Podcasts

This podcast briefly recaps the  ethological concepts discussed in the past 6 weeks that I’ve found particularly helpful in my work with animals experiencing behavioral problems and those who live with them. Another benefit of taking an ethological view of animal problems that I didn’t mention is that, from a biological perspective, humans also rank as animals. Consequently understanding these concepts can make some otherwise seemingly incomprehensible human behavior understandable too. And as with animals, that understanding can eliminate a lot of energy-sapping negative emotions.

Ironically when I recorded and edited this podcast my immune response was engaged in battle with an upper respiratory virus that for a while seemed determined to win. In the process of taking it easy to make it as easy for my body to heal as possible, the dogs, cat, and I got an extra dose of doing-nothing-together time that ultimately benefited us all.

Even though some scholars perceive the human ability to use words as the key feature that makes us the most superior species on the planet, it seems likely that members of other species would consider this form of communication highly inefficient and prone to error.

In keeping with our focus on ethology with its central concept of energy-efficiency, the good news is that learning by modeling behavior on that of others (a.k.a. social learning) is extremely efficient. The bad news is that this form of learning is so  energy-efficient that animals may model our or other animals’ problem behaviors as well as desirable ones.

It struck me when I was editing this podcast that another unintended consequence of the all-positive movement was that it resulted in people who were unprepared to handle negative behaviors in their animals. Instead, they froze or panicked. At worst, they threw treats at the animal because that was the only thing they knew how to do. Although we often think of dogs relative to this phenomenon, sometimes cats get themselves into trouble too.

This week’s podcast discusses how using knowledge of the relationship between energy and animal and human behavior can make the analysis and resolution of problem behavior more comprehensive and efficient.

We’ve all heard that a look is worth a thousand words but a lot of other human and animal behaviors may be too. This podcast begins an overview of some the basics of ethology and the benefits of taking an ethological approach to analyzing and resolving problem animal behaviors.

This week’s podcast explores the mental process necessary to uncover the whys underlying an animal behavioral problem. Sometimes it’s a matter of recognizing all the different pieces and how they combine to create that particular result, and formulating a solution based on that. Other times it’s more of a challenge…