Why Did I Start Animal Behaviour Australia?

It’s quite simple. To help animals and to help pet owners Australia wide.

Firstly I want to educate the Australian public on what an Animal Behaviourist is and how they can help you with your pet.

The second thing is to provide help to anyone, anywhere!

For a decade I have worked as an Animal Behaviourist connected to Veterinary Clinics. I have either been employed directly by a clinic, or other clinics would refer cases to me, and were grateful that I was there to help their clients where needed. I like to travel a lot and also re-locate fairly frequently. When I left a clinic this help was missed and I was often asked to perform phone consultations for clients in need. There are not many behaviourists in Australia you see.

When I moved to Tasmania I had to change my operational method as clinics are quite small and any one clinic does not require its own Animal Behaviourist. This led me down the road of consultancy. I would work as a freelance Animal Behaviourist and service the various Veterinary Clinics within easy driving distance from where I lived. Again, the clinics referred to me, but I also did some low-key advertising at pet shops and rescue centres for example, and people started coming directly to me too. I kept hearing things like ‘I had no idea that you existed and that there was help available for my pet’. I heard this time and time again. It doesn’t sit comfortably with me that owners are unaware that they can get help and solve the unwanted behaviour issues that they are having with their pets.

One of the clinics I service is a fair distance from where I live. Invariably people were not available on the day that I would be there consulting so I started offering Skype consultations. The process that I follow whether in a clinic or for a video link consultation remains the same. I need the owner to provide me with a wealth of information before I see them. I review this and then we have the consultation.

It turned out that the video link consultations are just as effective, actually more so as I get to see the pet in its home environment, which can sometimes be very important. An even better thing is the flexibility this type of consultation provides.

For the best results, it is good to have all owners of the pet present i.e Mum and Dad etc, as you both need to know why the behaviour is being performed and both understand what you need to do to help rectify it. Relaying of information does not work well or provide the best results. It’s a bit like Chinese whispers!….A video link consultation allows for a time that is convenient to all so that if someone works long hours they can still be at the consultation. So I decided that if it works well locally why can’t it work well everywhere?

I have worked hard at streamlining my process to make it easy to understand so that all information that you need to provide to me, including uploading of videos of problem behavior, can be done using my website. I then meet both you and your pet via video link at a time convenient for you. It works very well, so I am now embarking on a new era using the modern technology that is available to us.

Of course, I still service local Veterinary Clinics and perform consultations in clinics and even home visits if you live close to me however, video link consultations are every bit as effective. This means I can help more people and more animals! Maybe I will stop hearing ‘I didn’t even know that an Animal Behaviourist existed’ that’s the hope and why Animal Behaviour Australia was born. So please share that help is available with your friends and family. There are countless people sitting there with problems with their pets and have no idea that they can get help. Let’s change that! I can help them get the best possible relationship with their pet. Let's face it, why settle for anything less?