Behavioral Consultations

We are proud to be the full-service hospital for your pet's health, boarding, grooming, and emergency services. We pride ourselves on being a trusted resource for all the health needs of the furry family members that you love and care for. We treat a broad range of animals - from cats and dogs, to reptiles, horses, and cattle!

What is a Behavior Consult?

Have you ever had a dog or cat that had some bad behavior? Maybe it was inappropriate bathroom habits in the house. Maybe it was some aggression. Perhaps there was some house destruction. Maybe you have a pet with a behavior problem right now. Behavioral concerns with our pets can be very stressful and really offsetting to the family balance. They can also deeply injure the human/pet bond.

Heartland Animal Hospital is here to help. We offer a service called a Behavioral Consultation. This service is the beginning of a valuable process that can change your life, and your pet’s life, for the better. At this appointment we address your behavioral concerns, and determine what the first step will be to address them.

Just as behavioral problems do not blossom overnight (though they sometimes seem to) they will not be fixed overnight, so this is NOT a one-time, fix-all appointment. Follow up consultations and care will be required. There will also be ‘homework’ for your family and your pet, and some changes may be suggested.

Sometimes, we also recommend adding an additional member to the team- either a trainer or a behaviorist. A trainer will help train you to train your pet for the desired behaviors and in some instances how to curb undesirable behaviors. In contrast, a behaviorist is kind of a therapist for your dog. They assess the underlying emotional problems that the pet is having and helps to modify the behavior through reconditioning. The Doctors here have carefully interviewed and chosen trainers and behaviorists that agree with our philosophies and meet our high standards.

It is not uncommon for a client to realize that they lack the time, dedication, or the resources to continue up the path of behavior modification. If that is the case, we want you to know that that is okay! Together we will decide what the next best course of action is, while remaining unbiased and compassionate. Because, in addition to reducing the amount of stress and strengthening the family bond with the pet, we also strive to help decrease the number of pets relinquished to local shelters for behavioral concerns.

We moved to Ashland late in 2000 and began using Heartland Animal Hospital in the spring of 2001. Dr. Cuddihee and her staff took the records of our pets from previous veterinarian’s office and used those to start providing treatment to our pets and building their own records. Fifteen years later, we are still sold on the services our pets receive. Dr. Cuddihee and her staff have celebrated our new pets with us and have been caring and empathetic when we’ve had to say goodbye to some very old friends. While it is difficult to talk about euthanasia of very special animal family members, it is important to me to say that the staff at Heartland have kept some of our pets happy and healthy longer than the breed books say they should live. They have been kind, respectful and caring of both of both the pet and us when the time has come to humanely euthanize the animal. Our dogs look forward to going to the vet’s office in Ashland (and know where the treats are). Our cats are tolerant of trips to the vet and rarely get their claws out (a four star review from a cat, believe me). Finally, I would like to make two points. Dr. Cuddihee will give you every option and scenario for treatment available (and the cost associated with it) but she allows you to make the decision of how to proceed. Second, I recently discovered the price of specialized dog food is less at her office than it is at the farm store in Columbia. So if you want great care and service, and reasonably priced pet products, go to Heartland.

Brooke Dawson, “Blackie”, “Critter”, “Etta”, “Smokey”, “Beau”, & “Gabe”