On many occasions, when people and animals live together in the same household, situations arise that we do not understand or that make living together difficult. These situations, often labelled as ‘behavioural problems’, are often blamed on the animal. However, in most cases, it is humans who encourage these ‘bad behaviours’.

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Our animals use behaviours to communicate with us, expressing that something is not right, that they are afraid, that they need help or that one of their needs is not being met. As Paul Watzlawick points out in his theory of human communication, ‘It is impossible not to communicate’, as all behaviour is a form of communication.

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But how do we interpret what they are telling us? To understand it, we must have a deep understanding of the species and the individual. Only then can we distinguish between natural behaviours and those that are a message.

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Let's take an example: a dog barks. Barking is a form of dog communication, but it does not always have the same meaning. It may be an attempt to attract attention, a response to fear, or simply because he has seen something that interests him, such as a cat.

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In each case, the response must be different, but we can only act correctly if we understand why the dog is barking. Otherwise, our reaction - shouting at him to shut up - may not solve the problem and the dog will continue to bark.

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As Aristotle rightly said: ‘You cannot untie a knot without knowing how it is tied’.