​Dog behaviour service Oxfordshire 

Are you finding some of your dog's behaviour increasingly difficult to manage?  Issues could include:

• over-excitability and frustration (e.g. jumping up repeatedly, pulling hard on the lead);
• reactivity to dogs, people, or other animals;
• difficulty coping with being alone;
• generalized anxiety;
• guarding of food, objects, locations and/or people;
• toileting inappropriately in your home;
• barking excessively;
• destructiveness at home;
• compulsive behaviour;
• fears/phobias. 

​I can work in partnership with you and your dog, carrying out a full assessment and developing a flexible plan to help modify your dog's behaviour. Commitment, consistency and building positive associations for your dog will be a central part of this process. A key aim of the service is to reduce anxiety, fear, impulsivity and excitement and to promote a calm environment within which learning can take place.  Your dog's welfare will always be treated as paramount.

Visits to assess dog behaviour issues in Oxfordshire are currently charged at £55 for up to 90 minutes with a nominal additional charge for travel over ten miles distance. Subsequent visits to support you with dog behaviour training will be charged at £40 for 60 minutes or £55 for £90 minutes (plus travel if applicable). The cost of consultation visits includes email support between visits for up to two months after the initial assessment and a written copy of any training guidance given.      

What you can expect:-

Dog behaviour assessment

​An initial consultation will focus on assessing your dog's behaviour, carefully listening to your own concerns and feedback, and drawing on veterinary information and direct observation of your dog's body language and interactions. It is also important to consider your dog's natural instincts and drives, their developmental stage and behavioural history, and other genetic and environmental factors. Consideration will be given to the circumstances under which the behaviour occurs as well as the potential causes in order to create a plan to modify your dog's behaviour which is as effective as possible and gives you the strategies you need to deliver it. I will need to check and collect basic information on your dog's behaviour and medical history prior to a visit. This helps with preparation and with trying to ensure that any medical cause of behaviour can be ruled out, and also that your dog has as calm and positive an experience as possible. ​If you have any specific needs or requirements of your own please let me know in advance.  

Dog behaviour support - consultation visits, telephone, and email contact 

Follow up consultation visits give the opportunity to provide advice, and to demonstrate positive strategies for addressing and managing your dog's behaviour, the how of putting a flexible behaviour plan into practice. Dog behaviour training will give you a chance to practice the dog behavioural strategies suggested with a dog behaviourist present. A flexible behaviour plan will be delivered in small manageable steps with written guidance provided when each step has been demonstrated. Canine consultations are a two-way communication process, giving you the chance to ask lots of questions. Recommended strategies will vary depending on your dog's individual needs and motivations.  Every individual dog is unique and a flexible plan can be modified to accommodate any new information or circumstances. The plan is likely to include some or all of the following:
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• Safe management.
• Diet, physical exercise and mental stimulation.
• Structured training using kind and consistent signals, responses and boundaries that build on your dog's confidence, receptiveness and motivation.  This training will make it easier for you to manage your dog's behaviour and to address behaviour issues since it will build on trust and give you more effective control.
• Reward based training to teach your dog an alternative, calm and focused response.
• Building positive associations for your dog with the people, animals, objects or situations with which they are uncomfortable.  This involves a step by step, gentle and graduated process that gives your dog the space and time to approach and deal with issues at their own pace.
• Socialisation and habituation.