Appropriate management of atopic dermatitis requires a number of actions on the part of pet parents – e.g., to have diagnostic tests, provide appropriate nutrition, antimicrobial therapy etc. Given how central people are to managing atopic dermatitis, this talk will describe how psychology can help to understand whether and why pet parents take appropriate action. The answer is divided into two issues – motivation and volition. Motivation is understood in terms of Protection Motivation Theory (Rogers, 1975) which suggests that people are motivated to protect their dog when (i) the threat is appraised as severe and likely to occur and (ii) they believe that the proposed actions are likely to be effective in reducing the threat. Volition refers to the challenges encountered translating motivation (or good intentions) into action and will be discussed with reference to Control Theory (Carver & Scheier, 1982), which suggests that having set a goal (e.g., to deliver solutions) people need to keep track of their progress and take action when needed. The final part of the talk will discuss how psychology can help veterinarians raise the (difficult) topic of skin conditions with owners (e.g., how they might reduce defensiveness) and enable clients to deliver the solutions appropriately (e.g., via a step-by-step approach).