Pet behaviour solutions with Dr Cam Day and his team

Behavioural problems can be solved with four science-based steps

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So, take heart. There are remedies for just about all pet behaviours.

The Four Steps to a Behaviour Remedy

1. Firstly we look for any medical disorder that may be contributing to your pet's behavioural problem and if any are noted, we will tell you why that's important and ask you to see your own medical veterinarian for a remedy to that. (Ethically we only treat behaviour - we leave the medical solutions to your own vet and that, professionally, is the correct process.)
   
   
2. We next determine if your pet can ‘learn to be good’ (often we do IQ testing) and then we help you to harvest wanted behaviour by using pulsed, reward-based cognitive therapy. (When we get together we will explain that and we are sure to tell you why some pets can't learn to be good - that's important stuff.)
   
   
3. We then help you to understand why managing your pet's unwanted behaviour is important. Simply put, managing a behaviour means avoiding it until something else remedies the underlying cause. (That stops the self-reinforcement of an inappropriate behaviour and that is also important stuff.)
   
   
4. Lastly we will advise if it's appropriate for your pet's behaviour to be modified with calming agents such as pheromones, homepathics or medications and sometimes we even advise calming massage for pets in distress

What we won't do

1. We won't ignore risk. If your pet's welfare is at risk we will tell you that. If your family, visitors to your home or people or other animals are at risk we will clearly tell you that as well.
   
   
2. We won't use harmful techniques such as punishment, throwing chains and any other items at your pets, yanking your pets by their collars, yelling at your pets or any other similar form of  inappropriate treatment.
   
   
3. We won't talk to you about the dominant nature of your dog or who is the alpha dog.  The dominace principle is not scientific and is often harmful.
   
   
4. We won't ignore your priorities. We need to know what it is that worries you and will ensure our advice is firstly directed at the highest priority behaviours you want solved.

Why would you choose a veterinary behaviourist and not a dog trainer?

1. Veterinary behaviourists and dog trainers do different things.
   
   
2. But the real answer is that not all pets can be 'trained to be good'. Modern dog trainers are really good at creating behaviour change through shaping of wanted behaviours but they sometimes reach their limit when it comes to dealing with unwanted behaviours such as severe and risk-laden aggression, anxiety disorders, compulsions, some forms of house-soiling and dogs with poor impulse control.
   
   
3. However, we employ a therapy trainer for the cases where a dog only needs training, so no matter what the behaviour is, we have a suitable solution.
   
   
4. For obvious reasons, dog trainers are not usually very comfortable with fixing cat behaviour. The ability to deal with more than one species separates a dog trainer from an animal behaviourist and cat behaviour therapy is important, it's different to dog behaviour therapy and usually a lot of fun.
   
   
5. The best dog trainers still cannot diagnose the medical causes of aberrant behaviours, and they can't prescribe medications if they are needed. Generally dog trainers may not know clearly when pheromone therapy is advisable.
   
   
6. While we employ a therapy trainer, we still refer cases to other dog trainers where it's appropriate and dog trainers regularly refer cases to us.
   
   
7. If you are considering using a dog trainer, at least ensure they don't use punishment-based techniques and don't use the dominance principle.

How much do we charge for behaviour cases?

1. We have services to cater for all budgets. Please don't let cost stand in the way of a solution as there is always something we can offer.
   
   
2. So, we offer a full range of services from those which are free, upwards to full-therapy house calls (Refer to the column to the left for more details).
   
   
3. If you want a no-cost or low-cost solution, use the DIY services on PETHEALTH.COM.AU.
   
   
4. You can go up one step and take up a membership with all its benefits.
   
   
5. When you become a member you will also benefit from a 10 – 15% reduction in fees, so a low-cost membership can save over four times its cost in consultation fees.
   
   
6. Membership also gives you free telephone back up for full-therapy consultations. The longer the membership, the longer the free back up continues.
   
   
7. Our lowest cost Consultation service is a behaviour assessment with our therapy (non-veterinary) trainers who will refer a case to me if it's needed.
   
   
8. My lowest cost Consultation service is a Clinic Assessment on a Wednesday which takes 30 minutes but you can have more time if you want it.
   
   
9. Full therapy house calls are good for problems that occur within your home or for pets that don't travel well. My house call areas are from Noosa to Northern New South Wales and west to Toowoomba.
   
   
10. Our fees and charges are fully-detailed in the column to the left and our priority system for helping pet owners is important and is described here.