Veterinary Behaviour Service
So your pet is exhibiting a behaviour problem. As a layperson, how are you to know or understand why your pet is behaving in this way? There is a lot of misinformation about pet behaviour that over the years has become culturally ingrained and accepted in society. Vets and fear-free qualified trainers that are taught to observe and understand animal behaviour are best placed to educate owners, diagnose any medical or psychological problems an animal may have, and formulate a plan to improve the quality of life for both human and animal.
When a new client gets in contact with Pawly Understood, whether via email, website enquiry or phone call, they will end up speaking with one of our admin team members who are either accredited trainers or vet nurses. From the first phone call, you will always be speaking with someone who is qualified, understands and is sympathetic. Intially we will gather some information:
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Name, species, sex and age of your pet
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The presenting problems - what is happening in your world? How is the behaviour of your pet impacting your life and the life of your pet?
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The team member will then make a judgement based on experience (or at the request of the client), to offer a veterinary behaviour service or a training service.
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It is important to note that problem behaviour can be exhibited by normal pets who do not require psychiatric treatment and can be managed with training. An example of this might be bench surfing, stealing food, chewing furniture or digging. Visit the training page to learn more about our training services.
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If a veterinary behaviour service is requried, a consult will be arranged to see one of our vets. Prior to the consult we ask clients to complete a comprehensive questionnaire. The more detail gathered at this stage ensures we can make the correct diagnosis and formulate an effective plan.
During the vet consult, one of our qualified trainers will also be present. This enables the vet to recommend a treatment program in real time and allows the trainer to then elaborate and educate clients on this plan once the vet work is complete.
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The vet will focus on:
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Medication (if required)
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Modification
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Management, and
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Monitoring
and then formulate a report and treatment plan specific to that animal.
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The trainer will then take the client and pet:
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Discuss the basics of animal behaviour, dispelling common myths and helping owners understand the behaviour their pet is exhibiting
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Explore some basic training skills
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Focus on specific modification training for that pet
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Discuss management techniques for that pet
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Formulate a behaviour modification plan
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At the end of the process, owners will have a veterinarian report and a behaviour modification report, medication (if required) and be more confident to manage their pet moving forward.
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The behaviour triage and vet visit will be the beginning of your journey. For some pets, results can be achieved relatively quickly whilst others can take some time.
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