Dr. Else Verbeek is a highly skilled and compassionate dog behaviorist who is dedicated to helping dogs overcome fear and anxiety. With a strong foundation in evidence-based practices, she utilizes her scientific expertise to create effective strategies for addressing behavioral issues in dogs.With over 15 years of experience in the field, Else has honed her skills in understanding and modifying canine behavior. Her background as a scientist specializing in behavior, emotions, and stress physiology allows her to bring a unique perspective to her work with dogs. Else's approach is grounded in the latest research, ensuring that her interventions are based on solid scientific evidence. She recognizes that every dog is an individual with unique needs, and she tailors her methods to suit each dog's specific circumstances. In addition to her work with individual dogs, Else is also passionate about education and knowledge-sharing. She regularly teaches problem behavior courses to dog professionals, empowering them with the tools and knowledge to better understand and address canine behavioral issues. Else is equally dedicated to helping dog owners navigate their pets' problem behaviors. Through her compassionate and patient guidance, she assists owners in understanding the underlying causes of their dogs' issues and provides practical strategies to improve their pets' behavior and quality of life. With her extensive experience, scientific background, and commitment to evidence-based practices, Else stands out as a respected and trusted authority in the field of dog behavior. Her unwavering dedication to improving the lives of dogs and their owners has made her a sought-after expert in the industry. Do you want to understand your dog's behaviour, solve unwanted behaviours and improve your relationship with your dog? Sign up to my newsletter now!
Five reasons noise fear cases get stuck.
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Hi Reader, Fireworks season is starting, and for a lot of you that means the noise fear referrals are starting too. So it's quite a good moment to think back to the cases that didn't progress the way you hoped. The dog who made steady progress for weeks, and then one unplanned bang and you were back at the start. Or the case that simply moved too slowly you wondered if you knew what you were doing. Every case is different, of course. But when I look at noise fear cases that don't go the way we wanted, I can see a pattern. So I've put them together in a short guide: "When noise training doesn't work". In the guide, we go through the five main reasons noise fear so often gets stuck, and what each one means for your cases. A few of them may surprise you a little. One of the reasons is a dog who is completely relaxed during sound exposure. Relaxation sounds like what we want during noises, right? But is it, really? Another is underlying pain, which seems to be an important reason when the fear starts later in life. And one is the guardian who "doesn't follow through", who in my experience is usually carrying a burden of their own. Rarely it's a lack of motivation that throws them off track. The guide also includes a checklist for your intake, so you can use it with the next referral this autumn. If a dog relapsed recently, it's really worth going through these reasons first. A relapse usually tells you something about what was happening underneath the exposure work, and is a reason to dig deeper and adjust your plan. You can download the guide HERE. And if you already have it, feel free to pass it on to a colleague who has a busy November ahead. |
Hi, I'm Else, specialist in dog behaviour and welfare.
Dr. Else Verbeek is a highly skilled and compassionate dog behaviorist who is dedicated to helping dogs overcome fear and anxiety. With a strong foundation in evidence-based practices, she utilizes her scientific expertise to create effective strategies for addressing behavioral issues in dogs.With over 15 years of experience in the field, Else has honed her skills in understanding and modifying canine behavior. Her background as a scientist specializing in behavior, emotions, and stress physiology allows her to bring a unique perspective to her work with dogs. Else's approach is grounded in the latest research, ensuring that her interventions are based on solid scientific evidence. She recognizes that every dog is an individual with unique needs, and she tailors her methods to suit each dog's specific circumstances. In addition to her work with individual dogs, Else is also passionate about education and knowledge-sharing. She regularly teaches problem behavior courses to dog professionals, empowering them with the tools and knowledge to better understand and address canine behavioral issues. Else is equally dedicated to helping dog owners navigate their pets' problem behaviors. Through her compassionate and patient guidance, she assists owners in understanding the underlying causes of their dogs' issues and provides practical strategies to improve their pets' behavior and quality of life. With her extensive experience, scientific background, and commitment to evidence-based practices, Else stands out as a respected and trusted authority in the field of dog behavior. Her unwavering dedication to improving the lives of dogs and their owners has made her a sought-after expert in the industry. Do you want to understand your dog's behaviour, solve unwanted behaviours and improve your relationship with your dog? Sign up to my newsletter now!
Hey Reader, If you are a dog professional, all you want is to improve the welfare of noise-phobic dogs. In a study by Herwijnen et al. (2024) a questionnaire was sent to 3,009 dog owners (and 622 cat owners!) asking about their experiences with fireworks. Here are the key findings from the Study: ✅ Early-life noise exposure reduces the risk of developing noise sensitivity. ✅ Dogs with suboptimal early socialization are more prone to fear loud noises. ✅ Noise sensitivity in dogs often leads to...
Hi Reader, Dogs and humans share much of the brain circuitry that produces fear, anxiety, habits, and impulse control. That's the starting point of a new paper by Floriane Fournier, Suliann Ben Hamed, and Clément Garin, published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews in September. They brought together what we currently know about emotional disorders in dogs, and asked a fundamental question: how do you diagnose a mental health problem in an animal that can't tell you how it feels? What...
Hey Reader, When a dog hears a loud bang, the stress system kicks in within seconds. Adrenaline and noradrenaline prepare the body to act, and a little later cortisol follows. But that system doesn’t keep a separate account for every stressor. The dog who barks at every dog on the morning walk, gets startled by the delivery van, sleeps badly because the toddler wakes up three times a night, or has stiff hips nobody has noticed yet is using the same system all day long. In the short term,...