BEHAVIOUR TRAINING

Here at Halifax, we have close relationships with all our pets.

Our mission is to enrich our community by enhancing the relationship you enjoy with your pets by helping them live happier, healthier and longer lives

Often our pet’s behaviour has more influence on our enjoyment of the relationship than any health issues our pets may face. Indeed the leading cause of death in dogs under six years old is euthanasia because of bad behaviour. So we take behaviour seriously and have a range of programs to make sure your pet starts out right. It is our job to help your pet enjoy vet visits so we can offer the best care for them over their life – this starts from the very first visit.

We put a lot of effort into early positive clinic visits – we have an endless supply of various treats, distractions and games to help build a positive impression. Throughout the clinic we use both Feliway and Adaptil – these are pheromones for cats and dogs respectively that are clinically proven to reduce stress and anxiety. They make a huge difference to our patients comfort levels.

For all our cat owners we know how stressful it can be to bring your cat to the vet. We want to avoid this. Before the visit we can help with the use of Feliway. For some of our very anxious cats using medications on the day of visit can significantly reduce their stress. We can also advise you on the best way to get them into the cage, reduce the stress of travel, and relax them. The reception area has a specific cat corner which we try to keep dog free to help reduce stress as well.

We also offer house visits – for some animals this can be far less stressful (some however dislike strangers in their house even more than coming to the clinic).

All our nurses are highly trained in low stress handling – this can make a huge difference if we have to take blood or urine samples.

We love seeing pets so the more we see your pet for happy and enjoyable visits the more they will like the clinic. This means we love to see your puppy/dog as often as possible even it is just for treats and pats out the front. Not many of our cat clients walk them past as regularly!

Most importantly if you do think your pet has a behavioural problem talk to us ASAP. The sooner we can assess the problem the faster and more successful treatment can be.

Our dog behavioural classes include:

• Puppy Preschool
• Junior Canine classes for pre-adolescents
• Individual training sessions (in clinic or at home)