Is your dog or cat misbehaving? Do you have problems related to: aggression, anxiety, barking, unruliness, house-soiling, urine spraying, dominance issues, obsession, or similar?

Veterinary surgeon Dr med vet Uwe Gerecke, MRCVS, offers a specialised behaviour service for dogs and cats in Cornwall and Devon.

It is my belief that behaviour issues seen in dogs or cats don't need to be a struggle for the owner. In the majority of cases, they have developed based on a series of misunderstandings or misconceptions between owners and animals, and can be solved!

Communication Problems

Dogs and cats, just like any other animal, can only understand signals that somehow match the portfolio of species-specific signals they were born with. Humans on the other hand use their own species-specific set of signals to communicate with their pets. Wherever these two sets don't match, problems in the form of unmet expectations may arise. Leading to a state of insecurity on behalf of the pet, and reactions such as helplessness or even crossness on behalf of the owner, this can give rise to undesirable behavioural issues.

Such a situation can inadvertently be further complicated if several family members and/or animals live in the same household, or by other animals in the neighbourhood, etc. The range of behavioural problems seen in dogs and cats is varied and includes aggression, anxiety and phobias, obsessions, toilet problems, territorial/possessive/dominance behaviour etc. If you are interested in a more detailed list of behavioural issues in dogs and cats, please feel free to browse the 'about behaviour in pets' section.

Detective Work

If called to help with a behavioural case it is my job as a veterinary behaviourist to find any underlying communication problems the pet is faced with in its life. Depending on the case, and taking into consideration the medical background of the case and its history, this can often be done quite quickly, or it may require a certain amount of detective work, like finding the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Once the cause of the problem has been identified, my next task will be to work out a feasible strategy on how both the underlying problem and the undesirable behaviour patterns that have resulted from it can be resolved. I will then produce a report for you, a copy of which I will send to your local veterinary practice if you were referred by them.

The initial step of my work will be a home visit. In this way I can get a picture of the pet in its normal environment, and meet human family members as well as fellow pets.

If there are any open questions following the initial home visit, I will be available for follow-up conversations by phone- or email. In some cases, one or more follow-up visits may be advisable. In canine cases, you can also bring your dog to my centre for a follow-up consultation, which will usually include an outdoors walk together.