Unlocking the canine and feline mind: the psychology of pets explained

Understanding the behavioural patterns of our beloved canine and feline companions is key to fostering a harmonious relationship between pet and owner. As vets and vet nurses, we’re not often consulted about common training problems until they get out of hand, but supporting pet owners with training and preventative behavioural therapy is key. Unfortunately, half of vets in a small survey felt they didn’t have the necessary knowledge to identify and advise on behavioural problems.

In this exploration of the psychology of pets, we delve into the intricacies of dog and cat behaviour, shed light on common behavioural issues, and offer practical tips for positive reinforcement training for veterinarians. In other words, consider this to be pet behaviour 101 for veterinary practices!

Important considerations for dogs

When dealing with dogs presenting at the veterinary clinic, it’s important to consider and educate owners on the following:

Socialisation period

The ‘socialisation period’ in puppies starts at 3 weeks, and ends between 12 and 16 weeks. Which means that new pet owners have just a month, on average, to affect this critical part of puppy development. While socialisation is a difficult concept to get across in a first puppy consult, it’s critical that pet owners are given this information as soon as possible after acquiring their puppy – consider utilising veterinary nurses to run puppy classes or take preventative behaviour consults and get this information across.

Body language

It’s important to remember that dogs communicate primarily through body language. This should be explained to new pet owners, and vets can support the recognition of body language by describing what they see in a consult room – “He is calm, there’s no stress in his body, his tail is wagging, and his tongue is relaxed” or “Awww he doesn’t want this injection, can you see his whale eye – he’s asking me to back off. I’ll just ask a nurse to help distract him so he feels more comfortable”.

Normal behaviours

One of the ‘five freedoms’ is the freedom to express normal behaviours. But supporting pet owners to understand what constitutes normal behaviour is essential. Play is crucial for a dog’s well-being, and vets should help pet owners recognise different play styles and explain how to engage in activities that cater to a dog’s preferences and energy level. Similarly, chewing is often considered a behaviour that’s essential to a dog’s welfare – suitable chew objects should be discussed to help prevent this from becoming a problematic behaviour.

Important considerations for cats

Cats, known for their independence and mysterious charm, have behaviours rooted in their evolutionary history. There are some things it’s essential to cover with cat owners:

Territorial instincts

The evolutionary history of the cat as a territorial creature is important to understand when problematic cat behaviours develop. Supporting new cat owners by explaining a cat’s view of core territory can help prevent problems at a later date.

Normal behaviours

As with dogs, cats have a variety of normal behaviours it’s important for owners to support in order to prevent them from becoming nuisance behaviours. The main one, of course, is scratching – this is a normal behaviour that cats must do, and if suitable places aren’t provided, it’s more likely to be on furniture. Similarly, toileting in privacy and in a clean tray is often considered a non-negotiable by cats, and pet owner tray location can impact whether there is house soiling or whether cats are happy with their living arrangements.

Common behavioural issues seen in veterinary practice

Dogs

• Separation anxiety:  clients should address separation anxiety by gradually acclimatising their dog to alone time, using positive reinforcement, and providing engaging toys.
• Aggression: identifying triggers for aggression and working with a professional trainer to implement positive reinforcement techniques can modify aggressive behaviour.
• Excessive barking: clients should determine the cause of barking and use positive reinforcement to reward quiet behaviour. In some cases, a competing behaviour can be taught. Providing mental stimulation through toys and activities can help to reduce barking.
• Noise phobias: it’s thought that over 50% of dogs have some degree of noise phobia, with firework fear being the most common.

Cats

• Scratching furniture: Scratching furniture is a natural instinct to maintain claws and mark territory. Vets should take care to explain this to clients, then provide advice about redirecting to appropriate scratching locations.
• Litter box issues: Vets and nurses should first investigate whether cats are urinating or spraying, remembering that both males and females can do both. Spraying is a territorial behaviour, and may be able to be reduced by helping cats feel more secure in their environment. Urinating is more likely to be medical, but can be behavioural – once FLUTD and CKD have been ruled out, exploring litter box location and stressors in the cat’s environment can help.
• Aggression towards humans or other pets: gradual introductions, positive reinforcement, and creating safe spaces can help manage and reduce aggressive behaviours.

Helping owners with training

As a GP vet/nurse, it can sometimes feel like you have to know everything. Whether you’re a vet nurse with a behaviour certificate or a GP vet who hates behaviour cases, you’ll need to give simple training advice to pet owners. The following advice can help:

• Consistency is key: be consistent in commands, rewards, and reactions to behaviours. Dogs and cats thrive on routine and predictability.
• Use treats wisely: choose high-value treats to reward positive behaviour. This creates a positive association and encourages pets to repeat desired actions.
• Patience and persistence: training takes time. Be patient and persistent, focusing on small, achievable goals to build a strong foundation of positive behaviours.

Referral

At times, referral makes sense, either because the veterinary practice team doesn’t have enough behaviour knowledge, or because the problem is too severe for the team to deal with. In general, referral should be to a clinical animal behaviourist, and someone registered with a professional body.

If your practice is seeing a lot of behaviour cases, consider whether training up a member of the team to take on in-house behaviour referrals might be sensible. If you have a veterinary nurse who is interested in behaviour, training them up with a behaviour certificate to act as an in-house referral option can benefit the practice and your pet owners hugely.

Conclusion

By understanding the basic psychology of pets, general practitioner vets and nurses can support pet owners with common behaviour problems and basic training. If you’re interested in behaviour and helping pet owners in practice, why not check out our certificate in animal behaviour for veterinary nurses – it gives you an excellent grounding in veterinary behaviour, and the final module is all about integrating behaviour medicine into practice!