This Twitter Page Is Dedicated To Mischievous Animal Memes, Here Are 35 Of The Funniest Ones

The friendly team at the PDSA, the UK’s leading vet charity, was kind enough to share some tips with Bored Panda on how owners can discipline their pets and correct overly mischievous behavior without being mean.

“Training using punishments such as shouting, making physical contact, or aversive devices like choke chains is bad for our pet’s mental well-being. This type of training doesn’t don’t provide effective long-lasting results – things that cause anxiety and fear are proven to make animals learn at a slower pace. Imagine how you would feel if someone was telling you off but you didn’t know what for. Your pet won’t understand why they are being punished, and may instead learn that people can’t be trusted, which can lead to behavioral problems,” PDSA Vet Lynne James explained to Bored Panda.

“The kindest and most effective method of training for any animal is reward-based training or positive reinforcement,” she said.

PDSA Vet Lynne explained that these effective training methods include rewarding your pet when they do what you want them to do (“so they will want to do it again!”) and ignoring or redirecting undesirable behaviors.

“Remember, many of the behaviors that we might want to change stem from our pets’ natural instincts, such as cats scratching furniture or killing wildlife, and dogs chewing our things. If this happens, rather than trying to stop the unwanted behaviors with punishment, try providing your pet with a more appropriate way to express the behavior. For example, playing chase and hunting games with your cat can reduce the amount of wildlife they kill, while appropriate scratching posts can stop them scratching your sofa,” the PDSA representative said.

“Likewise, chewing helps keep dogs’ jaws strong, their brains active, and their teeth clean, so it’s important to provide them with plenty of opportunity to do this with appropriate toys or chews. Punishment is unlikely to be effective, as it can just make them scared of you and they may start to hide their behavior by doing it when you are not there, rather than stopping. These tips are best used from an early age, but adult pets can learn too, though you’ll need to be patient—any reshaping of undesirable behaviors will need to be done over longer periods of time to see any results.”

PDSA Vet Lynne shared some top tips to help you out with reward-based training:

• “Know what makes your pet tick! Some prefer treats, whereas others favor praise or a toy. If using treats, keep their weight in mind—use tiny pea-sized amounts of treats, and keep track of how much they are getting.
• Timing is everything. To make sure your pet links the behavior with the reward, it needs to be given during the behavior or within half a second afterward.
• Keep training sessions short. If they are too long, your pet will lose interest and may get frustrated.
• Stay focused and clear. Focus on training one thing at a time, and use short clear Instructions.
• Continuity is key. The whole household needs to be on board with training for it to work. Use the same commands, in the same way, with each person.”