An epidemiology study on travel anxiety and motion sickness

s 25 did not work with a trainer (32.0 6 26.9 vs. 44.0 6 33.9 months; t 5 -2.440; p 5 0.016). This result may be due to the importance given by behaviorists to preventative and early interventions. With respect to breed, we noted a trend of having more dachshunds in Group 2 (0 vs. 5; c 5 2.809; p 5 0.094) and more great Danes in Group 1 (4 vs. 0; c 5 2.900; p 5 0.089). This suggests that a behaviorist may prefer to be aided by a dog trainer when a large dog is involved, while a small size dog is considered easier to manage, even if problematic. When prior coercive training had been used, the behaviorist thought it was necessary to collaborate with a dog trainer who did not use such methods (12 vs. 3; c 5 6.429; p 5 0.011). It is well established that coercive training does not help in preventing and resolving behavioral problems, but often worsens them (Mills, 1997), triggers aggression (Bowen and Heath, 2005) and creates problems with the owner (Schilder and van der Borg, 2004). Considering cases with a known follow up, the advice pertaining to trainer assistance was rejected by 27.5% of the owners (n 5 11). Among those who turn to the trainer, 67.8% (n 5 23) obtained improvement, compared to 32.3% (n 5 6) who did not resolve the problem. In conclusion, cooperation between veterinarian behaviorists and reliable and expert dog trainers appears to be well accepted and helpful by the two professionals when they have the opportunity to work together. Results seem to suggest that this kind of co-operative method is helpful in resolving canine behavioral problems, although still not fully accepted by dog owners.