Barking. Aggression. Fear. Elimination. Urine marking. Destructive behavior. Escaping. Pets not getting along. The reasons for these behaviors can be relatively straightforward, such as a dog that was never reliably housetrained. Or they can be quite complex, such as aggressive episodes that don't neatly fit into any of the usual categories such as fear or possessiveness. In fact, the attempt to label or categorize behaviors prematurely narrows our focus, fools us into thinking we understand what's motivating the behavior and causes us to draw erroneous conclusions about what's really influencing the problem. Identifying the multiple factors that motivate and influence behaviors is crucial for creating successful behavior modification and training plans that address the reasons for the behavior. If you conclude a dog's excessive barking is due to separation anxiety when in reality it's in reaction to a noise phobia you will totally miss the boat with your recommendations. And if you think the cat is urinating on the rug because she's "stressed" by the presence of a new baby, when in reality the owners moved her litterbox to accommodate some new baby equipment, you'll create irrelevant recommendations that waste owners' time. One of the very best ways to avoid harmful mistakes like this is by having the knowledge and skills to take a thorough and focused behavioral history. The quality of your behavioral history can make or break your success in working with the pet's behavior. Acquiring a good behavioral history requires capturing the pertinent information, ignoring and not getting bogged down or distracted by irrelevant material and knowing how to tell the difference. You won't be able to do that without excellent interviewing and interpersonal communication skills and the experience to know when a pet owner has just uttered an informational gem that could change the direction of your thinking. In our updated How To Tak

Sponsor:Animal Behavior Associates
Speaker(s):Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D., and Daniel Estep, Ph.D., Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists

Contact: Tracey
 Email: info@animalbehaviorassociates.com
 Phone: 303-932-9095
 Web: http://petprowebinars.com/behavior-history-taking-skills/