What is the origin of the “certified veterinary behaviorist”? Who should be using the title, “Behaviorist”?
The first veterinarians “certified” by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) in 1995. People were studying and teaching animal behavior long before this. Much of the focus was, and still is, the application of using pharmaceuticals in the treatment of behavioral problems.
When I started teaching dogs for others, back in 1997, I considered myself a dog trainer, and that is what I called my work. I found I had more interest in dog behavior, rather than purely training skills, and added the term, “behaviorist”, to my job description in 2000. Back then, no one had barely heard of a “certified veterinary behaviorist”. Behaviorist was, and still is, a term to describe what I do.
As early as 2000, I was working alongside local veterinarians. I would diagnose the behavioral problem, and they would prescribe the drugs, often off label uses of those drugs now commonly used, as last resorts to attempt to save some dogs from the needle. I had purchased behavioral medical books, studied their approaches, and identified the appropriate drugs for different sets of problems. I also talked with veterinarians regarding the drugs they were familiar with and what they found effective. With my recommendation, often in writing, veterinarians prescribed and monitored these treatments because they knew that I knew what I was talking about. I obtained first hand experience this way.
Over the years, I have found many behavioral problems that had a medical cause. Often these have gone undiagnosed by my student’s veterinarians until I asked them to look deeper and in certain areas. When something doesn’t add up, my suspicion of a medical problem is activated. It is standard practice for me to ask every student if their dog has had, or has, any medical issues and if they are on any drugs.
So, I get flak, from people who are just trying to use ad hominem attacks, about my continued use of the term, Behaviorist. Well, since I was doing this same work, reading the same journals, research papers, and behavior texts as those AVMA vets were reading in school, and doing similar work, at the same time they were taking off, I think it is valid for me to continue using that term since that best describes most of what I do. Maybe I have more of a right to use that term, as well, since I am not using drugs.
What I have found is that the drugs haven’t lived up to their initial promise. I rarely find dogs that need some kind of pharmaceutical treatment to address a behavior issue. What is effective is diagnosing organic problems with dogs, such as cancer, pancreatic problems, arthritis, tooth/oral disease, allergies, and other maladies that affect how dogs behave, especially if they cause some kind of pain or significant irritation.
The veterinary behavior field has failed in its original mission.
For example, let’s talk about some theoretical drug, let’s call it Drug X. In one dog, it might do this. In the next dog, it might do nothing. In the next dog, you get the completely opposite result. Drugs can’t pinpoint specific neural pathways like you were doing some kind of surgery. Furthermore, they aren’t as effective as promised. And they have side effects.
There are about 150 biological chemicals/ or drug analogues of special interest, which are involved in biological behavior processes. These don’t work in isolation, but in combinations that are not well understood. Even today.
Ask any human psychologist if they have ever cured someone of a psychological problem, such as listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association. They haven’t. Can they alleviate some of the symptoms? Yes, but the drug part isn’t curing the problems. Science just hasn’t gotten that far, and maybe never will. There is more to living beings than chemistry, same with animals. They don’t understand consciousness and they don’t understand animal behavior. There is so much more to learn.
So, in one corner of the universe, the vets started calling themselves certified veterinary behaviorists in 1995. About the same time, in my corner, I was using the same terminology and using the same research. They took the drug route; I took the hands-on application of the studies that had been done over the past century.
And what have they accomplished in the dog world over the past 200 years? I am referring to actual accomplishments outside their offices. They didn’t invent Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, they didn’t pioneer the work of Lorenz or Tinbergen, didn’t write The Origin of Species, didn’t do the field study on dogs by Scott and Fuller, or write any of the hundreds of animal behavior books on my office shelf. Nor did they do the field work on wolves like Mech. Were any of those people “certified veterinary behaviorists”? Does that mean all that work needs to be tossed in the trash? Are those researchers that are doing animal studies today all “certified”? C’mon, be serious.
Now look, I respect what the veterinary community does. They are great people. But this business of claiming a title as if they are the only ones who know about the proper application of behavioral theory is a bit rich. It is better for everyone to work together, applying their own specialties, and then focusing on what is best for the dogs. Same with those who would try and make this a debate, when they don’t know the history and don’t get their hands dirty working with families owning dogs with problems.
Do I think there is a role for the certified veterinary behaviorist? Yes, absolutely. Some issues have a medical cause, and that needs someone who has the authority to do the medical workups to discover the causes. A second opinion from a different perspective can be very useful. For that, keep on keepin’ on. Beyond that, this type of specialist isn’t going to be going to your home and working with your dog this afternoon. That isn’t how this generally works. My belief is that medicine, in terms of a chemical, isn’t going to fix any behavioral problem. A new level of diagnosis and treatment is only going to be had by being able to re-code DNA and RNA and the epigenetic effects, not just in the womb but in the adult, and we are a long way from doing that. Even now, I can get a lot done without needing to refer dogs to a medical professional.
Plan accordingly.