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The sad truth is that more pets are put to sleep because of behavioral problems than are put to sleep because of disease and injury. Good behavior can help make your pet safer and more enjoyable but it will take some effort on your part. The more you invest in your time and effort, the greater will be your reward. For puppies, your priority should be to help socialize them to as many different people and experiences as possible. As a start, we strongly urge you to stop by our office on a weekly basis for what we call Happy Visits. It only takes a few minutes to stop in with your new family member so that we can give them a few tasty treats and a hug. We have been very successful at developing dog patients that are positively thrilled to visit our practice using this approach. It is hard to have a positive image of their visits if every visit is associated with an unpleasant injection, test, or surgical procedure. Periodic Happy Visits also help positively acclimate them to car travel. If they are happier about their visits it will make the experience infinitely more enjoyable for you and your new friend, and it will make our job much easier and more enjoyable for us too. After they have completed their puppy vaccination series we would strongly recommend you plan on attending one of the many area obedience classes. This helps socialize them to many different dogs and people and it lays a foundation upon which future training can be built. All family members should participate if possible, especially children. Ask at the front desk for our current list of obedience/training opportunities in the area. As they learn basic commands like "sit" and "down", your dog should be asked to perform a task before they are fed or given treats. This helps to promote a dominant position of authority over the dog. Remember, your dog thinks like a dog and you think like a person. You can help your dog be a better pet by learning how to think like a dog. We doubt your dog will ever learn how to think like a person. Crate training generally prevents destructive problems but we need to know right away if you are experiencing difficulties. Separation anxieties are not uncommon and are, generally, quite treatable. Dominant aggression is also a common problem for dog owners. Many dogs think that they are leader of the pack and we need to know right away if your pet is one of them. Some behavioral problems are tougher than others. Behavioral Management has become one of the many areas of our profession that has benefited greatly from the development of Board Certified Specialists. We will advise you when we think a problem has become serious enough to warrant the involvement of a veterinary behavioral specialist.
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