CLINICAL ANIMAL BEHAVIOURIST

Is your dog causing you frustration?
Pulling and reacting to everything during walks? Snarling or nipping?
Anxious about sounds? Hostile toward guests? Nervous about the world…?

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What is a Clinical Animal Behaviourist?

What is a Clinical Animal Behaviourist?

A Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CAB) in the UK is a professional, trained to assess, diagnose and treat complex behavioural issues in animals. They specialise in addressing behaviours rooted in emotional or psychological distress, such as fear, aggression, or anxiety and create tailored treatment plans to modify these behaviours. They often work in collaboration with veterinarians, especially when medical factors are prevalent.

Qualifications of a Clinical Animal Behaviourist:

In the UK, CABs are highly qualified and typically meet the following criteria:

Formal Education:

A degree in a relevant field such as animal behaviour, psychology, or veterinary science.

Accreditation:

They are usually accredited by recognised professional bodies such as:

  • APBC,IMDT or TCBTS
  • Certified CABs must meet rigorous academic and practical requirements.
  • Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC): CABs listed as Clinical Animal Behaviourists must adhere to strict standards and ethics.

Experience:

  • Significant practical experience working with animals in clinical behaviour cases.

Scientific Knowledge:

  • They apply evidence-based techniques and behavioural science to address issues.

What Does a CAB Do?

  • behaviour Assessments: Conduct detailed consultations to identify the underlying causes of a problem.
  • Treatment Plans: Create personalised strategies using positive reinforcement to change problematic behaviour.
  • Collaboration: Work with veterinarians if medical conditions (e.g., pain, neurological disorders) might be contributing to behaviour.
  • Education: Teach owners how to manage their pets effectively and improve their bond.

Common Issues They Address:

  • Aggression, separation anxiety, fear/phobias, resource guarding, excessive barking.

Choosing a CAB ensures you’re working with a qualified professional who uses ethical and science-based approaches to help your pet.

FAQs

Dog training and behavioural therapy both aim to address your dog’s behavior, but they focus on different aspects and approaches.

Here’s how they differ:

Dog Training

Dog training is generally about teaching your dog specific skills or commands. The focus is on teaching your dog how to perform certain tasks or behave in a specific way. This can involve basic obedience (sit, stay, come), house training, loose lead walking, and more.

Behavioural Therapy

Behavioural therapy, on the other hand, is more in-depth and focuses on understanding and addressing emotional or psychological issues that could be influencing your dog’s behavior. It’s often used when a dog is exhibiting more complex behaviors like aggression, anxiety, phobias, or compulsive behaviors. Behavioural therapy works to modify underlying emotional responses to triggers, helping the dog cope with those situations in a healthier way.

Goal: To address emotional or behavioural problems, often in response to fears, anxieties, or trauma

Approach: Can involve a combination of positive reinforcement, desensitisation, counterconditioning, and sometimes management strategies.

Scope: It focuses on the root cause of problematic behaviors and works on emotional regulation and coping mechanisms.

Example: Helping a dog overcome separation anxiety or reactivity toward other dogs.

Key Differences:

Focus: Training is about teaching behaviors; therapy is about addressing emotional issues behind those behaviors.

Scope: Training typically addresses specific commands and skills, while therapy targets broader behavioural issues like fear, aggression, or anxiety.

Approach: Training is often more straightforward with clear commands, while therapy involves more complex techniques to modify emotional responses.

Sometimes, both training and therapy are needed, especially if behavioural issues are more severe. In these cases, a trainer and a behavioural therapist might work together to support the dog’s needs.

Determining whether you need dog training or behavioural therapy depends on the type of issues you’re facing with your dog.

Here’s a guide to help you decide:

Signs You Need Dog Training

Basic Obedience Issues: If your dog doesn’t respond to commands like “sit,” “stay,” “come,” or “leave it,” or struggles with leash walking, you likely need basic training.

House Training Problems: If your dog is having trouble with housebreaking, learning where to go to the bathroom, or isn’t consistently following the rules in the house.

Polite Interaction: If your dog is jumping up on people, pulling on the leash, or generally not exhibiting good manners, these are typical issues for training.

Learning Specific Skills: If you’re teaching your dog specific tasks (e.g., agility, fetch, tricks), this would fall under training.

Training focuses on teaching the dog what to do, with clear, simple goals and consistent practice.

Signs You Need Behavioural Therapy

Aggression: If your dog is displaying aggressive behaviors (e.g., growling, snapping, or biting people or other dogs), this could be due to fear, territoriality, or stress and may need therapy to address the root cause.

Severe Anxiety or Fear: If your dog shows signs of fear (e.g., shaking, hiding, excessive barking) toward certain situations, like thunderstorms, other dogs, or strangers, behavioural therapy can help manage those fears.

Separation Anxiety: If your dog becomes extremely distressed when left alone, such as constant barking, destructive behavior, or soiling the house, therapy can address the emotional root cause.

Reactivity: If your dog barks, lunges, or shows signs of aggression towards certain stimuli (other dogs, people, cars, etc.), this is often a sign of reactivity, and therapy can help manage it.

Compulsive Behaviors: If your dog engages in repetitive behaviors (like obsessive licking, tail chasing, or pacing), this could indicate a behavioural problem that requires therapy to break the cycle.

Behavioural therapy is focused on helping your dog understand and cope with their emotional reactions to certain triggers or situations.

How to Choose:

Start with observing the issue: If the issue is about teaching your dog specific actions (e.g., learning commands, walking nicely on the leash), training is likely sufficient.

Look at the intensity and cause: If the behavior seems linked to fear, anxiety, or emotional distress (like aggression, separation anxiety, or phobias), you likely need behavioural therapy to address those deeper issues.

Seek Professional Help: If you’re unsure, it’s a good idea to consult a professional dog trainer or behaviourist. They can evaluate your dog’s needs and guide you on the right path. Sometimes, you might need both: training for basic obedience, and therapy for emotional issues.

If you’re dealing with complex emotional issues or behavioural patterns that don’t respond to basic training, you may want to seek out a Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CAB)

A behavioural therapy session isn’t just about addressing the dog’s immediate behavior; it involves a deep dive into the dog’s life and history, which typically takes a few days. It’s also important to understand that you’re not only paying for the session itself, but also for the years of study and the significant investment of time and resources that come with it. This includes the experience gained from working with many other dogs over the years

‘Animal behaviourists are incredibly skilled at working with animals, understanding their needs and putting into place mechanisms for change. The fees they charge, complement the standards expected from ABTC accredited behaviourists’. The RSPCA (2024)

‘Clinical animal behaviourist (ABTC-CAB) – holds a degree level (level 6) animal qualification. They can work with any case and behavioural issue but must refer to a vet for modification drugs.’ Short (2023)

Costs

The full behavioural therapy package is £240.00 (*please note, this may be claimable through your insurance, depending on your policy). This package includes:

  1. Contact with your veterinarian to gather your dog’s medical history and clarify any health-related concerns, if needed.
  2. An initial in-home consultation, lasting 2-3 hours, which may include some practical work. *I cover a 40-mile radius from Penrith (CA11), with additional mileage charged at £1 per mile.
  3. A comprehensive report and behavioural modification plan, which will also be shared with your vet. *This may take up to a week to complete.
  4. Ongoing communication with your vet, if necessary.
  5. Two 1-hour follow-up Zoom/Teams sessions within 4 weeks of the initial consultation, scheduled at a mutually convenient time.
  6. Email support for up to 4 weeks following the initial consultation. Additional support after this period can be arranged if needed.

All behavioural therapy sessions must be accompanied with a vet referral. Don’t worry, it is easy.  You will just need to sign a consent form.

Check with your pet insurer to see if you can claim for this service.