The health factor and why I'm taking ANOTHER course

Since becoming a dog behaviourist 4 years ago, I have become increasingly interested in the link between physical health conditions and behaviour issues within dogs.

It comes up in my work time and time again, a dog who has a behaviour issue also has one or more physical health problems and when we address the physical health, we see an improvement with the behaviour challenge.

Asking about physical health has always been a part of my initial consultation for all of my behaviour clients, but I admit that in my early days as a trainer, I definitely paid less attention to any physical health problems than I do now. Since becoming a CSAT (certified separation anxiety trainer) my interest in physical health (particularly pain) has increased even more.

But why are they so linked? And why is this such a tricky topic to address with a client. Let's explore this below.

In humans, we acknowledge that if we are in physical pain (or otherwise unwell) our mental health can suffer. Particularly if this is for a long period of time as is the case with chronic pain. Is it therefore not safe to assume the same for our canine companions? It makes complete sense that a dog who is in chronic pain would feel less able to cope with stressors than a dog who is not. Their tolerance is simply lower.

This is often a difficult conversation to have with clients, we have a concept that if a dog is in pain, they will be physically showing it somehow, limping or similar. But humans who are in chronic pain often show no physical signs at all and the same is true for dogs. In fact, if a dog IS limping, this is a sign that a dog is in tremendous pain on a scale of 8 or 9 out of 10. Behaviour changes are often the first sign of a physical health problem.

Clients say to me all the time 'But they run around and don't show any signs they're in pain at all' Perhaps not physical signs. But what is their behaviour showing you? If your dog has a serious behaviour issue such as a severe noise phobia or separation anxiety and behaviour modification isn't working, it's time to look at physical health. This is more often than not, the missing piece of the jigsaw.

What makes this even trickier is that in the majority of dogs, a pain response will not be picked up during a veterinary examination. There are lots of reasons for this, the dog may be stressed, so adrenaline kicks in to mask the pain, or manipulation of a joint is not how their pain manifests. It is shown by how they sit, or use the stairs, or how they go to the toilet. None of which would usually be seen at the vets. This leads to further confusion as clients (understandably) believe if a vet has ruled out pain then it must not be a factor. But a pain specialist would see pain straight away.

This leads me on to why I am doing another intensive course after vowing I'd give myself a break! I work predominantly with separation anxiety cases and as pain is so prevalent in this area, I feel that to be able to offer a full, sleek and client friendly service I need to be able to assess for pain myself. By July next year, all being well, I will be offering a full pain assessment as part of my consultation process as standard.

So, if you have hit a wall with your dog's behaviour challenges, is it time to look at a pain assessment?