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Acquiring a New Pet
There is little else more exciting than getting a new pet. However exciting and joyous the occasion might be, you must always keep in mind that you are adding a new member to your family, and all members of the family must be in agreement and take careful consideration in making such an important decision. Although it's very hard not to instantly fall in love with a cute and cuddly puppy or kitten, or an extravagant looking exotic animal, impulse buys are rarely successful long term. An animal such as a dog or a cat live on average 13-18 years and a parrot can live longer than you so it is important to think about the animal's future. It is cruel to the animal to purchase it on an impulse only to re-home it once it has developed a bond with you but is no longer a novelty. Likewise, purchasing an animal as a present for someone else is also not a good idea often times. The person needs to search for the right animal that they feel a connection with and that will be suitable for their lifestyle. Animal shelters and rescues receive many puppies and kittens weeks after Christmas and Valentine's day because these "presents" are being returned like many other "unsuitable gifts". These people may have even initially wanted a new puppy or kitten as a present but soon realized the time and commitment involved, or found that the animal was growing larger than they had expected. Animals as presents typically only work out if the animal is given as a gift from one family member to another and all the members of the family previously discussed and were in favor of adding a pet to the family. If you want to be a part of helping someone find their new best friend, consider giving them a "certificate" in which they can redeem when they have found a suitable pet. Not only is it important to ensure that you have the time to take care of a pet, but also to understand what is involved in the care of the animal you are seeking. The internet is filled with information on the care and keeping of a variety of animals kept as pets so do your research so you can decide if you have the time to dedicate to the required care of that particular animal you are interested in adding to your family. Most of all, be certain you are ready and that your lifestyle is suitable to owning the type of pet you are interested in. Sit down and seriously consider if you are ready for an addition to the family. Below is a checklist of points to consider:
Once you sit down with the family and seriously and honestly consider all of these points, you can be sure you are making the right decision about pet adoption! Remember, just because you can't adopt right now doesn't mean you won't be able to adopt a pet in the future. If anything, you'll be all the more prepared for that new animal when the time is right. If you wait until the time is right, you'll avoid pain and heartache for both you and your new pet, and hopefully spend many happy years together!
- Do I have the time every day to dedicate to my new pet's needs?
- Are my job and living arrangements secure?
- Have I seriously discussed the idea of getting a pet with those who live with me and are they in agreement with my decision?
- Do I have the funds for medical expenses and other necessary materials for my new pet?
- If I have other pets, do I spend enough time with them and if so, will both the new and existing pets interact safely?
- If I'm a student, will my future career choice and other academic decisions affect my ability to care for my pet?
- If I am a parent or guardian, am I getting the animal with full knowledge that I am responsible for caring for the pet I get for my children?
- Can I dedicate time to getting my animal settled and comfortable in his or her new environment?
Once you sit down with the family and seriously and honestly consider all of these points, you can be sure you are making the right decision about pet adoption! Remember, just because you can't adopt right now doesn't mean you won't be able to adopt a pet in the future. If anything, you'll be all the more prepared for that new animal when the time is right. If you wait until the time is right, you'll avoid pain and heartache for both you and your new pet, and hopefully spend many happy years together!
Training
Dogs provide us with great joy when they live among us, however, when they behave in ways we deem "unacceptable" we can experience a great deal of stress and frustration. We must understand however, that we speak a language that is foreign to our dogs. Think about if you were learning a foreign language. You would need to be taught the meaning of each word. Your dog doesn't automatically know the meaning of the words "sit", "down" and "stay", he has to be taught. Most of the behaviors that we consider "problems" are natural behaviors for our dogs. A dog that jumps on you to greet you when you walk through the door is behaving naturally. Canines often greet one another face to face. Unfortunately, since you are not conveniently standing on all fours our dogs have to come up to our level to greet us face to face as they naturally would. Likewise, a dog that steals food from the table is behaving naturally. It has been speculated that canines became domesticated dogs by scavenging around human campsites. For a great deal of time, domesticated dogs survived primarily by scavenging, not by hunting as was previously thought. In addition, behaviors are repeated when they are rewarding to do so, and food is most certainly a reward. However, just because a behavior your dog is displaying is natural does not mean you have to live with it. There is an alternative.
The alternative
We can't expect our animals to know what behavior is or is not acceptable in our homes. Animals do what is natural for them. Instead, teach them what you do want them to do instead of what you don't. Teach them an alternative behavior instead of their natural behavior that we may not like. If we make the new behavior rewarding, the animal will choose to do the new learned behavior and because they are not practicing the old behavior, that old unwanted behavior will go into extinction and the new rewarding behavior will become the default behavior with enough practice. If your 100 pound lab jumps on people to greet them, teach him to sit to greet people instead. If she steals food when you're eating, teach her to patiently wait on a special bed or mat. If the dog doesn't get attention when he jumps on people but does when he sits he'll want to sit to greet people. If your dog gets rewards on her bed or mat if she goes there when you're eating and not from the table, she's going to choose to be on that mat or bed rather than working harder to get it from the table.
Punishment or reward?
If you teach your pet what you do want instead of what you don't, you will end up with a well behaved pet and everyone will be happy. If you punish your pet for everything he does wrong and don't show him what you want him to do, he's not going to learn anything. He may stop the unwanted behavior because he's afraid of doing it, but he may do some other unwanted behavior instead because he doesn't know what you want. It will become a vicious cycle of punishing the animal because they are doing the wrong thing. In the process, you are ruining your relationship with your pet and breaking his trust in you.
Reward based training is the best kind of training for any animal. Animals are reward oriented and learn best when their efforts are rewarded. But one must remember that food is not the only reward. Anything the animal enjoys can be a reward. If your dog enjoys playing at the dog park, you can ask him to do something before releasing him to play. If your dog enjoys chasing her favorite toy, ask her to do something before play time. By doing this, the animal begins to enjoy listening to you because every time s/he does, something good happens. There are many opportunities throughout the day to encourage the bond between you and your pet that will increase her desire to listen to you. Meal time, play time, cuddle time, the morning walk - all of these can be rewards and can be used to reinforce a desired behavior. To begin training a new behavior however, food should be used in most cases as the reward. Once that new behavior is well learned, then you can fade out the food rewards and use the other rewards mentioned. The reason food should be used is because for most animals food is a strong motivator which helps your pet put forth the effort to figure out what you want him to do.
Aversive physical punishment is never a good method to use to teach an animal something. It will only ruin the relationship with your pet and cause him not to want to listen to you in the future. However, just as there are more than one way to reward an animal there is also more than one way to punish. Time outs, and the absence of reward are appropriate punishment to use when training animals. If your dog jumps on you when you enter the room, ignoring him until he sits would be an appropriate punishment. He is seeking your attention, but you can teach him that to get your attention he should sit. You would first teach him the behavior you want from him, then when he does what you want you give him the reward he is seeking (in this case your attention). If he displays the behavior you don't want (in this case jumping) you would remove the reward (in this case your attention) until he displayed the behavior you want him to display.
The cause behind the action
Every behavior your animal displays has a reason behind it. When training your pet, it is your job to figure out the reason why your pet is doing the certain behavior you don't like. If you don't know the reason your pet is doing a certain behavior, what you mean as punishment may end up as a reward to your pet, and what you mean to be a reward may be a punishment for your pet. For example, if your dog barks at guests you may think he's excited and wants to greet them so when he barks at them you remove him from the room for a moment (punishment - because he wants to be around the fun guests and get attention and he's being removed from the fun situation), and you only allow him to come out to greet the guests when he's quiet (reward - because he can now get the attention he wants from them) you will teach your dog not to bark at guests if he is barking because he's excited. In actuality though, your dog might be barking because he's fearful of the guests. So in this case, your dog is seeing the course of action you took very differently than you meant him too. Therefore, your dog is barking at the guests because he's afraid of them and if when he barks at them you remove him from the room for a moment (reward - because he is scared and wants to get away from them), and you allow him to come out to greet the guests when he's quiet (punishment - because he doesn't want to be around the guests that he views as scary) you're going to teach the dog to keep barking at your guests. This is why it is very important to understand why your dog displays certain behavior so you will know what your dog will see as reward and punishment so you can eliminate the undesired behavior.
Positive training = Positive results
By using a positive training method to train your pet, you will find that your efforts will prove very successful. Not only will the training work, but you will deepen the bond between you and your pet.
The alternative
We can't expect our animals to know what behavior is or is not acceptable in our homes. Animals do what is natural for them. Instead, teach them what you do want them to do instead of what you don't. Teach them an alternative behavior instead of their natural behavior that we may not like. If we make the new behavior rewarding, the animal will choose to do the new learned behavior and because they are not practicing the old behavior, that old unwanted behavior will go into extinction and the new rewarding behavior will become the default behavior with enough practice. If your 100 pound lab jumps on people to greet them, teach him to sit to greet people instead. If she steals food when you're eating, teach her to patiently wait on a special bed or mat. If the dog doesn't get attention when he jumps on people but does when he sits he'll want to sit to greet people. If your dog gets rewards on her bed or mat if she goes there when you're eating and not from the table, she's going to choose to be on that mat or bed rather than working harder to get it from the table.
Punishment or reward?
If you teach your pet what you do want instead of what you don't, you will end up with a well behaved pet and everyone will be happy. If you punish your pet for everything he does wrong and don't show him what you want him to do, he's not going to learn anything. He may stop the unwanted behavior because he's afraid of doing it, but he may do some other unwanted behavior instead because he doesn't know what you want. It will become a vicious cycle of punishing the animal because they are doing the wrong thing. In the process, you are ruining your relationship with your pet and breaking his trust in you.
Reward based training is the best kind of training for any animal. Animals are reward oriented and learn best when their efforts are rewarded. But one must remember that food is not the only reward. Anything the animal enjoys can be a reward. If your dog enjoys playing at the dog park, you can ask him to do something before releasing him to play. If your dog enjoys chasing her favorite toy, ask her to do something before play time. By doing this, the animal begins to enjoy listening to you because every time s/he does, something good happens. There are many opportunities throughout the day to encourage the bond between you and your pet that will increase her desire to listen to you. Meal time, play time, cuddle time, the morning walk - all of these can be rewards and can be used to reinforce a desired behavior. To begin training a new behavior however, food should be used in most cases as the reward. Once that new behavior is well learned, then you can fade out the food rewards and use the other rewards mentioned. The reason food should be used is because for most animals food is a strong motivator which helps your pet put forth the effort to figure out what you want him to do.
Aversive physical punishment is never a good method to use to teach an animal something. It will only ruin the relationship with your pet and cause him not to want to listen to you in the future. However, just as there are more than one way to reward an animal there is also more than one way to punish. Time outs, and the absence of reward are appropriate punishment to use when training animals. If your dog jumps on you when you enter the room, ignoring him until he sits would be an appropriate punishment. He is seeking your attention, but you can teach him that to get your attention he should sit. You would first teach him the behavior you want from him, then when he does what you want you give him the reward he is seeking (in this case your attention). If he displays the behavior you don't want (in this case jumping) you would remove the reward (in this case your attention) until he displayed the behavior you want him to display.
The cause behind the action
Every behavior your animal displays has a reason behind it. When training your pet, it is your job to figure out the reason why your pet is doing the certain behavior you don't like. If you don't know the reason your pet is doing a certain behavior, what you mean as punishment may end up as a reward to your pet, and what you mean to be a reward may be a punishment for your pet. For example, if your dog barks at guests you may think he's excited and wants to greet them so when he barks at them you remove him from the room for a moment (punishment - because he wants to be around the fun guests and get attention and he's being removed from the fun situation), and you only allow him to come out to greet the guests when he's quiet (reward - because he can now get the attention he wants from them) you will teach your dog not to bark at guests if he is barking because he's excited. In actuality though, your dog might be barking because he's fearful of the guests. So in this case, your dog is seeing the course of action you took very differently than you meant him too. Therefore, your dog is barking at the guests because he's afraid of them and if when he barks at them you remove him from the room for a moment (reward - because he is scared and wants to get away from them), and you allow him to come out to greet the guests when he's quiet (punishment - because he doesn't want to be around the guests that he views as scary) you're going to teach the dog to keep barking at your guests. This is why it is very important to understand why your dog displays certain behavior so you will know what your dog will see as reward and punishment so you can eliminate the undesired behavior.
Positive training = Positive results
By using a positive training method to train your pet, you will find that your efforts will prove very successful. Not only will the training work, but you will deepen the bond between you and your pet.
