Prairie Dog Lover's Burrow
Midwest Prairie Dog Shelter - Outreach * Rescue * Advocacy
Karl
| Karl |
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Member Joined Jun 7 2010
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22 years old Arlington, Texas
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Post a CommentOops!The words you entered did not match the given text. Please try again. 1 Comment
Hi Karl. Is your Prairie Dog a baby or an adult? When you got him was he kept with others or was he alone? What was his habitat like at the S&S store. All these things are important to know in order to have some idea of his behavior. If he is older he probably has already developed some learned behaviors. Unfortunately some of those behaviors can be negative from being brought up and kept in a pet store of poor standing or even just pet stores in general(mostly if they are already young adults and older). I've been to S&S and the conditions and habitats for the prairies were not good, especially where the adult ones were kept. I have not been there in about a year because my husband and I were so disappointed and disheartened by the poor conditions and lack of knowledge that we decided not to support their business. But like I said that was a year ago and hopefully they've got better. Anyway, the negative learned behaviors are sometimes hard to change but I believe it can be done. Patience and love are a big part of it. I believe positive reinforcement and reward are the most effective way to help them . Punishment, such as yelling or hitting or anything like that will just make it worse. If he comes at you, get to safety, and then just ignore him. One time I had to perch on top of my toilet until my little on gave up on getting me. Thick gloves are good to have available if he gets aggressive and you need to put him back in his cage, or you just want to protect your hands. When you get him back in after being aggressive just ignore him. When he goes back in after being good while he's out, reward him with a taste(just a little) of peanut butter or something. Put it on your fingertip to where it sticks out from the tip of your finger and let him lick it off without putting your whole finger through the bars, unless you want to. I prefer to only give treats once back in the cage, otherwise while they're out they just want more treats and if they don't get them they might get rowdy. Another thing is to keep a positive habitat-lots of comfort using safe materials and providing a big enough space. That way when he goes back in it will be a relaxing place to help him calm down after being aggressive or just chill out after a nice romp around. If it is a positive cozy space for him he should be more relaxed and content which will help him come out of his cage with a better attitude and make it easier for him to go back into. Make it to where its not so much a cage, but more like a house. Keep him company a lot to help him get more used to you and that might help also. You don't have to have him out but maybe just sit by his cage and talk to him, or watch tv while you're with him if there is one in the room. Feed him little healthy treats(but not an overload) through the cage while you do this. Mine likes cheerios a lot, bits of healthy crackers and pieces of banana. If you feed a piece of cracker, make sure its big enough for him to hold and nibble rather than just shove the whole thing in his mouth, he might choke that way. Okay I'll try to wrap this up. I had a prairie dog who had problems with sudden spurts of aggression but I didn't give up on her, it wasn't her fault, it was where she came from and how she was kept before we got her. If it comes to the last resort and you feel you cannot stand it or provide him with the love he needs please try to find him a good home and don't take him back to S&S, if they even allow that I don't know, and please definitely do not euthanize. I have more advice but I don't want to ramble on as I already have, I just want to help. Feel free to keep in touch. You can always get an experts advice also. I hope it all works out. Good luck.
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