Pet Training and Behavior and Underlying Health Issues

Let me start this out by saying if your cat is straining in the litter box, suddenly stopped using the litter box, and/or is going in and out of the litter box without producing anything that is a MEDICAL EMERGENCY!!!!! GO TO THE VETERINARIAN IMMEDIATELY!!!! DO NOT WAIT OR YOUR CAT COULD DIE!!! These are potentially symptoms of urinary obstruction, where the urethra gets blocked, usually in male cats. This can lead to toxicity, bladder rupture, and DEATH! DO NOT WAIT, EVEN FOR A FEW HOURS! GO TO THE VETERINARIAN IMMEDIATELY, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO GO TO AN EMERGENCY VET! Your cats life may depend on it!

Ok, now that that's been said... Whenever there's a training or behavior issue with dogs (or any companion animal really), especially if a new behavior issue comes up with an adult animal, the first thing that should be done is a veterinary visit with bloodwork, urinalysis, and fecal check. Health problems can be a cause of or contribute to behavior and training issues.

I recently commented on a post of a training company that I follow on Facebook. They shared a video of their training basics, part of which was about hand feeding. A woman commented that her dog was an incredibly picky eater, to the point of skipping food for up to several days in a row to the point of vomiting bile almost weekly. That's NOT normal! Yes, we can create picky eaters through how we feed. However, skipping food for that long and to the point of vomiting on a regular basis is a HUGE red flag for a physical issue, even if the dog was turned into a picky eater. The way this woman described what was going on, it didn't sound as if she'd made the typical mistakes that often create picky eaters. And even if she had, this dog is making itself sick and that needs to be addressed.

This trainer told the woman to continue only feeding the dog by hand only during training sessions, that the dog will eat when it gets hungry. Well, apparently it won't if it's not eating for multiple days in a row to the point of vomiting bile! I commented and suggested two things. First, that for whatever reason, the dog seems to be finding feeding by hand to be stressful. So stop doing that. Put the food in the bowl, put the bowl in a quiet place, and leave the dog alone to eat. Still do timed meals with no snacks between mealtimes (typical recommendations for coping with a picky eater). But I also suggested a vet visit. Vomiting on a regular basis and that often isn't normal. It's also NOT healthy. We know the repercussions of repeated vomiting for humans and they aren't good. In dogs, this could be indicative of chronic low grade pancreatitis or some other digestive issue. It needs to be addressed by a veterinarian.

Turns out, I was correct. The owner ended up with an emergency visit to their vet with a VERY sick dog. The owner states that the vet said what I said was correct, and continuing to allow the dog to forego food and only hand feed during training was very detrimental to the dog and caused it to be very sick. Turns out the dog has food allergies. So its food was making it not feel well, plus it was stressed out by only being allowed access to food by being hand fed during training sessions. So no amount of allowing the dog to starve between hand feeding only during training sessions was going to help this dog. In fact, continuing to follow that advice would have likely resulted in the dog getting very sick or worse.

No amount of training techniques is going to help a dog whose behavior issue is caused by a physical issue. For another example, no potty training techniques in the world are going to help fix a dog with a bladder/urinary infection (causing pain, urgency, and increased frequency of urination), kidney disease (causing increased water consumption to try to compensate for the kidneys deteriorating ability to concentrate urine), diabetes (causing increased thirst and urinary output), urinary incontinence  (physical inability to hold urination), etc. Thyroid issues can contribute to aggression. And the list goes on and on....

So please consult a veterinarian if your pet exhibits a change in behavior or develops a training issue, especially if they were previously doing well with training and behavior.