More Satisfied Clients
Shadow - phobia about going for a walk
“Shadow was rescued from the streets of Spain where I adopted him. He then came to live with me in London, and then Hong Kong.
When Shadow arrived at my house he was terrified as he had never lived in a house before and had not been well socialised with people. This slowly improved over time and Shadow gained more and more confidence so that when he arrived in Hong Kong he was still making good progress. However a few months ago, Shadow started showing small signs of being very nervous again and while he was nervous and shy inside the house, he became almost unmanageable outdoors on walks, constantly stopping and simply refusing to walk near busy roads and areas with a lot of people.
I pondered what I could do to try to calm Shadow's nerves and this is where Dr Smillie came in.
When Dr Smillie came to meet us, the first thing I noticed was that she really listened. She took the time to find out every detail about Shadow's background and behaviour, took lots of notes and asked questions. Dr Smillie went on a walk with us to see Shadow's behaviour for herself and showed me how to handle it.
Dr Smillie gave good, sound, solid advice and putting into practice her recommendations, I was amazed at the changes in my dog and he is now starting to enjoy his walks again.
I would recommend anyone having a problem with their dog, however small it may be, to contact Dr Smillie.
Given that Shadow has come from a deprived background, I am heartened by the improvement I have seen whilst recognising that this will be a long-term venture requiring patience, persistence and consistency".
Kiralee
Discovery Bay
When Shadow arrived at my house he was terrified as he had never lived in a house before and had not been well socialised with people. This slowly improved over time and Shadow gained more and more confidence so that when he arrived in Hong Kong he was still making good progress. However a few months ago, Shadow started showing small signs of being very nervous again and while he was nervous and shy inside the house, he became almost unmanageable outdoors on walks, constantly stopping and simply refusing to walk near busy roads and areas with a lot of people.
I pondered what I could do to try to calm Shadow's nerves and this is where Dr Smillie came in.
When Dr Smillie came to meet us, the first thing I noticed was that she really listened. She took the time to find out every detail about Shadow's background and behaviour, took lots of notes and asked questions. Dr Smillie went on a walk with us to see Shadow's behaviour for herself and showed me how to handle it.
Dr Smillie gave good, sound, solid advice and putting into practice her recommendations, I was amazed at the changes in my dog and he is now starting to enjoy his walks again.
I would recommend anyone having a problem with their dog, however small it may be, to contact Dr Smillie.
Given that Shadow has come from a deprived background, I am heartened by the improvement I have seen whilst recognising that this will be a long-term venture requiring patience, persistence and consistency".
Kiralee
Discovery Bay
Jazz - a happier cat now with places to hide and to scratch!
April
Mid-Levels
Mid-Levels
Sandy - antisocial behaviour
"Sandy will be eight in September 2011 and she is a very healthy and beautiful girl. She is very sociable and gets very excited whenever I get home. She comes out to greet visitors and enjoys playing with her two little Jack Russell brothers.
But things were not always like this. There was a time when Sandy would just stay in her room and not come out to see or greet guests, and if she did it was only to see who they were and then quickly go back to her little corner, ignoring everyone. She didn’t even bother to greet me when I came home and I had never experienced her wagging her tail. She did not have any patience with the two Jack Russells and was happier to be left alone rather than play with them.
But what was worse was that she had a history of aggressive behaviour towards elderly people, resulting in injuries to them. I really feared the worst for her and did not know what I could do or how I could help save her.
I was then introduced to Dr Cynthia Smillie who spent time with us to try to understand Sandy’s behaviour. She went through her whole history, from the day she arrived at my doorstep from Australia in 2004 up until the situation in October 2010, when she had just attacked my elderly neighbour.
Dr. Smillie’s in-depth report on Sandy was detailed, and outlined ways to try to get Sandy to socialise more. However it was important to realise that Sandy would never become a “normal” dog as far as her behaviour towards elderly people was concerned and so we had to overcome and avoid compromising situations, rather than prescribe “cures” because that would not be realistically possible.
Dr. Smillie’s meticulous and detailed study of the situation and her recommended steps and methods have helped overcome many of Sandy’s behavioural problems. Today, I can confidently say that Sandy’s behaviour has improved tremendously, although with regard to elderly people we must always be vigilant.
Dr Smillie keeps abreast of Sandy’s situation with follow-up calls and I am very grateful to her that Sandy has now shown that she is happy to see me when I come home; happy to play with the two Jacks, happy to vie for attention and just happy to be part of the family – something I thought I would never see from her.
Thank you, Dr Smillie".
Peng Tan
Happy Valley
But things were not always like this. There was a time when Sandy would just stay in her room and not come out to see or greet guests, and if she did it was only to see who they were and then quickly go back to her little corner, ignoring everyone. She didn’t even bother to greet me when I came home and I had never experienced her wagging her tail. She did not have any patience with the two Jack Russells and was happier to be left alone rather than play with them.
But what was worse was that she had a history of aggressive behaviour towards elderly people, resulting in injuries to them. I really feared the worst for her and did not know what I could do or how I could help save her.
I was then introduced to Dr Cynthia Smillie who spent time with us to try to understand Sandy’s behaviour. She went through her whole history, from the day she arrived at my doorstep from Australia in 2004 up until the situation in October 2010, when she had just attacked my elderly neighbour.
Dr. Smillie’s in-depth report on Sandy was detailed, and outlined ways to try to get Sandy to socialise more. However it was important to realise that Sandy would never become a “normal” dog as far as her behaviour towards elderly people was concerned and so we had to overcome and avoid compromising situations, rather than prescribe “cures” because that would not be realistically possible.
Dr. Smillie’s meticulous and detailed study of the situation and her recommended steps and methods have helped overcome many of Sandy’s behavioural problems. Today, I can confidently say that Sandy’s behaviour has improved tremendously, although with regard to elderly people we must always be vigilant.
Dr Smillie keeps abreast of Sandy’s situation with follow-up calls and I am very grateful to her that Sandy has now shown that she is happy to see me when I come home; happy to play with the two Jacks, happy to vie for attention and just happy to be part of the family – something I thought I would never see from her.
Thank you, Dr Smillie".
Peng Tan
Happy Valley
Murray - the attention seeking Corgi
"We contacted Dr. Smillie after experiencing increasing problems with Murray's, our 3 year old Corgi's, behavior. Murray demonstrated a lot of attention-seeking barking, especially at times when my husband and I were having dinner, had guests over, or were focused on other things besides him. He also became upset and barked when we talked on the telephone. Murray clearly was very spoiled but we couldn't just ignore the behavior as all of the training books suggested because we live in a Hong Kong apartment building with tight quarters and feared that the neighbors would complain about his loud and continuous barking.
Dr Smillie spent significant time at our first meeting getting to know Murray, my husband and I and learning about our history and relationships. She listened to our concerns and also what the realities were regarding how we could work to improve his behavior (ie, not being able to ignore the barking). During the second visit, she spent time outlining our behavior management plan and answering our questions. The methods she offered were practical and fit our lifestyle.
Over the past 6 months we have seen great improvements with Murray's behavior. While he certainly has a long way to go, and we need to work hard to be consistent and persistent with his training, we feel we have the strategies and techniques available to us to continue to improve Murray's behavior.
I look forward to continuing to work with Dr. Smillie!"
Sarah Baur
Sai Ying Pun
Dr Smillie spent significant time at our first meeting getting to know Murray, my husband and I and learning about our history and relationships. She listened to our concerns and also what the realities were regarding how we could work to improve his behavior (ie, not being able to ignore the barking). During the second visit, she spent time outlining our behavior management plan and answering our questions. The methods she offered were practical and fit our lifestyle.
Over the past 6 months we have seen great improvements with Murray's behavior. While he certainly has a long way to go, and we need to work hard to be consistent and persistent with his training, we feel we have the strategies and techniques available to us to continue to improve Murray's behavior.
I look forward to continuing to work with Dr. Smillie!"
Sarah Baur
Sai Ying Pun
