why this feel like a condescending comment? yes positive reinforcement goes a long way and is one of the building blocks of training but not the only one and certain things are easer to trained then others … things like separation anxiety, hoarding, food inhalation (eating food like a vaccum) or some other thing that got mentioned earlier are not so simple to fix or work around.
Wow. Bad day? The reply was not directed at anyone, just what has worked for us 99% of the time.
I'm not unaware of animal behavior issues... or people behavior issues (now that's a condescending remark).
From the original poster....
"Feel free to share pervious issue and what you did to fix it! or your ongoing issues behavioural or simply a hiccup with a new trick…"
All I said was praise and positive reinforcement works well in most situations, with both cats and dogs.
My kid has a dog with separation anxiety, can't be fed near another dog or will attack it, and does not respond to food or affection as training incentives. Other than that, he is a really good dog and just wants to hang out with people and his brother. They have him on medication for the anxiety, and it works wonders.
Same kid also has a cat we call scarf and barf because it eats so fast it barfs. They had to get special cat food and automatic feeders with collar RFID tags that limit the amount of food available to the cat, that only opens at certain times of the day with limited amounts of food at a time so he can't overeat. If he goes near the other cat's feeder, it closes automatically. He has learned that if he hears the other cat's feeder open, he doesn't even bother to get up and attempt a theft because it will close if he goes near it. It only took him about a week to get used to it.
Both of their large dogs leave the scarf and barf cat alone because it does not respond to their threats. They run up to it and it just flops on its side and they push him around with their noses and lick his butt. He doesn't respond, so they leave him alone. The other cat, however, freaks out if the dogs approach, runs, and that triggers the dogs to chase it.
Kid has been involved with animal care and behavior issues for 12 years, has several published papers, and is currently in Vet school. Her husband is a Vet.
I've personally had animals for my entire life. So yeah, I've seen issues in animals. Like I said, positive reinforcement, consistency, food rewards, and patience works for 99% of issues.
For some reason, even living in town, a hot air balloon would come over every week or two. When the pilot would pull the burner on, the dog would go nuts. Like fighting a dragon. Cairns are very smart. But they also think they are the biggest dog on the block.