Behavior Beliefs Many factors can cause behavior problems. One is genetics. A dog can be predisposed to certain types of behavior depending on its breed. The second is environment and the third is disease. Sometimes medical problems cause behavior problems.
Behaviorists treat animal neuroses in a number of ways.
For the most part they use different types of behavior modification. Sometimes drugs can be used, but that's usually in conjunction with other methods. At the heart of most behavior modification is desensitization and counter-conditioning. These two techniques are usually used together. So a behaviorist may desensitize a dog by gradually exposing the animal to the thing it's afraid of and then recreate the storm in some way in order to control the animal's response.