When Did You First Notice It??

A calm, practical guide to understanding sudden changes in your dog or cat — before you guess, panic, or make things worse.

This guide is for you if…

You don’t need a label or a diagnosis yet.
You simply know that something has changed — and you want to understand when it started, and why that matters.

This guide is for you if:

  • your dog or cat’s behaviour feels different, but you can’t quite explain how

  • a problem appeared “out of nowhere” and hasn’t settled on its own

  • you’re being told what to do, but not helped to understand what happened

  • advice online feels generic, conflicting, or reactive

  • you want to make thoughtful decisions instead of guessing or panicking

You don’t need to be at crisis point.
You just need to be paying attention.

What this guide is — and what it is not

This guide is not a list of quick fixes, training tricks, or behaviour hacks.
It won’t tell you how to stop a behaviour without understanding where it came from.
And it won’t ask you to label your dog or cat before you’ve looked at the bigger picture.

What this guide does offer is a calm, structured way to think.

It helps you step back and ask the most important question first:

When did you first notice it?
From there, the guide walks you through:

  • how to recognise meaningful changes in behaviour

  • how to trace those changes back to events, routines, or physical shifts

  • how to tell the difference between behavioural, environmental, and physical causes

  • when observation is enough — and when professional input matters

  • This guide respects that behaviour is communication, not defiance.
    It assumes your pet isn’t “being difficult” —
    but responding to something in their world, or their body, that has changed.

What’s inside the guide

This guide is organised around real situations — not theory, not training trends, and not diagnoses made in isolation.

Each section follows the same calm, diagnostic structure, helping you slow down and think clearly before taking action.

Inside the guide, you’ll work through situations such as:

  • sudden chewing, digging, or destructive behaviour

  • tension or conflict between dogs that previously coexisted peacefully

  • changes in temperament often described as “grumpiness” in senior pets

  • behaviour that feels off, but doesn’t fit neatly into a category

  • poop-eating, including fixation on cat litter

  • anxiety or fear that appears suddenly, including separation-related distress

  • pets who stop responding when called, despite knowing the cue

  • marking or toileting indoors after a period of reliability

For each situation, the guide helps you:

  • identify when the behaviour first appeared

  • recognise what may have changed around that time

  • understand whether stress, pain, environment, habit, or aging may be involved

  • decide what can be observed calmly — and what needs professional input

You’re not asked to jump ahead to solutions.

You’re guided to understand the sequence of events first —
because that’s where the real answers usually are.

If this resonates, the guide is available now

If you’ve been reading this and thinking,
“Yes — this is what I’ve been trying to understand,”
then the guide will meet you where you are.

When Did You First Notice It? is designed to be read slowly, revisited when needed, and used as a reference when something doesn’t feel right with your dog or cat.

There’s no pressure to act immediately.
No urgency to “fix” anything.

Just a clearer way to think — before decisions are made.

Access to the full guide is R149.99
Everything you need to decide is on this page.

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A final thought before you decide

Behaviour doesn’t change in a vacuum.

Something shifts — in routine, in health, in environment, or in emotional safety — and behaviour follows.

When we slow down enough to understand when that shift happened,
we stop reacting to symptoms
and start responding to causes.

This guide won’t tell you what to think.

It will help you ask better questions —
about your pet, your household, and the moments that may have been overlooked.

If that feels like the right place to begin,
the guide is there when you’re ready.

© Le Woof
Professional grooming, care, and education for dogs and cats

For educational purposes — not a replacement for veterinary or behavioural diagnosis.
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Questions? hannelie@lewoof.co.za