Perth Veterinary Behaviour Service in Perth, Western Australia | Dog trainer

Perth Veterinary Behaviour Service

Locality: Perth, Western Australia

Phone: +61 450 847 226

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• Pet service
• Veterinary surgeon
• Dog trainer

25.01.2022 Often owners think that their dog destroys things in the house because they are "spiteful". Please understand that dogs with separation anxiety can do this because they are panicking.

25.01.2022 An interesting, albeit complex article, which discusses the role of neuroinflammation (nerve inflammation) in chronic pain

25.01.2022 Such amazing creatures

24.01.2022 More evidence to link noise fears to locomotion/pain related issues and ability to problem solve

23.01.2022 As Zelda starts to come more out of her shell, she is starting to become bored easily. So today we have started some clicker training. First up is name recognition and capturing some sit in there too, as she offers it. Positive reinforcement training improves confidence, builds lasting, positive memories and a great bond with your pet

23.01.2022 Following on from the walk...appropriate drainage. Walks are arousing and exciting for dogs and whilst this is good stimulation it also has the potential to create behaviours we dont want in a new puppy, such as chewing furniture, bedding, shoes, chasing cats etc. chewing is a great drainage behaviour and allows dogs to drain their theoretical sink of arousal after positive and negative emotions occur, often simultaneously. Redirecting a puppy to chew appropriate items is a valuable life skill to learn and helps dogs managed lowering their arousal levels themselves.

21.01.2022 Crate Training: another great life skill to teach a puppy or adult dog. There is often a misconception that crates are cruel, however, they are a great tool to teach you dog to settle and relax, to manage them when you have guests, children or other animals in the house, dogs always go into a cage at the veterinary clinic and dogs that have been conditioned to a crate settle much better in the veterinary clinic, travel in the car and also post surgery, should your dog need it.... Working on this in advance will make things run much more smoothly. Zelda is 9 weeks today and whilst the biggest part of her earlier training involves socialising her to novel items, people, animals, and environments, we are working on her forming positive associations with her crate. Given that she was flown over from Queensland in a crate, there is the potential for her to have already formed a negative association with them. The more positive associations in the bank can help outweigh the negatives.

21.01.2022 Mat Training: a very important skill for all dogs to learn. It can be used for teaching dogs to settle during stressful/arousing situations, such as feeding time (especially in multiple dog households), when visitors arrive, when you are eating your dinner, to use at the vet clinic as a trained behaviour to build confidence and so on. It can also be used as a stepping stone for training dogs to settle in a crate. Train to settling on a mat first and then transferring the mat... to the crate. We also use them for teaching dogs relaxation. This is an important life skill to learn that can be used for anxious dogs and in situations like those above. Zelda is 8 weeks old and is already getting the concept of relaxing on a mat. Sessions need to be kept short, as a puppys attention span is short but their brains are like sponges. Looking forward to training this little Madame to more important life skills. Ill be posting them as we work through them

21.01.2022 This is such important work being done in the UK. Pain is massively underestimated in general practice but in particular in behaviour cases. Increased reactivity and aggression are commonly used by dogs and cats when they are anxious or fearful. However, when assessed with a keen eye and thorough physical exam (where possible) pain can be detected very early on and is often missed due to high levels of circulating cortisol and adrenaline in the anxious patient. Finally we have studies that start to prove this is true!

21.01.2022 Mat training: another great life skill used to teach dogs self control. It can be used in combination with relaxation, to redirect dogs when they are aroused for calming (activities at the front door, guests, food preparation time etc.) Also, the mat can become a positive place for anxious dogs to retreat to when worried or to take to the vet to help with confidence there. Zelda is now 11 weeks old and being a German Wirehaired Pointer she is already starting to push boundaries. This isnt a bad thing and doesnt mean she is dominant she is just strong-minded, confident and determined. Now is the time to work on these things and not focus on strict obedience that can be taught later. The most important obedient skill at this age is a solid recall. The rest will fall into place once foundation skills are taught!

20.01.2022 Great work Danielle and Lulu. Showing how a chin rest can be used in a stressful situation to help improve confidence, compliance and bond

20.01.2022 There are plenty of noises out the front today which means we can work on exposure and socialisation again. All the workmen are out with their lawn mowers, whipper snippers, trucks, cars, fluorescent uniforms etc. o a great opportunity to get the peanut butter smeared into the bowl out to work on passive work from a distance. This way the interactions are not overwhelming. Sticking a puppy straight into the hands of an unfamiliar person or situation and expecting them to come out of it positively is asking a lot. By sitting at a distance from the objects and situations you can allow your pup time to take in the visual, olfactory (scent) and noise cues given off by the novel item. That way they can passively make positive associations rather than risking a negative outcome. See the comments for a peanut butter smoosh face

20.01.2022 Everyone meet Evie...she is a new addition to the clan so another amazing animal I can work on clicker training with! Weve only know each other two days, and whilst she has had some clicker training with her previous owner, she hasnt done any with me. So I decided to work on some bonding and name recognition. Shes does an awesome job. Clicker training can be used for lots of things with horses like changing a horses emotional response to things it is worried about like handling, floating, vet visits including injections for vaccinations or blood sampling and much more! Watch this space as we may add horse behaviour to our collection of animals that we treat!

18.01.2022 Leave it cue: another great life skill to learn. When rehearsed enough you can use this to get your dog out of potentially dangerous situations like chewing something they shouldnt (tablets, your shoes, other toxins) and to move them on from another dog, cat or animal on walks. Zelda is 12 weeks today and is already grasping the concepts of this cue which will be important in preventing her chasing the resident cats!

18.01.2022 Watch this heart-wrenching video about how fish are killed for food despite proof that they can feel pain and emotion via NowThis

18.01.2022 I was very lucky to be taught by Dr Matt Gurney at Liverpool Uni when he was a resident. Im very grateful for the baseline knowledge I learnt at Liverpool as it have brought me to where I am today. This is a great piece on why multimodal analgesia is important in treating pain, and why we need to move away from the idea of our pets (and people) being on too many medications. Pain is a very complex area and many pathways are involved.

18.01.2022 Dont ever underestimate the pain caused by teething in puppies! This can be enough to affect their attention to training sessions and how they react to things in their environment. We have seen a change in Zeldas behaviour recently, she is more crabby, mouthy and also wary of new people, dogs etc. when out on walks. Pain is the most likely cause! Poor poppet. Good job mum has some good drugs for her

17.01.2022 Im not sure who is clicker training who here #thepowerofpositivetraining

13.01.2022 Today Zelda is having her 16 weeks vaccination and it went without a hitch! With the help of a plate full of peanut butter and some gentle/limited handling she was able to opt into this procedure and wasnt phased at all. Just stopped briefly to cover me in peanut butter....sharing the love. And dont worry, Dougal got some peanut butter too for sitting there so beautifully!

12.01.2022 Punishment includes things like a jerk on a collar as a correction, despite what you may have been told by trainers who use punishment

12.01.2022 Platinum CPD will be putting on what should be a great day of behaviour learning for those behaviour nerds out there! Watch out for more information coming soon

11.01.2022 Well we have been busy busy recently setting up a side business to help those anxious pets who don't like going to the vet. We can now come to you in your home for most medical issues such as skin and ear problems, checking teeth, weight management, checking lumps and eyes, as well as routine things like vaccinations and heartworm injections. If your pet really struggles in the veterinary setting then we can come to you and provide a low stress visit at home :) Contact us on 0450847226 or email [email protected]

09.01.2022 Snake relocation season is definitely off to a cracker of a start .. Please call your local reptile removers , keep their numbers on your phone . Call your loca...l shire tomorrow for local catcher if you dont have their number already. Make our job easier by keeping a safe distance but an eye on the snake at all times . If in a room roll a damp towel under the door to keep it contained. Dont worry about watching if its contained this way, just keep an eye on the door from the outside. Lock away your domesticated pets. If it is under something stand back and if it tries to head out bang your foot or something on the ground to frighten it back until we get there. 90% of people bitten try to catch or kill the snake , please dont try that & potentially get very sick or die. And as always thanks for caring See more

09.01.2022 Well we have been busy busy recently setting up a side business to help those anxious pets who dont like going to the vet. We can now come to you in your home for most medical issues such as skin and ear problems, checking teeth, weight management, checking lumps and eyes, as well as routine things like vaccinations and heartworm injections. If your pet really struggles in the veterinary setting then we can come to you and provide a low stress visit at home :) Contact us on 0450847226 or email [email protected]

09.01.2022 Meet Miss Zelda, the new addition to the household! She is an 8 week old German Wirehaired Pointer who has an exciting life ahead of her! Things have been pretty quiet at PVBS lately as weve been busy socialising and training the new lady of the house. Today was our first day at the front of the house to work on some exposure and socialisation to novel things in the environment. The key is to do this passively so your pup remains in a positive emotional state whilst being e...xposed. If they are not in a positive emotional state then the result is flooding and creating negative memories. It is important to socialise puppies to all things they need to be comfortable with in every day life, not just dogs (adults, children, elderly, babies, men, cars, trucks, prams etc.) So whilst Zelda is not fully vaccinated, we can passively work on socialisation on a mat in the front yard, ensuring we create positive experiences and not overwhelming ones where she does not have a choice or control about the outcome.

07.01.2022 Today we have been working on relaxation at the park. Dogs very quickly learn that their leash means a very arousing event will happen if walks are always presented that way to them each time they go out. Zelda has already made the association that leash means high arousal and we are working on making walk times a low key event by teaching relax in the presence of the leash. This also means taking the indoor relaxation to the outdoors and stopping to take in the scenery. She ...is normally running at full speed to take everything in at full speed but by sitting down and teaching her that walks can be a time for chilling and calmly watching the world go by, means that I will have an adult dog that has better resilience and impulse control over walks, especially if things do not always go to plan! She is a little distracted in this video as there are lots of novel items in the environment and it is also a very windy day. Windy day = lots of good smells in the breeze! She does a great job of generalising the relaxation she has learnt in the house to the more arousing outdoor scenery!

06.01.2022 Meet superstar Mr Hemi who is wonderfully loved and cared for by Rebecca and Ron. He has come such a long way in the years that I have known him with the help of Danielle from K9 Positive Works Behaviour Rehabilitation Training From a dog, who at the first time meeting him had to be carried into the vets muzzled as a shaking, quivering wreck and had to remain outside for most of our initial home consult due to his extreme fear of new people, he is now such a cutie to visit! H...is people have worked so hard to get him to this point and he is finally on a good balance of anxiety and pain medications to keep his reactivity to a minimum. Small steps but here he is letting me touch his ears to quickly check them, something I would have only dreamt of doing previously, as Hemi is muzzled trained for vet trips as a safety precaution. He did choose to opt out quickly but the most important part is that he has a choice! This gives dogs a massive confidence boost. Well done to Hemi and his wonderful humans

06.01.2022 As originally posted by Dogminded, this infographic nicely demonstrates the difference between behaviour modification and suppressing behaviour. Here at Behavio...ural Referrals we are advocates for keeping up to date with the newest science based methods. Therefore, all of our techniques involve positive reinforcement and not corrections or suppression of behaviour. If you feel as though you are experiencing a behavioural problem with your pet, and are not sure how to avoid using suppressing techniques please discuss with your vet the concerns that you have and they may suggest a referral to ourselves.

03.01.2022 Although Zelda will settle in a crate at night she has a tendency to frustrate when left in it in the day and her mate vanishes. So are working on teach her relaxation in the crate and building up to the door being closed. Next step will be relaxing whilst I move away and increasing the amount of time she can relax in the crate

02.01.2022 **Consultation prices dramatically reduced** Perth Veterinary Behaviour Service aims to help you and your pet live harmoniously together. To enable this we have altered our pricing structure to allow a more affordable service that can be intergrated with our trainers services enabling more animals to get the help that they need. Check out our services page as we have slashed the price of our initial consults (from $370 to $290!) to allow more pets to get a high quality servi...ce and assessment at an affordable price compared to other veterinary behaviourists and trainers in Perth. We have also added some new services so that there are more options to get your pet assessed. If you would like to book a consult, first please email us to [email protected] and we will be in contact as soon as we can!

01.01.2022 Frustration in motion....watch how Zelda tries to get Dougal to play. This is after several failed attempts and her default is zoomies. This is often a frustrated, stress behaviour. To manage her, I took her out of the situation and did some brain work, like sit and recall, so she learns to use this energy more appropriately. Zooming is often a sign of a dog that is struggling in a given situation.