| Descripción: |
"Everyday, all over the world, cats and dogs are successfully integrated by simply employing a degree of supervision, effort, and
patience. The relationship can end up fairly smooth after just a few weeks and, while they may or may not be best of friends, the
two species can learn to cohabitate in mutual harmony. There are also countless cases where the relationship isn't going so well
but life simply carries on ""as is,"" even though one half of the relationship isn't happy. Unfortunately, almost always it's the cat who
loses. So many end up existing in a shrunken, stressful world under the bed, secluded to the guest room, or banished to the
basement.
As professional behavior consultants, you will eventually encounter at least one case where the cat and dog relationship is
tenuous at best. You might be there only to address something with the dog that is completely unrelated to the cat, such as leash
reactivity or house training. At some point, you will (or at least you should!) find out about the cat and, as a human that
appreciates the needs of animals, look into it. Some clients will be relieved to receive help while others might require some
convincing because they don't recognize the significance of the issue. By arming yourself with knowledge, you may just be able to
guide owners and improve the lives of everyone involved. There are also many cases in which a family may proactively reach out
for help integrate a new cat with a resident dog or vice versa. More often than not, though, you will be contacted after the
integration has already occurred. If you're lucky, everything was done really well and the family just needs guidance in moving
safely to the next step. Unfortunately, though, there will be cases where you will also be asked to step in after the integration didn't
go so well. The cat may be terrified, the dog may be obsessed, or there may even be aggression from either individual. In this
session, we will review helpful strategies for safety and management, general tips and techniques, stress reduction, as well as
basic behavior modification concepts for integration of any cat or dog case. We will then touch on assessing which cases to
proceed with and which should not go any further" |