07/02/2025
We’re proud to introduce Lily, our Fear Free Practitioner, in-house Canine Behaviourist and Registered Veterinary Nurse 🌟
Lily shares her story below, detailing the journey she has been on with her own dog Dobby, making her the nurse and behaviourist she is today…
💭 “I have always had a passion for Canine Behaviour, from the start of my career I knew I would want to specialise in behaviour. From running puppy socialisation, to completing my Fear Free Certification, to then completing my Level 6 Canine Behaviour Diploma, and now completing further certification in dog reactivity, I am dedicated to my learning and development so I can help each dog I meet.
I would like to share my true drive behind furthering my knowledge on this subject… and that drive was Dobby. Dobby was a deaf Dalmatian who I rescued at 4 months old, shortly after losing one of my other dogs very suddenly. It was by pure chance and fate that we were brought together, and this crazy little spotty pup was about to change the way I looked at dogs.
Dobby had his fair share of behavioural challenges, and he taught me as much as I taught him. Sadly, Dobby didn’t make it past his second birthday. Dobby started experiencing some severe behavioural changes: even with behaviour modification programs, structure and medication, he still did not improve and started having frequent aggressive outbursts. I then could sense in my gut that this was not just ‘a misbehaved dog’ as a lot of people painted him, but something medically had to be wrong. In discussion with our vets, I decided to refer him to have an MRI of his brain, which then revealed he had a genetic lesion on a part of his brain called the thalamus. This is the part of the brain which has a huge impact on fight or flight response but also acts a message relay system in the brain. Dobby was clearly not passing the correct messages through his brain, which made him act aggressively towards people he knew and loved. One day, he’s aggression got so irate, it was no longer safe to keep him going, and we had to let him go as he was only going to progress further. Not only were his aggressive outbursts unpredictable, but the specialists also believed he would be undergoing a huge amount of stress in these outbursts.
Dobby was a dog who I loved and adored, and it was very sad to our whole family that he lost his life so young. But his death was not in vain, as now I can carry on helping other dogs, with the knowledge and understanding that I have now about genetics, behaviour modification and medical conditions.”
Lily is available for 1-2-1 behavioural consultations, both in person and over the phone, to help with a range of concerns. She also runs our Puppy Training Classes at our Worthing clinic every Monday evening. You do not need to be an AVG client to book an appointment with Lily—everyone is welcome 😊❤️
We are proudly independent with clinics across West Sussex. We also provide 24/7 emergency care.
