Dog Behaviour Support for East London, Essex and Kent
Behaviour problems are hard and can be embarrassing. I totally understand and have been in your shoes. Maybe your dog barks and lunges at every other dog when you go to the park? Do your neighbours complain your dog is barking every time you leave the house? Are you worried your dog might bite someone?
I can help.
With a Teach Dog behaviour support plan we can change your dogs behaviour, and I will be there to hold your hand every step of the way.
The Teach Dog behaviour support plan begins with a free discovery call which you can book here. I will then send you an extensive questionnaire to fill in, so I know all about your issue.
Behaviour issues often have a medical cause and therefore I will also ask you to visit your vet and ask them to complete a referral form, so that I can work with them.
Once all the paperwork is complete I will assess your dog and design a plan to change their behaviour. This plan will be comprehensive and I will give you all the skills needed to change your dogs behaviour. You will have my support throughout the plan, through in person appointments, online meetings and regular check ins.
Changing behaviour takes time and consistency, but it is possible, and I will give you all the tools for success.
Behaviour Plan
Pricing
Discovery Call.
Questionnaire & Assessment.
Written Behaviour Modification Plan.
2 x 45 Minutes Training.
1 x 30 Minutes Online Meeting
12 weeks of Support.
£299
Additional Training appointments can be purchased at a cost of £50 per hour or £175 for four hours.
This price includes travel within a fifteen mile radius of Thurrock. Rachael will work in person in East London, Essex and Kent at an additional charge of £1 per mile outside of this radius.
Some behaviours can be modified over zoom, in fact with separation issues this is preferable to in person sessions. Zoom support is available for owners all over the UK.
Ready to book your discovery call?
Click here.
Whats the difference between dog training and behavioural training?
In dog training we are teaching the dog how to perform a behaviour and we then reward that behaviour, so we see more of it.
Let’s take the example of leash pulling.
If a dog is pulling on its lead because it finds pulling on the lead a rewarding behaviour and/or it hasn’t been properly taught to walk next to its owner, then you need dog training.
Behavioural training is needed when there is a strong emotional need behind the problem behaviour. Let’s take the lead pulling example again. A dog that is pulling on the lead on the way home from a walk, because it is desperate to get home, needs behavioural training. This is because in order to change the lead pulling we would need to understand why the dog is desperate to get home and change those feelings, before we will have any success with teaching them how to walk nicely on the lead.
What happens in a Teach Dog Behaviour Plan?
Behaviour plans are individual for each dog and their problem. Every dog is unique and therefore a plan for one dog won’t necessarily work for another. There are similarities though, and I will outline how most plans are put together.
The first step in a behaviour plan is a brief discussion of the issue over video call. This is free and enables us to meet eachother and also allows me to outline how I can help. After agreeing to work together I will email you a comprehensive questionnaire and also a veterinary referral form. The questionnaire is really long, and it has to be. This will tell me so much about your dog, their lifestyle, and the problem behaviour. The questionnaire gives me a massive head start to work out why they are performing this behaviour, and the why is key to starting to change the issue. You will need to send the veterinary referral form to your vet, this allows me to access your dogs’ medical records and liaise with your vet regarding the problem behaviour. Some veterinary practices will ask you to attend an appointment before completing the referral form, others won’t. Many behavioural problems can have a medical cause, if your dog’s issue is one of these problems then I will ask your vet to look into this and help me rule out any medical causes.
Once I have received your questionnaire, I will spend a few days researching. I will start to develop a list of possible diagnoses and any further questions I need to ask you. I am mentored by an APBC Clinical Animal Behaviourist, and, with your permission, I may also discuss your case with them to ensure I am giving you the highest quality advice.
Next, we will make an appointment for an assessment. This is when I come and meet you and your dog. This is in person if you live in East London, Essex, or Kent, but if you live further afield, we can do this over zoom, assuming your dog’s problem is suitable for online help. During the assessment I will be observing you and your dog and asking you even more questions! I may suggest some possible reasons behind your dog’s behaviour and also help you put into place some strategies to minimise it with management, whilst we work on changing the motivations for the behaviour. I am also likely to give you an idea of what behaviour change we are likely to be able to achieve and how easy, or hard, the work is going to be, and how long it will take.
I will now go away and spend some time working on a comprehensive plan to change your dog’s behaviour, step by step. I will email you this plan, giving you instructions about what to do and videos of training where applicable. I will give you a little time to digest the information and then we will make a date for our first behavioural training appointment. This is again in person if you live in East London, Essex, or Kent. The appointment will be 45 minutes and I will get you started on the first steps of the plan, demonstrating the training techniques and also getting you to do them with me watching, so I can suggest any improvements. Before ending the appointment, I will check you are confident and make a second appointment, for usually a month’s time, in person. During this month you will have daily exercises to do with your dog. I will set up a WhatsApp conversation where I will ask you to update me on how you are doing and send me videos of your training, so I can check you are on track.
Our next in person appointment will be another 45 minutes. You will get to tell me how you are doing and demonstrate your progress. I will work out how I can help you progress even further and give you additional exercises to do, if I think that is necessary. Like the previous month I will ask you to regularly check in and update me in our WhatsApp chat. Lastly, we make an appointment for a video call in another four weeks.
In most cases this will be where I discharge you. We will discuss your successes and how you should go on, to ensure the new behaviour is maintained over your dog’s lifetime. Occasionally we will still have more work to do and if this is the case you can book further sessions at a cost of £50 per hour.
The final step will be me reporting back to your vet to say we have completed our behavioural training and giving a brief outline of our achievements.