Tracking Behaviour- why is it so important?

At Positive Purrenting we know that behaviour ALWAYS occurs for a reason...

We just need to listen!

In order to help you resolve a problem behaviour as efficiently and effectively as possible, Positive Purrenting takes a scientific approach to analysing, diagnosing and devising a behaviour intervention.

The main things we want to know are:

• what were the environmental conditions at the time the behaviour occurred

• what happened immediately prior to the behaviour;

• what the behaviour looked like (how long it went for, how intense it was); and

• what happened as a result of the behaviour

Capturing this data before we implement a management plan gives us a baseline for the behaviour, and may be one of the first activities we will get you involved in. Baseline data also provides Positive Purrenting with the information we need to accurately diagnose the functional relationships between the environment and the behaviour. We can then create a management plan that is specifically targeted to addressing the behaviour of concern you are experiencing. This helps avoid the 'throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks' approach, which is neither efficient, nor effective! We make tracking behaviour as simple for you as possible. We will send you a link to a form to complete on our website, all you have to do is fill it in when and episode of the problem behaviour occurs and Positive Purrenting will get the data right away. You just observe and record the data, Positive Purrenting will do all the collation, graphing, analysing and interpreting!

As we progress through your management plan, we will continue to ask you to track behaviour events. This allows us to assess the efficacy of the interventions in place, fine tune where need be or provide you with additional support if necessary. It is also extremely motivating and reinforcing for you to see the progress being made!

In some cases the behaviour of concern may be occurring out of sight, or mostly out of sight, which makes it difficult to complete the behaviour record (and difficult for us to help you in a targeted and specific way). In those instances we recommend installing a camera to temporarily monitor locations where the behaviour has been known to occur- these can be relatively cheaply obtained and should have the following three key features:

• HD daytime/nighttime vision

• Ability to record clips (these will be useful for Positive Purrenting to view/analyse)

• Ability to record sound

We cannot stress enough how important tracking behaviour data is. Cases where cat guardians get actively involved in observing and tracking behaviour events have FAR better outcomes, so we really encourage you to embrace the process if you want the best possible outcome.

Monique van Maanen, FBST

Positive Purrenting

"Helping cats and their people to live more harmoniously together."