Online Consultations
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Online consultations are for all companion pets
We can help!
We are keen to continue to help owners ‘love life with their pet’ throughout this difficult period. The Cat and Dog Company now offers online and telephone support that you can access our services from the comfort of your own home. We can help with Behaviour Problems: The recent weeks have been very challenging due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus and what that entails. Our household structure and routine has been turned upside down. Our pet dogs are very sensitive to, and impacted by, household emotions and even small changes to situations. You may notice that they withdraw into themselves. You may also notice new behaviour problems or an increase in existing issues. We can advise how to help you dog cope with these changes and amend any undesirable behaviour changes. The nature of the lock down can be beneficial for pet dogs that are dog reactive, nervous of people and have separation problems. This reduction in exposure to stressors gives us a window of opportunity to retrain. The enforced social distancing can be a helpful step at resolving some types of behaviour problems. We can utilise the aspects of confinement and advise treatment programs that enable the dog to transition back into normal life using the training to help the dog make better behaviour choices. Help to prevent behaviour problems We can also suggest ways to prevent problems arising. There are many things that you can do in order to help your dog during this period. We can provide advice to assist you in the following areas:
How does it work? We are happy to use a variety of online tools that offer video consultations. In our experience Zoom, Face-time, What’s App video and Skype all work well. Video enables us to demonstrate with our own dogs and adjust your training if necessary. Our preferred method of consulting is to visit your house and see how your dog responds in various situations. However, we have been successfully assisting various problems remotely so far. Online consultations do have limits in some of the practical aspects of retraining, especially for behaviour problems that require being close to people or dogs. However, in these cases there are often things that we can help you to do in your own home that will help the practical retraining process when the current lock-down allows for home visits. It is also possible to retrain whilst maintaining the social distancing rules. One issue when retraining is that people and dogs come too close to a dog that is not ready for greetings. We can make the most of the social distancing rules and retrain in a situation where the dog is happier. When the lock-down is lifted we can then decrease that social distance whilst keeping the dog relaxed. Online Consultation - How it works
Step 1 - questionnaire Please download and complete the dog behaviour questionnaire or feline behaviour questionnaire. You’ll need to send this to us, at least 72 hours prior to the consultation, so we have an understanding of the problems you're having. For small animal behaviour online consultations, please contact us . Step 2 - consultation The Online behaviour consultation will be carried out ideally by using a video call; either zoom, facetime or Whats app ideally , so that your pet can be seen in their own environment if necessary. This duration of the consultation is approximately 2 hours. During this time detailed notes about your pet's history will be taken. The problem behaviour will be identified and we will be able to give an explanation on what has caused the problem behaviour, and give advice on how to change the behaviour. Step 3 - written report After your consultation, you will receive a comprehensive written report detailing the behaviour modification programme for you to follow with pet. Step 4 - follow-up support A 1 hour follow up support by phone or email is provided at no extra cost for one month after your consultation. Unfortunately, there are no quick-fixes to improving behavioural problems in pets. It takes patience and consistency, but it can be done and I'll support you through it. In many cases it may be necessary to visit you again or provide additional training (please see below for fee details). Fees Online Consultation An online consultation is £200 for a 1.5-2 hour call . This includes the consultation session, the written report and a 1-hour follow-up phone/ zoom call within 4 weeks after the initial consultation. Additional telephone follow-ups are £50 per hour. |
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