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Animal Behaviour Vet

Behaviour problems can sometimes be difficult to understand and frustrating to manage. Because pets can’t talk, understanding other ways that they communicate is crucially important in working out why they do what they do. Healthy Pet Behaviour Services is a Veterinary Behaviour Practice. We will assess your pet’s behavioural issues, medical and mental health, and find solutions to improve your pet’s well-being and your life together.

Meet the team
 
 

COVID 19 INFORMATION: We are open and continue to attend to our patients.

Please see our updated COVID 19information here: https://healthypetbehaviourvet.com.au/covid-19-update/  

Our concern for our clients and staff are of utmost importance. PLEASE ENSURE YOU RING THE PRACTICE IF YOU NEED FURTHER INFORMATION.

We help pets and their owners achieve quality of life by providing tailored behavioural plans
Let's see if we can help your pet right now.
What type of companion do you have?
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Behaviour Enquiry Form
Pets *
What behaviour is being shown?
Emotion *
When does this behaviour happen?
Situation *
How often does this behaviour occur?

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Our advice to you
Being fearful of scary things is a normal emotion, and anxiety is the anticipation of a scary thing happening. Being afraid is very normal in certain contexts e.g. being in a near miss accident. However, sometimes these emotional reactions can be disproportionate to the “threat” (e.g. a pet that cowers if an owner drops a teaspoon); occur in response to stimuli that would not normally cause a fearful response (e.g. having a brush); or occur so frequently that the pet is unable to relax and settle (e.g. every small noise causes the pet to jump up and investigate). Pets may display fear and anxiety in many, many different ways: some hide, some run away, some perform some unusual repetitive behaviours and others may even display aggression.

Having a pet that is excessively fearful or anxious intereferes with its quality of life and ability to enjoy experiences; and it’s distressing for owners to see their pets that way too! If you are concerned about your pet’s behaviour, get in touch: We aim to determine the underlying reason for your pet displaying its troubling behaviour, make a diagnosis and set up a treatment plan tailored to your pet and your family’s circumstances.

Aggressive displays can be very worrying for owners and consequences for pets can sometimes be dire. There are a multitude of reasons for why a pet displays aggressive behaviours and the way in which aggressive displays develop, the contexts in which they occur and the frequency and intensity with which they occur are all very important in understanding and managing aggressive behaviours. What we do know from scientific research is that using heavy-handed and punishment-based methods, including choke / check / prong chains; electric / ultrasonic / citronella collars ; shock mats and yanking leads , etc., all exacerbate aggressive behaviours. It is very important to ensure that owners with animals displaying aggressive behaviours receive the correct information about how to manage and treat the underlying cause for the behaviour.

Obtaining a diagnosis and complete management plan, including environmental management, behaviour modification and appropriate medication, if indicated, is of the utmost importance in providing the best long term outcomes for pets and their owners. This can only be achieved by a veterinarian with appropriate additional training in Veterinary Behaviour Medicine. Support can be provided by appropriately qualified trainers, but this is not an area that training alone will ‘fix’ the pet. If you are concerned about your pet’s behaviour, get in touch: We aim to determine the underlying reason for your pet displaying its troubling behaviour, make a diagnosis and set up a treatment plan tailored to your pet and your family’s circumstances.

Destructive and nuisance behaviours can sometimes be puzzling, annoying and expensive to deal with. Owners can sometimes feel overwhelmed and frustrated with trying to manage these issues and resort to taking advice from anyone that says they’ll help. It’s important to determine why a pet is performing a particular behaviour. Is it part of the normal behaviour of that species? At that age? Or reproductive status? Or is it because there is an underlying emotional or mental health issue?

What we do know for sure is that pets do not express behaviours ‘out of spite’ or to ‘get us back’ for going out / leaving them alone / engaging in a particular activity — pets do not have the ability to be spiteful. It’s far more helpful to investigate why they’re doing what they’re doing so that we can help them learn appropriate coping strategies, offer them acceptable outlets for normal behaviours and use management strategies to improve their lives as well as their family’s lives. If you are concerned about your pet’s behaviour, get in touch: We aim to determine the underlying reason for your pet displaying its troubling behaviour, make a diagnosis and set up a treatment plan tailored to your pet and your family’s circumstances.

Some behaviours like repetitive circling, over-grooming, staring into space etc can be quite obviously unusual and abnormal. Other times these behaviours can be more subtle, infrequent or occur only at particular times. There are medical as well as behavioural reasons why pets may perform some behaviours. It’s important to have your pet evaluated by a suitably qualified professional in order to determine whether the cause may be a purely medical, emotional, mental health issue or a combination of these.

It is well-known in the Veterinary Behaviour Medicine field that medical conditions affect mental and behavioural health and vice-versa. Ensuring your pet receives wholistic care is critical to ensure that they receive the appropriate treatment and management. If you are concerned about your pet’s behaviour, get in touch: We aim to determine the underlying reason for your pet displaying its troubling behaviour, make a diagnosis and set up a treatment plan tailored to your pet and your family’s circumstances.

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Pet Behaviour Vet Brisbane

Our methods are based on up-to-date scientific research, keeping pet’s welfare and client’s lifestyles in focus whilst  caring for our patients. 

We aim to find the underlying reason for why the pet behaves the way it does and find long term solutions, not "quick fixes" - they don't last and only make matters worse.
  • Member of the Veterinary Behaviour Chapter of The Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists
  • Member of the Australian Veterinary Behaviour Interest Group
  • Member of The Australian Veterinary Association
  • Fear Free Certified Professional
  • Low Stress Handling Certified Professional
  • Member of The Pet Professional Guild of Australia
Learn more about us

Understanding Low Stress Handling

Low Stress Handling was coined by Dr. Sophia Yin to describe a set of techniques for handling and positioning animals for care. They were designed specifically to decrease fear, anxiety and discomfort for the pet. A common example of how handling can influence behaviour is nail trimming. Trimming a dog's nails could become difficult if the manner in which you hold your pet makes him / her feel unsure or uncomfortable. If not modified and improved, repeating this routine could escalate to fearful or aggressive behaviours.

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The biggest compliment we get is seeing pets living in harmony with their owners.

We deeply care about the outcome for each pet and their owner and we’re always happy to hear from our clients.

Tyson & Tina Watkins
2 reviews
★★★★★  2 years ago

Friendly, fast and very well priced. Tony is a top bloke and I am happy to have supported this small local business.

Craig Scrase
1 review
★★★★★  6 months ago

Tony is knowledgeable, practical and well prepared. Generous with advice. Great service and price.

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