5 Must-Know Dog Behavior Insights I Got From Consulting with Albuquerque's Expert Veterinary Behaviorist, Dr. Jeff Nichol

What is a veterinary behaviorist? Veterinary Behaviorists (or, VBs) go through all the school and training that your primary veterinarian goes through, and then they go on to specialize in companion animal behavior. When it comes to our dogs, we can think of VBs as being kind of like doggie psychiatrists - they have a deep understanding of how biology affects behavior, and they can develop helpful medication, management, and behavior modification plans.

When should you consult a veterinary behaviorist? Any time your dog's behaviors are unpredictable, your dog's triggers are hard to identify, your dog's behavior change is sudden, or your dog's behavior has been getting more concerning or not improving despite implementing positive reinforcement training, management, and species-appropriate enrichment.

I recently joined a client of mine and their dog, Gwenie, to two appointments with Albuquerque's very own expert veterinary behaviorist, Dr. Jeff Nichol. Though most discussion focused on Gwenie and her unique circumstances, there were some gold nuggets of information that can be applied to many situations. Here are five powerful insights that can be helpful in most behavior cases.

Sedation Is Not the Goal

Many people I meet with are hesitant to consult a VB because they don't like the idea of medicating their dogs. If you can relate, I hear you. As someone who looks to medication as a last resort, for both herself and her dogs, I ask you to hear me out.

If you're anything like me, you've had previous negative experiences around medicating your dog. The medication made your dog lethargic or otherwise not themselves. It was expensive and didn't really seem to work, or made things worse. Here's where the difference between your primary vet and a VB becomes more clear.

Many of my clients have given their dogs medications like Gabapentin and/or Trazodone at the direction of their primary veterinarian. These medications tend to be prescribed to help dogs get through events, like a vet visit, monsoon storms, or the fireworks of the 4th of July and New Year's. They are often intended to be given "as needed" with the goal being to tranquilize dogs long enough to get them through the event. I like to think of these as "duct tape" solutions - they're meant to help in the short-term.

With the goal being to tranquilize and suppress anxious behaviors, it's no surprise that these medications make our dogs lethargic. What can be surprising is that sometimes these medications inadvertently make behaviors worse. In some cases dogs may experience an increase in anxiety, agitation, or even aggression instead of calmness. Additionally, dogs are experts at picking up on patterns. If we're only administering tranquilizers before stressful events, some dogs will start putting the pieces together that their altered state predicts something stressful: "I'm feeling different ... the last time I felt this way I ended up going to the vet ... I must be going to the vet soon ... time to fight through this feeling!"

When working with a veterinary behaviorist, the goal will be long-term success. Therefore, instead of using medication as a temporary "off switch," the medications prescribed by VBs will intend to achieve long-term chemical balance in the brain. Sedation is not the goal here. The goal is to help rewire our dogs' brains so they can feel more grounded, think more clearly, and get out of a survival state and into a mental state where they can learn new behaviors and build confidence around the things and situations that they previously couldn't cope with.

It's important to note that even though the medications provided by VBs tend to have different goals than those prescribed by primary vets, they aren't immune to possible side effects. And sometimes, though not always, the medication will be necessary for the rest of the dog's life. Medications are almost never a one-pill-fits-all solution, so it may take a few months to get your dog's medications and dosages right. Additionally, medication is not always able to provide a full solution; many times positive training, management systems, and intentional enrichment activities are necessary for success.

Importance of Our Energy

How we show up matters. Our dogs are incredibly sensitive to our emotions, energy, and tone, and they can even smell our cortisol levels - yes, they can literally smell our stress! What's more, is that there's some indication that dogs will approach uncertain situations with hesitation when exposed to a stressed human, meaning that our stress levels can impact how optimistically our dogs respond to uncertainty. If our dogs' behaviors can be influenced just by smelling our stress, then they are certainly going to be influenced by the tone, pitch, and volume of our voices, as well as our body language. Taking care of ourselves and being aware of our own mental and emotional states can make a huge difference for our dogs.

Seemingly Small Behaviors Matter

What may seem like a small or insignificant change in behavior can actually be quite telling to professional vets and trainers. For example, before consulting with Dr. Nichol and starting on some medication, Gwenie would very rarely go potty while on walks. As the medication took hold and Gwenie's guardians continued doing amazing work with her, Gwenie's guardians and I noticed she was going potty more regularly on walks. Why does this matter? When dogs eliminate, they are in a vulnerable position. When dogs are too anxious about the world around them, they tend not to relieve themselves away from the safety of their own yards. So, for Gwenie to start going potty more regularly on walks, it was a big sign to Dr. Nichol and me that she was starting to relax and feel more secure in her environment. When you're in the thick of it, managing your dog's behaviors and your own life 24/7, it can be easy to miss the small wins. Keeping a journal can help, as well as consulting with professionals who can see changes happening on a week-to-week basis and who have a more objective point of view.

Another way small behaviors matter a lot is when we are shaping their learning. Let's use Gwenie as an example again. For Gwenie, it was very difficult to pinpoint her triggers, and she was often very quick to react and very difficult to console. Learning for her was difficult because of her heightened state of arousal. Now that Gwenie's medications are having an effect, she still doesn't like some things, but her reactions are less intense. She's now in a better state of mind for learning alternative behaviors to the barking, lunging, and snapping that she has been practicing for months and months. She's not going to learn overnight to engage with her triggers differently or perfectly, so we're going to need to reward her for any improvements. If she sees another dog across the street and she only barks once and disengages altogether after 15 seconds instead of her usual non-stop barking and fixating until the dog is out of sight, we are definitely going to reward her for it. We are also going to reward her for seemingly smaller and simpler things (though if you're in the throes of it with your dog you'll know that this next one may not be so small or simple) like being calm. That's right, we are going to reward her for just lying down and relaxing. The SMARTx50 exercise, developed by Kathy Sdao, can be a helpful exercise to help you shift your focus from what you don't want your dog to do, to all the small behaviors you do want them to do - even the seemingly small ones.

The Power of Food-Focused Enrichment

In the wild, dogs don't get free meals. Most stray, free-roaming, or wild dogs survive largely on scavenging. This requires them to use their noses and snouts, mouths and teeth, paws and nails, and develop problem solving skills and bodily spatial awareness.

Many domesticated dogs living comfortably in our homes don't have to work anywhere near as hard as they would if they were left to their own devices. However, just because they're given easy meals in bowls doesn't mean their natural doggie instincts have disappeared, or that they wouldn't benefit from engaging in scavenging behaviors.

In fact, research (like this study) has shown that dogs feel a sense of accomplishment when they have to work for their food. Luckily for us, the pet industry is booming and there are a gazillion dog food enrichment toys, puzzles, and gadgets out there.

For dogs, especially those facing behavioral challenges, it can be extremely beneficial to facilitate focus and problem solving by giving them all of their daily food in a way such that they have to work for it. Engaging in natural behaviors can have significant calming effects as well as boost their confidence and contribute to their feelings of fulfillment and accomplishment. From scatter feeding in the backyard, to frozen Kongs, to lick mats and snuffle mats, to puzzle feeders with buttons and sliders, the options are endless. You may also find it beneficial to rotate through various items, as dogs can become bored with the same items and activities day in and day out.

Dogs Are Built for Feast or Famine

Dogs are built insanely well for times of feast or famine. However, we tend to unknowingly push human norms and expectations on our dogs when it comes to feeding routines.

If you've been feeding your dog two or more times a day, you may want to reconsider. A 2022 study by The Dog Aging Project found that dogs who ate just one meal a day had better overall health and cognitive abilities than those who were fed multiple times per day. Many dogs will self-select to only eat one meal a day, and some dogs will even self-fast for a couple of days; both of which are completely normal and can have great health and behavior benefits. Always consult your veterinarian if you have any concerns about your dog's eating habits and overall health.

Summary

I hope this article has been as enjoyable for you to read as it was for me to write. It has been incredibly insightful to work alongside Dr. Nichol to help Gwenie and her guardians. And it has been so amazing to see Gwenie and her guardians find relief, learn together, and feel more certain in their life together - their success is a testament to Dr. Nichol's holistic views on dog behavior and focus on the needs of both dogs and their humans. So, whether you take the leap and schedule a consultation with either Dr. Nichol or myself (or both of us), treat yourself to an at-home spa night, or you implement a few changes to feeding routines, I hope you find value in this blog article.