hand.

3. I was walking my Cardis (always on leash) past someone's house where a dog with a history of aggression to other dogs was off leash in the unfenced front yard. A request to the resident to put the dog on leash or indoors so that I could walk past was met with anger.

We have all experienced the person with an off leash and out of control dog who yells "he's friendly!!" as their dog gallops away from them and towards us, but in each of the above cases these were dogs with known histories of aggression to unfamiliar dogs. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I feel that one incident might be resolved with a civil conversation; more than one incident should involve police. It is just unacceptable.

[My own photo from a different day, different place]

28/05/2023

"It's OK - dogs love me!"

One of my go-to behavior peeps is Mullinax (http://serenitycanine.com) whose videos, blogs and posts are smart and so informative. Plus, she is d***ed funny. This is one I share with clients again and again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu4FGW1bT-0

If you have a dog that is shy or fearful, this technique can keep your dog safe and prevent dog bites.

17/05/2023

Go right ahead and work. Don't mind me.

16/05/2023

Content warning: Injured dog - but she is OK now.

To be filed under: "You can't make this stuff up."

“I said, ‘You bit my finger.’ I hold up my hand, blood’s pouring out of it,” Burleson said. “He said, ‘I meant to bite my dog.’”

First of all, this is a good example of stereotype-busting. Any dog breed or mix is capable of biting; in pairs or in groups, that potential is greatly increased. This off-lead group of standard poodles has apparently caused problems in the past as well, which is no surprise. The attack on the corgi (who is 13 years old, by the way) was likely predatory behavior. And then, of course, their "pack leader" sounds like a [fill in the blank], with his own personal solution for interrupting the behavior. There is no way to stop the behavior of group of aroused dogs. These dogs should be removed and placed in responsible homes; the man needs to be crated, long-term.

[If you choose to share and want to include the above comment, you'll need to copy/paste; please include attribution to facebook.com/reisnervetbehavior ]

13/05/2023

When one lives with a large animal veterinarian, one gets some interesting catalogs in the mail. This ad, though, is pretty wonderful

01/05/2023

Does anyone know how to remove the "Call Now" button from the previous post? I am stuck in a FB vortex. It appeared unintentionally. Thanks for any help.

30/04/2023

Veterinary behavior services to pet owners and veterinarians in the PA-NJ-DE region, as well as consu

24/04/2023

Rabbits! 🐰The upcoming ACVB webinar is a wonderful opportunity to learn about living with and understanding the behavior of these interesting companions. Memories of Darwin, the brilliant Flemish Giant house rabbit who lived with me during my residency.

21/04/2023

21/04/2023

A timely and must-read article by Zazie Todd about red flags on some dog training websites. They are right in front of our noses if we just know how to be discerning...and smart discernment is a must in order to keep dogs safe from aversive methods.

There are differences in words used by aversive and non-aversive trainers.

16/02/2023

Andrew Wyeth was a brilliant painter but, sadly, he had to do without a Cardigan corgi. And Dumbledore quotes.

14/02/2023

From an inquiry I received about an anxious dog: "I had an appointment scheduled with a trainer through [a certain dog training franchise which uses chain pillows and sq**rt bottles as their M.O.] for tomorrow and was advised by the vet that this would not be helpful."

Thank you to the veterinarians who recognize the need for non-aversive management and (sometimes) anti-anxiety medication, instead of yelling, throwing and sq**rting, to help worried dogs and their humans.

06/02/2023

"Do Dogs Mean to be Mean?" - come join us for February's ACVB Webinar by Dr. Debra Horwitz.

Dr. Horwitz is a wonderful speaker -- highly recommended!

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8120737123734099982

31/01/2023

Tuesday's Pearl (actually a Mini-Pearl...groan, I know, but I hope at least one of you gets it :)):

If you live with two or more cats who get along well, and one of them passes away, don't assume that the remaining cat(s) "need" a friend to replace the one they've lost. That relationship can't be recreated any more than our own relationships with the people we miss.

The best way to bring more than one cat into a home is to adopt them at the same time. All cats are certainly social, but they do *not* easily absorb unfamiliar cats into an established social environment. Bringing a new cat into an established cat home, especially when the household cat is elderly, can backfire with spectacular stress.

02/01/2023

Wait. What happened? Is it really 2023?

In that case, onward and upward -- please watch this space for...well, for more. I hope you had a peaceful, light-filled and furry holiday season.

28/10/2022

I love to see the different ways enrichment has been provided in zoos. On a visit to the recently we watched this enormous Nile (African) softshell turtle pushing and playing with a Jolly Ball for quite a while. You can also see the piles of whiffle balls under the water. (What a far cry from the ridiculous and tiny plastic pools, complete with a plastic palm tree, that kids used to contain baby turtles won at carnivals - shudder.) Very cool!

27/10/2022

How to train a new behavior? Let us count the ways - here are four.

(It helps to use a marker, such as a clicker or a word, after first teaching that the marker and food go together. And, of course, you can replace 'dog' with cat, bird, rat, rabbit, reptile, fish, child or spouse :)).

1. Wait for the dog to spontaneously perform the behavior, mark and reward (hence the cartoon!).

2. Prompt the behavior with a lure, such as food. When it is performed, feed. Slowly decrease use of the lure after a short period, replacing it with a verbal or visual signal, still followed by marking and feeding.

3. Do something unpleasant to the dog, such as a pinch, choke, shock or threat. When the dog begins to perform the desirable behavior, stop the pinch, choke, shock or threat.

4. Punish the "opposite" behavior. This is a little harder to illustrate, but imagine punishing a dog who jumps up, because you want her to sit instead.

The first two options use positive reinforcement and result in a dog who enjoys the interaction and learns the behavior. The third option uses negative reinforcement which, for many dogs, results in stress and fear. Ditto for option 4, which uses (positive) punishment.

Any of these can be effective in teaching a behavior, and any can produce a performance worthy of ribbons and titles. But look at the dog closely. Is she bright, willing and perhaps a little goofy? Is he rigid and just going through the motions? This is interesting to do, for example, at a performance competition such as an obedience trial. By observing his/her attitude and body language, as well as interactions with the handler, you can usually deduce which training methods have been used.

26/10/2022

To be filed under: FINALLY.

A class action lawsuit has been brought against shock collar manufacturer, Radio Systems Corporation, and PetSafe (the first of many euphemisms), in California. The text itself is available at the link below and is gratifying to read. It's about time this was taken through legal channels. Shock-based products are aversive and can cause fear, fear-related aggression, stress and, of course, pain. Still, the company's products are displayed front and center as consumers walk into big box stores. It's manipulative and deceptive to claim that shock collars work by tickling dogs (and cats). Here are a couple of selections from the legal filing, which can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HmTCdf_F8vKWOgltVAsCssZeoG4J5POP/view

"In an effort to extract money from unsuspecting consumers concerned over the well-being of their pets, Radio Systems manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells dozens of Shock Collar Products through its websites and nationwide retailers’ physical stores and websites, while falsely claiming that the Shock Collar Products are “safe” and “harmless” tools for preventing unwanted behaviors."

"To conceal the truth about the harmful propensities of Shock Collar Products, Radio Systems uses neutral euphemisms to describe what being electrocuted feels like for a domestic pet. Some of the terms that it uses to falsely describe a painful electric shock are terms such as “static correction,” “vibration,”
“tickle,” and “stimulation.”

We hope this is only the beginning of consumer awakening about cruelty in the manufacture and marketing of shock-based and other aversive pet products.

12/10/2022

Well, it looks like I'll have to stop the car.

I appreciate when a post generates comments, but not when they turn vitriolic and disrespectful.

Our constant readers know that this happens with some regularity here. There was a fatal dog bite incident recently that I chose not to share in spite of what I thought were opportunities for learning, because of previous fires on this page. Wishful thinking that a discussion could be civil and that we could actually debate a controversial topic without verbal cruelty.

This thread is now on deletion row - just a heads up. If you have any thoughts about that decision, please let me know here, not there.