Dizzy's owners contacted us to help with some home relations between household dogs. Dizzy lives with Mia, another Pet Journey. Dizzy’s owners were concerned as there had been a behaviour change between Dizzy and Mia since some medical problems had started with Mia.

This meant that at evening times, there would be frayed tempers and they would need to be separated. This was a concern for their owners as, with Dizzy and Mia both being young large dogs, the possibility of future altercations escalating into injuries was a big worry.

First Assessment

During the assessment of Dizzy and Mia, it was found that they had good relations and enjoyed lots of play together. They would play together the majority of the day and show good role reversals and tolerance levels for each other. However, with Mia’s current medical problems she was potentially feeling sore in the evening, meaning she didn’t want to play.

Behaviour plan

For the behaviour plan, we introduced some calm behaviours together and introduced safety behaviours to separate them if needed. We also ensured, with the help of Mia’s vet, that she was kept comfortable with pain relief until we could be sure she was recovered from her medical problems.

Dizzy and Mia have started their settle work already and are coming on leaps and bounds. So far although there can be times of frayed relations, Dizzy’s owners are brilliant at managing them both and preventing any escalation. Importantly they have more time of being in harmony and they still enjoy playing together while being supervised.

Outcome

Once Dizzy has mastered his calm settle behaviours, the next plan for Dizzy is to work on frustration and impulse control to help at home and with his walks as he can find other dogs hard at times. We look forward to seeing Dizzy for his sessions as he loves nothing more than a good cuddle and fuss during his session!