Dr Andrew O’Shea,
veterinarian and head of the behaviour service at the University Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Sydney
University, gave a presentation last week on understanding and managing fears
and phobias in companion animals.
Behaviour is the result of
a complex interplay between genetics, previous experiences and the current
environment.
Dr O’Shea pointed out that
the terms "fear" and "phobia" should not be used interchangeably, as fear is a
normal response designed to protect animals from a potentially dangerous
situation.
Phobias are still a
response to an anticipated threat, but they are abnormal and occur out of
context. [Although that’s a hard one for me to wrestle with mentally – for
example, what does a thunderstorm phobia look like out of the context of a
thunderstorm? My interpretation is that it might be fearful behaviours in
response to ran or heavy clouds]. The reactions are excessive (disproportionate
to the threat), intense and uncontrollable. He made the interesting point –
corroborated by behaviourist Dr Kersti Seksel – that affected animals on
occasion know they are behaving irrationally yet cannot control this.
So what is irrational? As
Dr O’Shea pointed out, a wolf – when startled – will run about 1 kilometre
before turning to look back. If a dog that is frightened of fireworks jumps the
fence and runs a kilometre, is that irrational?
Dr O’Shea didn’t agree
with the popular hypothesis that rewarding a fearful animal (eg comforting a
dog during fireworks) creates a phobia. But he did suggest it doesn’t help the
animal to cope.
Phobias occur in about 20
per cent of veterinary behaviour practice cases. Common phobias in dogs: loud
noises, thunderstorms, fireworks, vacuum cleaners, people, places, or panphobia
(fear of everything).
- Signs of phobias: signs of fear, hiding, aggression, escape behaviours, vocalisation, elimination, self trauma, destruction of property.
- Prevention of phobias involves avoiding breeding from phobic animals; early best-practice socialisation and habituation.
- Treatment involves managing the environment (for example avoiding the stimulus, providing a safe haven or a support person), modifying the behaviour through counter conditioning and training, and medicating the animal. You need to do all three to manage phobic animals.
Desensitisation can be
helpful – but it can also backfire in a big way.