How can I tell the difference between a behavior problem and a medical problem? - Advanced Animal Care
Your veterinarian's going to be the best help with that. Just like the example that I gave, maybe your dog is having accidents in the house, and it could be because of something like a urinary tract infection, or perhaps they've developed urinary incontinence with age. Your veterinarian is going to be the best one to help you diagnose that. Now let's say they rule everything out and can't find anything wrong with the urinary tract or urinary system and deem it a behavioral problem. They can pull in something like a trainer behaviorist or maybe administer some behavior-modifying medications that could help your pet's situation.
Contributed by Cara Hill DVM
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Can getting my dog spayed or neutered help with their behavior problems? - Advanced Animal Care
Spaying or neutering can help with some dogs. Say, if we've got inappropriate marking in a male or inappropriate urination in a male, or humping behavior in a male, sometimes neutering them can help with that. Or even sometimes, we see a little bit of aggression in females that improves after a spay. It depends, but the best thing to do is have a conversation with your veterinarian.
Contributed by Cara Hill DVM
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What can I do to reduce my dog’s chances of developing behavior problems? - Advanced Animal Care
Work with them early on with training, whether it be obedience training or just learning some basic commands, and then continually enforcing those commands and ensuring that you and your dog are staying on the same page. But maybe you get with a dog trainer early on, and start that way. But the earlier, the better, and just keeping it up, staying on top of it, and making it’s a part of your routine is the best thing you can do.
Contributed by Cara Hill DVM
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When should I seek professional help for these dog behavior problems? - Advanced Animal Care
If you feel like it's getting out of hand or out of the realm of what you feel like you know to do, or maybe what you've looked up a suggestion on the internet, and you’re not getting the results you want, then it’s time to step in and either work with a dog behaviorist or a dog trainer. Or sometimes, medication may even be needed for a short period to help correct the behavior.
Contributed by Cara Hill DVM
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Can my dog’s behavior problems resolve on their own? - Advanced Animal Care
It depends on what we're considering the issue to be. But a lot of times, I would say, if you feel like you're noticing an issue with your pet or they're developing a bad habit, then the best thing to do is to work right away to correct that bad habit.
Contributed by Cara Hill DVM
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