Q: What is a Canine Behaviour Specialist?
A professional who has an in-depth understanding of canine behaviour, provides a detailed assessment of the behavioural problem and advises owners on how to understand their dog's behaviour and effect changes.
This often requires a great deal of commitment and effort on the part of owners.
Q: What are the most common problems referred to this type of specialist?
Separation Anxiety, aggression, chasing behaviour, fears and phobias, not coming when called, jumping up on people, not listening to owner, pulling on the lead.
Q: What are the basic methods used to change a dog's behaviour?
In brief:
- careful analysis of where, when and how the problems occur
- examination of the relationships between all members of the human-dog "pack"
- ruling out physical causes by veterinary examination
- use of a reward based training to encourage "good" behaviour which over rules the undesirable behaviour. Clicker training.
- Setting of boundaries for the dog, participation by all members of the household and gradual progress from simple to more complex tasks
Behaviour change can happen fairly quickly or take much longer depending on:
- the severity of the problem and how long it has been going on for
- the personality and breed of the dog
- the amount of time the owner is prepared to spend with their dog addressing the problem
Q: How is this done?
Initial telephone/e-mail contact in which the client will be asked to describe the problem and give some background information.
This consultation is free.
This is followed by asking the client to complete a detailed questionnaire about the dog and the behaviour.
On receipt of this, the client will be contacted to arrange either:
- a home visit where possible - depts. 82 , 46, 47, 24, 32, 65 in France (a fee plus travel expenses will be incurred)
- a visit here to my base in dept. 82 (fee only)
- a series of telephone or e-mail advice sessions (a fee for two months of telephone consultations will be incurred)
You can also enrol your dog in a 6 week beginners or improvers course which I run in St.Clair 82, near Bergerac 24 and near Nontron 24. Contact me for details.
Additional one to one sessions with the owners and the dog to implement a behaviour change programme where required (fee per session plus travel). An average is about 4 to 5 sessions.
Discounted fees for animals referred from shelters and re-homing charities.
I also offer one to one basic training of puppies or older dogs – sit, down, come, stay, leave, wait etc.
I offer bereavement counselling following the loss of your dog.
About me
I am a qualified Behaviour Therapist, with specialist training in canine behaviour and psychology. I am on the Kennel Club Accreditation Scheme for instructors in dog training and canine behaviour.
I am French representative of Doggon Wheels which provides mobility aids for disabled dogs.
In addition to my private work, I am a volunteer trainer for the SPA and other charities re-homing dogs.
I live in South West France with a Dobermann, a Breton Spaniel Cross, two horses and my husband - a Garden Designer and eucalyptus specialist (www.eucalyptus-passion.com ).