Shelter’s Edge

What is the most common question that an animal behaviorist gets? The action at the end of the sentence often changes, but the question always starts with, “Why does my pet do….X?” X can be anything from barking at cars and urinating out of the litter box to aggression, and more.

So, I am about to give away the big behaviorist secret… the answer to all of those “whys” – are you ready? Because it feels good… or, to put it another way, it feels “less bad” than the alternative. Period. Really.

Whether you are a dog, cat, Komodo dragon, man, woman, tapeworm, or lion, all of us behave in order to feel good or less bad. Now, figuring out the motivator that feels good might be a challenge – but it all really does drill down to this simple answer.

Let’s use a shelter example here. Many shelters across the country struggle with dogs barking in their kennel runs. They bark and bark and bark – often without any apparent reason… But if you break the behavior down to some micro levels you can find the ‘feels good.’ Volunteer walks down the kennel floor, dog barks, volunteer turns toward the dog… BINGO! Many dogs, especially those in kennels with limited social interactions, are socially motivated. A simple turn of the head and soft eye contact is enough to reinforce that barking behavior…

Sometimes a motivator can be less obvious. While social interaction and food are often good motivators, there are many individuals who are motivated by less obvious stimuli, and – even over time, the stimuli can change. I trained a fearful leopard to approach a target that would result in my leaving. Over time, her fear diminished and my leaving was no longer motivating enough – so we changed our motivator.

The expertise of a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist – or psychologist for our human friends – is sometimes needed to help puzzle through the motivators and, if one wants to change the behavior, figure out what might be more motivating to modify the behavior. But coming to each animal interaction – be it with a dog, cat, human or other – with this zeitgeist can be powerful. Once we can pinpoint what the motivator is, we can affect positive change, and save more lives.

This is a powerful piece to consider when we are interacting with our dogs, cats, adopters, volunteers and donors. What can we do to increase the likelihood that the behaviors that will likely increase lives saved occur – and occur again…

So, remember… if it feels good – do it again.Photo 1 courtesy of Dan Nicholas
Photo 2 courtesy of Eric Pleitez
Photo 3 courtesy of W J Bill Harrison

Tags: Adoption Marketing, Adoption Programs, Behavior & Enrichment, Saving Lives

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