*Begin of rant*
What an excellent thread. I am retired from the canine behavioral field, and if I got a dollar for every single ignorant and lazy person that came into my office, wanting to get a quick fix with a credit card but didn't want to invest any time and actually training and modifying their dogs behaviors, I would have gotten very rich just based on that. Many people acquire animals based on looks or what has been portrayed on TV and dont do any homework whatsoever. After a few months they are then surprised why a certain bird is screaming its head off and mutilating itself or a certain type of dog breed is starting to chew up their entire house and is becoming aggressive.
Then here they were, with credit card in hand, promising to make whatever changes are necessary. Long story short, they were not even taking their dog for a 20 minute walk once a day or changing the dogs food to better fit its nutritional needs. Their good intentions lasted about 1 week and then they realized it was simply too much work. It's so much easier to simply dump an animal off at the shelter, isn't it? Or better yet, medicate it. Anything BUT investing a little bit of time and trying to do things consistently.
I got so frustrated at one point that I just walked out in the middle of a consultation. That's when I knew it was time to quit what I was doing and forfeit the comfortable amount of money I was making for happy retirement. To this day, I cannot stand seeing dog owners being drug around by their dogs at the end of their leashes... Or hearing people say just how adorable it was when their little Yorkshire Terrier growled at their grandkids. Argh!
I think one of the biggest problems is that people in general are very inconsistent and therefore, the animals get mixed messages and don't understand what is expected of them. The same is true for negativity vs. positivity - when children are sitting quietly, coloring for example... Parents tend to ignore their children because there isn't a problem. But then when they act up they're being told no and get punished. What if, more parents were to praise their children while they are being quiet coloring instead of waiting for them to do something bad? I'm sure you guys know what I'm trying to say here. In many areas, I believe the same principle applies to almost all animals. Don't wait for them to start displaying bad behaviors to begin training. Start praising them often for things that you like, rather than waiting for them to do things you don't like.
I apologize for making this about dogs, but I believe this applies to all animals and people. Whereas I consider myself very experienced with dogs I am just beginning to learn about birds and enjoy the journey very much. I've only been here a few days and have already learned a lot, thanks to all of you.
*End of rant*