Behaviour & Anxiety guides
Practical, veterinary-led guidance on Behaviour & Anxiety, written by vets, free to read. View all guides
The departure plan: gradual absence training that actually works
A dog learns to cope with being alone the same way a person gets over a fear of deep water: in tiny, manageable steps where they are never actually overwhelmed. Not by being thrown in. The plan that works is unglamorous...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Medication for separation anxiety: when, what, and why it is not giving up
When a vet says the word "medication" for a behaviour problem, a lot of owners hear something the vet never meant: that they have failed, that they have run out of patience, or that the plan is to dull their dog into a...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Managing the meantime: avoiding full-blown absences while you train
Most separation anxiety plans don't fail on the training. They fail in the weeks around it. You build a careful departure plan, your dog starts coping with two minutes, then five, then ten, and you feel the first...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Separation anxiety, isolation distress or boredom: which is it?
A chewed door frame, a complaint from a neighbour about the howling, a puddle by the back door. Someone has told you it is "separation anxiety", and that phrase tends to close the conversation down, as though there is...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
The camera test: what your dog actually does when you leave
A separation problem is, almost by definition, a problem you never see. The behaviour shows up when you are out, the one window in which you cannot know what your dog is doing (Harvey et al., 2022). So most owners are...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Puppies and prevention: building alone-time tolerance from the start
No puppy is born knowing how to be relaxed on its own. It is a skill, like toilet training or walking nicely on a lead, and like any skill it has to be learned, gently and early, before a problem ever forms. Almost no...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 13 min read
Event medication that works: Sileo, trazodone, imepitoin and why ACP is the wrong choice
Most dogs who dread fireworks night have, at some point, sent their owner home with a small white tablet "to knock him out for the evening." It is one of the most well-meaning pieces of advice in pet care, and one of...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Your firework night plan: the safe den, the routine, the do’s and don’ts
The bangs may be only days away, and if your pet falls apart every firework season, there is still plenty you can do before the next display. Start with the scale of it. Noise fear is the most common behavioural problem...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Thunderstorms, gunshots and the generally noise-sensitive pet
Fireworks get all the attention, and fair enough, they fill our waiting rooms every November. But a great many noise-fearful pets are not really firework dogs, or not only firework dogs. They are the ones who pace an...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Sound desensitisation: retraining the fear in the off-season
The work that actually changes how a dog feels about fireworks happens in months with no fireworks in them. When November comes and your dog is shaking behind the sofa, the instinct is to reach for the night: more den,...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Noise and firework fear: why it happens and why it worsens with age
Trembling at fireworks, hiding at the first rumble of thunder, bolting at a slammed door: this is the single most common behavioural problem in dogs, and one of the most under-recognised in cats. It is not an odd quirk...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
The hidden pain link: when noise fear is a sign of undiagnosed pain
Some dogs who are frightened of fireworks, thunder or sudden bangs are not "just" noise-phobic. They are in pain, and nobody has spotted it yet. It surprises almost everyone, owners and vets alike, the first time they...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 12 min read
Socialisation done right: the puppy and kitten window, and what to do if you missed it
Early in life there is a stretch of a few weeks when a puppy or a kitten decides, more or less for keeps, whether the world is a safe place. Get a little gentle, varied experience into them during it, and you tend to...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
The fearful pet: helping an anxious dog or cat feel safe
Some pets meet the world braced for the worst. There's the dog that flinches at the doorbell, paces when the light fades, and will not settle until everyone is home. There's the cat that lives behind the sofa and only...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 13 min read
Fear of the vet and the groomer: cooperative care and Fear Free handling
The carrier comes out and the cat is gone under the bed. The lead goes on for a trip to the groomer and the dog plants all four feet at the door. By the time you reach the waiting room your pet is panting, trembling,...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Desensitisation and counter-conditioning: the two techniques behind every fear plan
A dog that comes apart at fireworks, a cat that flattens itself at the sight of the carrier, a dog that explodes at other dogs on the lead: three very different problems, and underneath, the same two techniques doing...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 14 min read
Equipment for reactivity: harnesses, head-collars, and why a muzzle is kind
The single fact worth knowing before you spend a penny is this: no piece of equipment will train your reactive dog. Gear does not cure lunging and barking, and no harness, head-collar or clever lead does the behaviour...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
The reactive-dog walking plan: distance, engagement and the U-turn
A dog that lunges, barks or growls at other dogs on the lead puts you into a particular routine: scanning the path ahead, that dropped-stomach moment when another dog appears, the apology to a stranger while you haul...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Lead reactivity: why your dog lunges and barks, and what it is not
A dog appears across the road, the lead goes taut, and your dog rears up barking and lunging while you stand there red-faced and apologising. It is one of the most common scenes owners describe to us, and one of the...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Frustrated greeters vs fearful reactors: telling them apart changes everything
Two dogs are barking, lunging and straining at the end of the lead at the sight of another dog across the road. To you, to a passer-by, even to a fair few trainers, they look identical: the same noise, the same...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 13 min read
Understanding aggression: it is communication, not character
When a dog growls, snaps or bites, the first thing most owners reach for isn't a training question at all. It's a question about who their dog is. Is he a bad dog? Did I get this wrong? Is something broken in him? I...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Resource guarding: food, toys and space, and how to handle it safely
A dog that stiffens over a bone, gulps its food faster when you walk past the bowl, or curls a lip when someone reaches for the stolen sock is showing you one of the most misunderstood behaviours in dogs. Resource...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 12 min read
When housemates fall out: dog-to-dog aggression in the home
Two dogs who live under the same roof and have started to fight is one of the quietly devastating behaviour problems we see. It is frightening in the moment, the wounds can be serious, and it carries a particular kind...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Children and dogs: prevention and the safety rules that matter most
Child safety around dogs is usually written about with shock statistics and frightening photographs, and that approach helps nobody. It just frightens the families who least need frightening. So let me put the...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 13 min read
After a bite: safety, the law, muzzle training and getting qualified help
A dog who has bitten someone puts an owner into a difficult few days, and there are really only two things worth saying at the outset. Looking for proper guidance, rather than pretending it never happened, is the...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 13 min read
The litter-tray audit: number, type, litter and location cats actually want
Before we touch a single litter tray, one thing has to come first, because getting it wrong is the most common mistake owners make: rule out illness. A cat that suddenly stops using its tray is very often telling you it...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 12 min read
Cat peeing outside the tray: the first thing to rule out is illness
A previously clean cat starts weeing on the carpet, the bath mat, the bed, or just beside the tray, and most owners read it the same way: a quiet, sinking frustration, and the assumption that the cat is making a point....
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Cats that do not get along: easing inter-cat tension at home
One cat spends its days on top of the wardrobe. There is a puddle by the back door. One of them has a bald patch on its belly. In a multi-cat home, signs like these often mean the cats are not getting along, even when...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Stress, FIC and the indoor cat: the enrichment that prevents relapse
A cat with feline idiopathic cystitis is usually handed two explanations that sound like they cancel each other out. One vet calls it a bladder problem. Another calls it a stress problem. Both descriptions are correct,...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 13 min read
Spraying vs squatting: marking is a different problem with a different fix
When a cat starts putting urine where it should not, almost everyone reaches for the same explanation: the litter tray. They scoop more often, buy a new box, switch the litter, maybe shut the cat in a smaller room, and...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 13 min read
Pica and wool-sucking: why pets eat what they should not
A cat suckles the corner of a jumper. A dog keeps swallowing socks. A kitten gets through a length of wool. These look like quirks or passing phases, and sometimes they nearly are. But pica, the eating of things that...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Feline overgrooming: psychogenic alopecia, or something itchier?
Most owners never actually catch their cat in the act. That is the strange thing about overgrooming. One day the fur on her belly looks thin, or there is a neat bald stripe down the inside of a back leg, the skin...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Compulsive behaviour: tail-chasing, flank-sucking, light-chasing and more
Almost every dog chases its tail now and then, and almost every cat spends a good chunk of the day grooming. So the question owners actually bring to us isn't "is my pet doing this?" but "is the way my pet is doing this...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Boredom, under-stimulation and the role of enrichment
A dog that shreds the post the moment your back is turned, or a cat that has taken up a 3am sprint up the curtains, tends to get called "naughty." It is almost always the wrong word. A great deal of the repetitive,...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Is it behaviour or is it medical? Why the first step is a vet check
A dog starts snapping when it never used to. A house-trained cat begins weeing on the bed. The first words out of most people's mouths are some version of "what has got into him?" or "she is doing it to spite me." Those...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
Finding real help: vet, behaviourist or trainer, and how to tell them apart
In the UK, "dog trainer" and "behaviourist" are not protected titles. That surprises almost every owner I tell it to. Unlike "vet" or "doctor", anyone at all can print "behaviourist" on a business card tomorrow, charge...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Why your pet does this: fear, frustration and the emotions behind behaviour
A dog growls at a visitor, a cat lashes out from under the bed, and the question almost every owner asks is "why is he being like this?" The answers we reach for first are usually the wrong ones. He is being dominant....
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Reading your pet: body language and the early warning signs
Ask almost anyone who has been bitten or scratched and you will hear the same line: it came out of nowhere. The dog was fine, and then it was not. The cat was purring on a lap one second and drawing blood the next. It...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
How animals actually learn: reward, punishment, and why aversive methods backfire
A small set of rules sits under almost every behaviour problem you will ever try to solve, and under almost every nice thing you will ever teach. Your dog learns that the doorbell means a visitor; your cat learns that...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 10 min read
Calming aids, pheromones and supplements: what the evidence really says
Walk down the calming aisle of any pet shop and you would be forgiven for thinking the anxiety problem was solved. Plug-in diffusers, calming collars, milk-protein capsules, "tranquillity" treats, valerian sprays,...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
When is it an emergency? Safety, bites and keeping everyone safe
Most behaviour problems are not emergencies. They are slow, frustrating, fixable things you have time to work through with help. A small handful, though, are genuinely urgent, and in those moments the instinct that...
Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 11 min read
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