Pet Behavior Modification Essay

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Behavioral Modification in Pets (separation anxiety, inter-pet aggression)
Research: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/pethealth/dog_basics/behavior_of_dogs/behavior_modification_in_dogs.html http://www.treehouseanimals.org/site/PageServer?pagename=caring_ccg_changing_cat_behavior Meta Description: Modifying your pet’s behavior can be challenging, but it can be accomplished. Here’s a quick rundown of techniques that work and how to avoid mistakes.
Meta Key Words: Behavior modification dogs, Behavior modification cats, Dog training, Training your cat

Turning Your Pet into a Well-Behaved Companion Animal
Whether you are bringing home your first kitten or first puppy, attempting to re-home a rescue animal, or trying to correct newly emergent bad …show more content…

Most stimuli that an animal is consistently exposed to it will become accustomed to over time. This is why socializing your pet to other animals and a wide-range of people are a good idea and will generally keep them for reacting to new people of animals. However, many animals will never habituate to potentially dangerous situations and spontaneous recovery (reemergence) of the behavior is possible if the animal experiences long periods without the stimulus in question.
Habituation is an example of conditioning. Most behavioral modification relies on conditioning of one form or another, whether by pairing a desired result with a reward, or by discouraging an unwanted behavior by removing a reward (typically attention of one form or another). Reinforcement of conditioning is accomplished through consistent reaction to behavior either rewarding or discouraging behaviors that are desirable or undesirable. Desensitization takes this technique to its extreme by flooding the animal with the stimulus in increasing stages until it stops …show more content…

It involves the removal of attention that the animal may be seeking through the undesirable behavior. This technique is especially effective in dealing with dogs that jump up on people to gain attention. Ignoring the behavior and only rewarding the dog with attention when it is not jumping up are the keys to conditioning the animal away from the

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