Surprising Truth About Kids, Pets and Mental Health
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
You work hard to strike the right amount of intelligence and ignorance. The Last Show with David Cooper. It is Vet Talk or Pet Talk. We are joined by Dr. Cliff Redford, a veterinarian, probably, definitely, for sure, to answer all the questions you, listener, have about your dog. Cliff, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. I'm excited. And perhaps my favorite listener of the show is the person who's paid to listen to the show because he's our technical producer. I feel like we should have you on the show more, Adam Karsh. Welcome in. I would love to be on the show more. In lieu of paying you cash, which we simply cannot afford, we're going to pay you in free veterinary advice. And that's why we're here.
You've got a question about your lovely pooch, Ruben, that you want to ask Cliff. I do have a question.
Very quick disclaimer, just to give you some setup and context. We have a multi-poo. He's almost two years old. His name is Ruben. He's a good boy. He's very sweet. He's very affectionate. He's very loving. He's very cuddly. He's very needy. He's a good boy. He's very smart, too, by the way. Here's the however. He's extremely reactive and sometimes aggressive. Oh. And... Mostly towards me. Because he loves you so much. I'm certainly gentle, but we roughhouse. We play, we wrestle, I chase him around, he chases me around. He's my buddy, but he's very reactive. I'll give you a very specific example. Please. Let's say we're sitting on the couch and I have a blanket on and he's cuddled up on me on the blanket. If I slightly move the blanket,
And maybe he's sort of half out of it, half sleeping. If I slightly move the blanket, he will attack me. Okay. And I don't mean a grr, like a growl. I mean, he will bite me. Like drawing blood or what? Oh, yeah. Oh, boy.
What question does Adam Karch have about his dog Ruben?
Now, he's only 10 pounds. He can't rip a limb off. But, I mean, he has definitely broken skin. And he snaps out of it. As quickly as he's reactive, he snaps out of it and then he gives you these like puppy dog eyes. What would I do? Can I have a treat? Yeah, yeah. It's really hard sometimes. And it's really sad because he'll be the one to initiate a cuddle. He's the one who jumps up on the couch and sits on my lap. He wants the attention. He wants the affection. But if he gets in a certain way and he doesn't like what's going on, again, if I move the blanket or if I twist my body, he's like, don't move. And he will bite me.
Yep. So my disclaimer starting this off is although I am a real for a true veterinarian, almost, I think likely. I don't like this running gag. Our treatment, our lessons, our training in behavior is very limited. However, I have dealt with one of my own dogs named Snuggles, a little shih tzu.
What?
And Snuggles bit one of my children. And like your dog, Snuggles was only 10-ish pounds. He didn't do any damage other than causing pain. I actually had a behaviorist come into my house and I learned so much. And Snuggles did very, very well. So very quickly, because you understand time crunch in this segment. Are there other scenarios other than on the couch, don't you dare move me, Dad, I am the king, that he snaps at you? Yes.
What behavioral issues does Ruben exhibit?
Okay, quickly give me some ideas. He's very possessive, and maybe they go hand in hand with reactive. He's very possessive of some of his toys. If he gets a new treat, not his general food, but if you give him a treat and if you walk by... The blanket where he's... So he guards his food and his toys.
All right, so let's get to the important stuff here. So this isn't true reactivity. True reactivity is generally based out of fear and insecurity. He is not fearful, nor is he insecure. He is dominant over you. And people don't like to hear that. They don't like to think that their dog is sort of becoming the alpha, and that's not really a legit term. But... The reality is you started this off talking about how intelligent he is. Very. And he's intelligent enough to realize that he can train you and dictate. So you had also said he likes to be cuddled. He likes to jump up on the couch and get on my lap. He likes to get me to rub his belly.
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Chapters
4 chaptersSpeakers
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