What is a Behaviour Consultation?

A behaviour consultation is when you consult a behaviour specialist about one or several problem behaviour(s) that your dog is displaying.

Any problem behaviours that involve anxiety, fear, aggression, reactivity and other dog-child issues are obvious candidates for behaviour consultations. 

Other issues  are, for example:

• barking, growling and/or lunging at people and/or dogs
• inappropriate barking
• chewing inappropriate items
• not come when called
• "dominance"
• ingesting non-food items
• guarding food, toys, resting places or people against other dogs or people
• house training issues that go beyond the first few months of life
• jumping up on people
• excessive play biting
• pulling on leash
• running away
• separation anxiety
• shrinking away from petting or handlingt
• noise sensitivity
• .... and many more ....

It is important that your veterinarian is involved in the behaviour modification process, because there could be a medical issue underlying or contributing to the behavioural issue. At the very least, your veterinarian should be kept informed about the issues we are working on.  

Many dogs also benefit from temporary or longer term anti-anxiety medication to support the behaviour modification programme. 

What is a Behavior Consultant?

A Certified Behaviour Consultant specializes in behaviour modification and has been certified through an independent organization, such as the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.

The Behaviour Consultant works directly with the client, and may do so under the supervision of, or in cooperation with, a more highly qualified professional, like a board-certified veterinary behaviourist.

What happens at a Behaviour Consultation at Cowichan Canine?

The first step is to fill out the online Behaviour Information Form, pay the relevant fee and submit your dog's vaccination record for parvo and distemper (unless all training will be done via Zoom). We will then contact you to set up our first lesson.

In our first lesson, we go through the behaviour information form together, set up our priorities for our work together and then we will take you through a series of educational materials and management protocols applicable to your situation.

Lesson notes and feedback is supplied as appropriate, usually after the first lesson and the after further lessons as needed. Further lessons are scheduled as appropriate and by mutual agreement.

Brief additional support in between lessons - via telephone or email - is available at no extra cost. However, if the problem is complex or time consuming, a charged call or an extra consultation lesson may be necessary.

At the subsequent consultations, usually at 1-2 weeks' intervals to begin with, we follow up on your progress, answer questions you may have, and then progress with the next steps of your dog's customized behaviour modification programme.

All advice we provide is based on the most recent scientific (evidence-based) behaviour modification protocols, which emphasize force-free and reward-based methods.

How long will it take?

It is impossible to predict how long a behaviour modification programme will take. The time can vary from a few months in very simple cases, to life-time in cases when a "cure" is not possible. There are multiple variable that affect the prognosis, including:

1. How much time, effort and consistency the owner and family members are able to invest into the dog's behaviour modification programme, following the instructions.
2. The dog's genetic predisposition for the behaviour, if any (what were the parents like?). Personality traits are highly heritable and nigh impossible to fully "cure".
3. The dog's learning history, in particular the early puppyhood socialization period. Lack of, or inappropriate, learning history before 12-14 weeks of age (the early sensitive period) can cause issues that take a long time to resolve.
4. The underlying reason for your dog's acting out: fear-based behaviours usually take longer to resolve than regular "misbehaviours".
5. How long the dog has been practising the behaviour: the longer it's been going on, the longer it will usually take to resolve.
6. Which factors and stimuli are involved in driving the behaviour, such as other stressors in the dog's life, other pets or people contributing to the issues, past or present use of corrections, etc.
7. The effectiveness of any anti-anxiety medication, if applicable.

Questions?

Please call our behaviour consultant, Lisbeth Plant, on 250-732-5415. No strings attached!