Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors - APBC

04/09/2025

04/09/2025

Case Study - Dog showing guarding behaviour around food, chews and when resting on the sofa Join Rosie for 2.5 hours online to work through a real-life behaviour case study - from history taking to diagnosis and treatment planning. Limited spaces to allow for open discussion – cameras and micropho...

04/09/2025

Work through the choices that aren’t 'good' (squeeze and release and/or utilise R+ training to reward other choices) rather than trying to prevent all choices ever occurring in the first place.

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I am seeing more and more an issue with over management and mislabelling, and the result is dogs just not being able to be dogs, and of course their behaviour gets worse, not better.

Dogs have an amazing ability to communicate using signals. We don't need to micro manage every interaction, manipulate every feeling and train every movement. We need to give them space to be dogs. And there is more nuance to achieving this freedom effectively whilst also setting the dog up for success, especially when it comes to reactivity training, and that is the difference between a behaviourally minded dog coach and a theory minded dog coach (just avoiding using the labels trainers or behaviourists so I don't pigeon hole anyone).

04/09/2025

Next Tuesday at 8pm!

Cats don’t make it easy for us to help owners to understand and meet their welfare needs with regards to living with conspecifics. When dealing with inter-cat stress it’s your responsibility as a behaviourist or welfare specialist to know when to play marriage counsellor and when to play divorce attorney.

Join us and Daniel Warren-Cummings on 9th September: https://bit.ly/4fd57bq

03/09/2025

The side-effects of aversive dog training methods that most people don’t know about--but should.

02/09/2025

02/09/2025

🎆 It’s September, which means - love them or hate them - we’re not far from bonfire night and fireworks season. 🎆

Many dogs struggle with fireworks and it takes very little for a dog who has been unaffected by them so far to suddenly grow sensitive to them. There can be many contributing factors behind the fear and stress; negative experiences, how loud and sudden they are (dogs ears are far more sensitive than ours, remember), the vibrations some can cause, the smell of gunpowder (again, dogs’ noses are extremely sensitive), the presence of pain or discomfort that can be worsened when startled… the list goes on.

With Kyber, I remember boasting about how great he was with fireworks - he’d be sniffing around in the garden with them going off in the background with barely a reaction when he was younger. But then, in the space of a year, something changed. It’s hard to pinpoint the cause - it might have been a culmination of things, even - but between one year and the next we went from unbothered and chill to pacing, panting, startling, barking and trying to hide. Looking back I remember we had a few bad thunderstorms that year, along with some negative experiences with our neighbour’s air rifle. He would later also be diagnosed with Luxating Patella in both knees, which had no doubt been causing him pain in certain situations.

So yes, your dog’s tolerance to fireworks can change. And it’s not just their tolerance to fireworks themselves that can change - you’ll be surprise how many big and sudden sounds there are out there, such as bin lids closing, doors slamming, crow scarers on farm fields, fly zappers, balloons popping… the list is endless!

This is why it’s hugely beneficial to start prepping early.

- Desensitise them by playing firework sounds (and other bangs) at a very low volume - quieter than even we can hear - while your dog is doing something enjoyable and calming. These sessions only need to be around 5-10 minutes each.

- Gradually (over a period of days and weeks, dog depending) increase the volume by small increments, keeping an eye out for any signs of stress, such as your dog yawning, panting, tongue flicks, their body stiffening, flinching and so on.

- If your dog already has a fear or uncertainty towards fireworks or certain sounds, speak to your vet or an accredited behaviour professional - the APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors - APBC), and ABTC (The Animal Behaviour and Training Council) are some of the best places to look.

✨By starting early, you’re giving your dog - and yourself - the best chance of success!

Check out the comments for further information ⬇️ 🐾

02/09/2025

Sound sensitivity part 2

As an APBC Associate member working on veterinary referral, part of my role with clients, and in conjunction with the client's GP vet, is to establish if there are underlying health issues which could be contributing to the presenting behaviour problem.
This is done through a variety of methods including: examining the dog's clinical history, discussion with owners, observing the dog, videoing and often sharing with CAB colleagues for discussion (with client approval), data collection - this might mean asking the client to complete observation charts, for example noting specific symptoms over a period of time and in different circumstances, and liaising with other professionals, primarily the GP vet to follow up on any observed concerns. Follow ups could include recommendations/referral to a Veterinary behaviourist, physios or other specialists.
There has been research into the links between pain and behaviour in dogs and there is a useful article you can read here from 2018 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2018.00017/full
This really hi-lights the importance of establishing if there is pain involved in any sound sensitivity case and pain can be hard to establish. It takes time, money and patience to fully establish the cause but once established and the correct pain relief is given, sound sensitivity can reduce when used alongside an appropriate behaviour plan.
A few examples in my work where pain has been a factor in cases I have worked on. (NB behaviour changes in many of these cases has not been limited to sound sensitivity).
My own dog Tessa developed a fear of the sound of golf balls being hit on our local course and was subsequently diagnosed with hip dysplasia.
A small breed rescue dog I worked with had sound sensitivity alongside other behaviour problems and with the help of a veterinary behaviourist and subsequently a neuro referral, was found to have syringomyelia and chiari-like malformation. A young dachshund with generalised anxiety was observed at the consult with me to have what looks like a luxating patella and is now being investigated for pain.
These are just a few examples and there are many many more.
So if you are concerned about sound sensitivity in your own dog, your first stop is your vet who can start the process of ruling out possible underlying health problems and refer you to your local Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors - APBC member. There are no quick fixes for these type of issues, make sure you use a suitably qualified behaviourist to help you and your dog.

02/09/2025

A warm welcome to Louise Napthine at https://bit.ly/47VKyOY who has joined us as an Associate Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CAB) Member!

The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC) is a network of friendly and professional practitioners who collaborate extensively with vet-led teams, focusing on a variety of species such as dogs, cats, horses, small mammals, reptiles, birds, and other animals.

01/09/2025

Sound sensitivity in dogs (part 1)

5 year old Hope is one of my rescue dogs who came from a traumatic background and likely a poor start from the point of view of nutrition, socialisation and habituation. (She was removed from a flat in Birmingham at 6 months where she, along with 3 children under 10, had been abandoned). When I adopted her from the RSPCA she was very fearful and reactive towards people. These days with much training and behaviour management she is greatly improved.
However she remains very sound sensitive. This is probably partly due to her background, her genetics - collie's are hard wired to respond quickly to changes in the environment and respond to directions over a distance - and probably also in part due to pain.
The approach to working with sound sensitive dogs is always multi faceted but as a starting point here are some tips for managing the behaviour and helping your dog feel less overwhelmed.

1. Block out background noises - this might be with radios or white noise machines (can be bought fairly cheaply on Amazon). Keep windows shut when there is a lot of local noise - i.e. on bin day etc. Reduce household noises which cause reactions - beeps on washing machines can be switched off usually, doorbells which call your phone rather than ring etc.
2. Make sure they can rest in an area of the house where they won't be disturbed, good quality rest is essential for dogs who are hypervigilant and aware of every tiny sound in the environment.
3. Try to reduce stress elsewhere in their lives - quieter walks, safe places when visitors come, sticking to familiar and safe routines.
4. Give your dog plenty of activities which help/enable relaxation and avoid the ones which get the adrenaline going and keep them fired up. So licki mats and long lasting appropriate chews, freework and some low level scent work for example but avoid repetitive ball throwing and fast running. The first set of activities reduce stress, and increase the presence of hormones which aid relaxation and a sense of well being, and second set keep adrenaline high and may contribute to further (unintentional) stress in the body.
5. Do comfort your dog. Out of date advice suggested that caregivers shouldn't comfort their fearful dogs but we now know that emotions can't be reinforced and if your dog is feeling high levels of anxiety and comfort from you will help them then that should be given. Hope always wants to be really close to me when she is feeling particularly anxious and definitely gains comfort and is then able to rest more easily.

There is a lot more information to give you on sound sensitivity so look out for part 2 coming soon.
If you want help with your anxious or sound sensitive dog please head over to my website to see what behaviour packages I offer and email me to discuss how I can help.
www.paulinewhittaker.co.uk/behaviour

01/09/2025

Cats can behave in weird ways for no reason sometimes. But is it actually you that’s missing something?!

Today’s video covers 10 surprising things that change your cats behaviour. Link in comments!

31/08/2025

Acceptance as a Full APBC member via our ABTC approved assessment process means you can register as a CAB or ABT with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council.

Find out more here: https://buff.ly/3ipB5Ve