You may adore your pet, but that doesn’t mean you have to love everything he or she does.
Unwanted pet behavior is one of the most common complaints of pet owners, and it’s something almost everyone who cares for a companion animal experiences to some degree. Bad behavior can drive a wedge between you and your pet, making it difficult to embrace him or her as part of the family.
If you’re struggling with a behavior problem, you’re not alone. More importantly, we can help. The team at Mission Veterinary Hospital understands animal behavior. We can get to the bottom of why your pet is acting out and arm you with everything you need to overcome that bad habit once and for all.
The only way to effectively address problem behavior in pets is to truly understand what you’re dealing with. First, we have to rule out any potential medical causes. Many health issues have signs and symptoms that can easily be mistaken for bad behavior. When this happens, the pet owner often gets frustrated because attempts to curb the behavior aren’t working. Meanwhile, the animal continues to suffer because the underlying medical problem goes untreated.
Once we’ve given your pet a clean bill of health, the next step is figuring out what the root problem is. Only when we understand what we’re dealing with can we treat it effectively. For instance, trying to manage your pet’s excessive barking whenever he or she is left alone will likely not get the results you want because chances are the real issue is separation anxiety. Treat the real problem and then you’ll see results.
Some of the behavior issues we can provide assistance with include:
- House training problems
- Destructive behavior
- Aggression
- Obsessive behavior
- Jumping
- Biting
- Fear/anxiety
When we’ve identified what type of behavior we need to address, we can then move forward with an individualized plan to address and overcome the problem behavior once and for all. Through patience, perseverance and proven behavior modification techniques, we’re confident that your pet will develop into a calm, balanced and well-behaved member of the family that everyone can enjoy being around.