Specific Behavior Modification Techniques & Practical Applications for Behavior Disorders

Vocabulary flashcards covering common companion animal behavioral disorders, aggression classifications, elimination and ingestive problems, and cognitive conditions from VETT 3020.

Veterinary Technician Role in Behavior Cases

Acts as the "Case Manager," coordinating between the veterinary team, the client, and the patient.

Aggression

The most common reason dogs are presented to referral behavior practices; a normal communication tool whose status as normal or abnormal depends on environmental context, experience, and genetics.

Conflict-induced Aggression

A conflict resolution strategy resulting from an approach-withdrawal conflict or an inability to predict the environment, typically directed toward family members when the pet solicits attention but experiences conflicting motivations.

Possessive Aggression

The guarding of an item from people, often initiated when an owner chases a puppy possessing a stolen item and reinforced when the owner backs away.

Petting-induced Aggression

A feline subtype of conflict-induced aggression where a cat appears to enjoy physical contact but suddenly attacks, jumps down, and grooms due to motivational conflict between staying close and not wanting to be touched.

Pain-induced Aggression

Aggressive behavior arising primarily or secondarily from a gross medical condition to avoid discomfort, which can persist post-recovery due to classically conditioned associations with handling.

Fear Aggression (Defensive Aggression)

Aggression exhibited when an animal perceives a situation as threatening; characterized by defensive postures (lowered head/tail, lip licking, flattened ears) with physical contact as a last resort.

Inter-dog Aggression (IDA)

Aggressive behavior displayed between dogs unfamiliar with one another, motivated by territorial defense, fear, conflict, or deficient communication skills from under-socialization.

Inter-cat Aggression

Hostile interactions between familiar or unfamiliar cats that include growling, hissing, spitting, attacking, chasing, and biting, often involving territorial, fear, or redirected elements.

Inter-dog Aggression - Household (IDA-H)

Aggression occurring between dogs living in the same home or social group, driven by fear, possessiveness, redirected frustration, or idiopathic causes.

Alliance-induced Aggression

A specific presentation of household inter-dog aggression in which two dogs fight over the attention or proximity of the owner.

Status-induced Aggression

Household inter-dog aggression that occurs when the social dynamic between dogs shifts, often worsened by owners punishing the confident dog and coddling the fearful dog.

Learned Aggression

Aggressive behaviors developed or strengthened through positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement (retreat of an aversive threat), or classical conditioning.

Redirected Aggression

Aggressive behavior that occurs when an animal in an aroused, frustrated state cannot reach the primary target and instead attacks an accessible bystander, animal, or object.

Territorial Aggression

Aggression directed toward individuals or animals not belonging to the social group that enter the animal's territory, frequently driven by underlying fear.

Coprophagia

The ingestion of feces; can be normal maternal or exploratory behavior, a dietary preference, or a coping mechanism for high-anxiety dogs.

Pica

The ingestion of non-food, inanimate objects (such as wool, rocks, or soil), which can present as a compulsive disorder or result from underlying medical conditions like GI disease or anemia.

Predatory Behavior

A hardwired, genetically driven survival sequence involving the pursuit and killing of another animal for consumption, typically characterized by an absence of bite inhibition.

House Soiling

Elimination inside the home in undesirable locations; identified as the leading behavioral reason pets are surrendered to animal shelters.

Urine Marking

A normal communicative behavior intended to draw attention to objects, individuals, or locations; most prevalent in intact males and often exacerbated by environmental stress or anxiety.

Excitement Urination

Involuntary elimination that occurs in dogs that are overly aroused or experiencing motivational conflict during greeting interactions.

Appeasement Urination

The release of small amounts of urine by an uncertain dog aiming to diffuse conflict and signal that it poses no threat.

Global Fear

An extreme fear state involving at least 3 of the 5 stimulus-specific categories (people, animals, objects, environments, sound); commonly linked to genetics or a lack of early socialization.

Separation Anxiety

A disorder where distress signs (such as destruction, house soiling, vocalization, or self-trauma) occur exclusively in the real or perceived absence of the pet's owner.

Sound/Thunderstorm Phobia

Extreme fear responses to loud noises or storms that frequently co-occur, carry genetic breed predispositions, and have high comorbidity with separation anxiety.

Compulsive Disorders

Repetitive, exaggerated, or sustained behaviors triggered by conflict and stress, categorized into locomotion, oral, vocalization, hallucinatory, and aggressive forms.

Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome (CDS)

A progressive organic brain disorder in aging pets caused by loss of neurons, reduced cerebral blood flow, or neurotoxic deposits, leading to cognitive and behavioral decline.

DISHAAL

The acronym outlining the clinical signs of Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome: Disorientation, altered Interactions, Sleep-wake cycle alteration, House soiling, Activity alteration, Anxiety, and Learning and memory impairment.