Blog Archives

Now You’re Here, Now You’re Not: Preparing Your Pet for Yet Another Change

Now You’re Here, Now You’re Not: Preparing Your Pet for Yet Another Change

First our pets had to get used to their humans being around more than usual as people sheltered in place. For many pets, this was a positive change, but even positive changes can be stressful. They’ll face upheaval again when pandemic precautions relax and people go back to their normal routines. In this webinar, Valarie V. Tynes, DVM, DACVB, DACAW, will help you determine which patients may be at an elevated risk of increased anxiety and stress due to changes in routine, and offer practical, straightforward tips that you can share with your clients for preparing these pets for a return to “normal.”

Brought to you by Ceva.

Cultivating Healthy Resilience

Cultivating Healthy Resilience

Presented by Laurie Fonken, Ph.D., LPC, this webinar will define Compassion Fatigue and Moral Distress and acknowledge the impact they have on the professional and personal wellbeing of practitioners. We will then look at some key elements necessary to develop a healthy level of resilience, self-compassion, and self-care.

Pandemic Puppies: Puppy Socialization During a Disease Outbreak

Pandemic Puppies: Puppy Socialization During a Disease Outbreak

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the world has had to embrace the concept of social distancing. According to CDC regulations, all humans should remain at a safe distance of 6 feet from each other. This adds an entirely new challenge to the world of puppy socialization and training, as puppies during this period may be practicing social distancing with their owners.

Puppies should still be introduced to their “new” world in the safest ways possible (for puppy and owner). The puppy socialization period has not changed even though our world has. From 6-16 weeks, we still need to be introducing puppies to the human world while keeping ourselves safe from disease outbreak.

Presented by Rachel Lees, RVT, KPA CPT, VTS Behavior, this webinar will:

Educate pet owners and pet professionals on the importance of the socialization period
Define the terms desensitization and classical counterconditioning and how they are used during the socialization period
Educate pet owners and pet professionals on how to work through puppy socialization to objects, sounds, etc. during a pandemic
Describe safety techniques and ideas on how to have puppy socialization groups during the pandemic
Successfully teach a “name” orientation and recall for a skill to interrupt puppies during play groups

DIY Enrichment: Keeping Dogs from Climbing the Walls

DIY Enrichment: Keeping Dogs from Climbing the Walls

Your clients may find themselves suddenly at home all day with their dogs, whose routine has been disrupted. How can you maintain human and canine sanity in the household and enrich dogs’ minds and bodies during this time? Fear Free Head Trainer Mikkel Becker and Education Manager Lori Chamberland offer several tips and tricks to keep canines calm and content.

Veterinary Professional Certification Program – Avian

The Fear Free Veterinary Certification Program – Avian empowers all avian veterinary professionals—whether you see one bird per year or 1,000—to make visits far less stressful for birds.

Fear Free Nail Trims: Behavioral Considerations to Trim Away the Terror

Course Overview

For humans, nail trims are mundane experiences. But for pets, nail care can cause stress by imposing on their personal space, restricting their freedom to move, and sometimes causing discomfort or even pain.

Successful nail care encompasses more than just being able to physically maintain nails. True success is found in gaining calm participation and trust from the animals you’re working with.

This course will teach you to:

View nail care from the pet’s perspective and identify several common causes of FAS
Understand the uses, benefits and drawbacks of each common nail trim tool: clippers, nail grinders, nail files, and scratch boards
Incorporate the Fear Free concepts of Gentle Control, Considerate Approach and touch gradient into nail care
Describe how, and just as importantly, when, to use food distractions, desensitization and classical conditioning, or consider medications to achieve Fear Free nail trims

This one-hour course is open to all professionals who are signed up for a Fear Free certification program and is approved for 1 RACE CE hour and one hour of CEUs from CCPDT, IAABC and KPA

This course consists of four lessons:

Lesson 1: Nails, from the Pet’s Perspective
Lesson 2: Tools of the Trade
Lesson 3: Applying Fear Free Core Concepts to Nail Care
Lesson 4: Going Beyond Food Distractions

20 Surprising Treats to Tempt Your Patients

Steve Dale, CABC
Just as we have our own individual taste preferences, so do dogs and cats. And food can be the way to their hearts. Many Fear Free Certified veterinary practices and Fear Free veterinarians even offer “menus” and keep track in pets’ records of personal preferences.

Of course, many cats will do anything for tuna. And dogs love those hot dogs. Those statements won’t stop the pet press.

However, veterinarians and veterinary technicians can also think outside the treat box. Sometimes, just because it’s novel, a treat may be more enticing. Also, at home these items might be used for training or for animals needing a bit of an appetite boost (always only with veterinary approval).

Who knew, for example, that many cats have a thing for olives (no pits please) or marshmallows. Or that dogs, and not necessarily Australian Cattle Dogs, love Vegemite, an Australian food spread made from leftover brewers’ yeast extract with various vegetables and spices. Most Americans disdain Vegemite, but many dogs love the stuff.

With Fear Free founder Dr. Marty Becker contributing, here’s a list of 20 surprising treats:

Anchovy paste
Apple
Baby food (without onion)
Bananas
Blueberries
Bonito fish flakes (known as katsuobushi in Japanese cuisine)
Braunschweiger
Cheerios
Cheez Whiz/Easy Cheese
Churros (fried-dough pastry)—hold the chocolate sauce
Green beans
Liverwurst
Marshmallow cream
Mini marshmallows
Olives (no pits)
Peas
Peanut Butter (avoid sugar-free peanut butters containing the artificial sweetener Xylitol, which is toxic to pets)
Rice cakes (plain)
Sardines (in pesto, in olive oil or in water)
Vegemite

Remember to keep portion sizes small, appropriate for the size of the pet. You don’t want to send him home with a tummy ache!

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Steve Dale, CABC (certified animal behavior consultant), hosts two national pet radio shows and is on WGN Radio, Chicago. He’s a regular contributor/columnist for many publications, including CATSTER, Veterinary Practice News, and the Journal of the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America. He’s appeared on dozens of TV shows, including Oprah, many Animal Planet Programs, and National Geographic Explorer. He has contributed to or authored many pet books and veterinary textbooks such as “The Cat: Clinical Medicine and Management” and co-edited Decoding Your Dog, by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists. He speaks at conferences around the world. www.stevedale.tv.

Certified Practice Member Exclusive: Brain Games for Bed Rest

Brain Games for Bed Rest

Fear Free proudly presents Force-Free Trainer Jessica Ring, CPDT-KA, CTC, PMCT, owner and operator of My Fantastic Friend in Ellicott City, MD. Following Dr. Rachel Abrams’ brief tips on managing post-surgical pain, Jessica discusses brain games and mental stimulation for canine patients who are on “bed rest.”

Fear Free Success Stories: Finding Ways to Help

Kim Campbell Thornton
For Fear Free Certified veterinary professionals, job one is reducing fear, anxiety, and stress during visits and procedures. Here are three successful approaches to making the veterinary clinic a safe and happy space for pets!

Slaying Fiona’s Fear

When Fiona first came to us at Gamble Pet Clinic, an examination without a fearful reaction from her was impossible. An attack by another dog at a young age had caused her to be anxious and nervous ever since. She had been muzzled at every veterinary clinic since her attack until coming to Gamble Pet Clinic. She was fearful initially, trying to nip at the doctor and staff when they attempted to examine her.

We began working with Fiona in an Elizabethan collar. When a pet is appropriately acclimated to it, an Elizabethan collar can be a great alternative to a muzzle because it allows the dog’s head, nose, and mouth to move naturally and easily while providing a barrier that keeps the patient and staff safe and comfortable. If used appropriately and only in a positive manner from the start, it can be a great tool for Fear Free work on anxious or stressed patients like Fiona. In this way, Dr. Gamble is able to examine Fiona while she is distracted by treats like cheese and pretzel sticks. Both Dr. Gamble and Samantha, her assistant, are Fear Free Certified, making the whole process go smoothly.

Fiona’s Fear Free journey continued with regular Victory Visits to the clinic where everyone worked slowly and calmly with her to get her used to the environment and build her trust. Gradually, her anxiety about coming to the clinic decreased and she started to see it as a positive experience, looking forward to the treats and trusting the doctor enough to begin letting her touch and examine her. Every time she comes in, we use Fear Free techniques that build on the foundation we have laid. Fiona is still working on her Fear Free process and we are working to gain her full trust. We are so proud of the amazing strides she has made with us so far in the Fear Free setting!

Emily Andrade, CVA, Fear Free Level 3 Certified, Gamble Pet Clinic, Fort Collins, Colorado

Networking News

I took the Fear Free course. It was interesting and useful. I’m now working with two local veterinary offices who found me through the Fear Free website.

Getting the Fear Free certificate increased business this year more than any other marketing I’ve done. It seems that more veterinarians in my area are implementing Fear Free concepts in their practices and seeking trainers to partner with.

Delores Carter, MA, KPA CTP, UW-AAB, The Learning Dog Academy, Brighton, Michigan

A Blood Draw for Sal

Sal was brought to us to establish why he had been having chronic vomiting and diarrhea. When I approached him in the lobby, he immediately pinned his ears and retreated under the couch. We brought him into an exam room, and he warmed up a bit but was still wary. Mom and Dad mentioned that in the past at other clinics he was taken to “the back” for vaccines and they could hear him vocalizing from the exam room.

We needed to sedate him to further work up his history of vomiting and diarrhea. Since this would take a while, Mom and Dad went out for lunch and we kept Sal in our treatment area, where he became noticeably more anxious with the absence of his family. We used desensitization and counterconditioning techniques with small pieces of Braunschweiger and he eventually did not even notice when he was being touched along his epaxial muscles. He did not vocalize or notice whatsoever when we gave him his IM sedation. His abdominal ultrasound was normal, which was great for him but meant that we needed to further work up his symptoms. The veterinarian on the case recommended that he come in for an ACTH stimulation test.

The technician working with him mentioned that we needed to provide Sal with some pre-visit medications so it would be less stressful for him. This specific test measures cortisol and if Sal was stressed it could affect the test results. The veterinarian consulted our behavior department about what medications he could come in on that would not affect the test results.

Because Sal vomited during a trial of Trazodone at home, he came in on gabapentin alone. Because this didn’t go well, we called it a day and decided to attempt a different medication combination. The next time Sal received gabapentin, Trazodone, and Cerenia 30 minutes prior to the appointment time. This time when we entered the room, Sal was significantly sleepier and more relaxed. We offered him chicken baby food and he loved it. We placed him on the table, Mom and Dad talked to him and fed him while one technician occluded his vein, and the other technician performed the blood draw and administered the medication. Sal ate chicken baby food throughout the entire process. Then Mom and Dad waited patiently in the exam room with Sal until it was time to draw the 1-hour post sample. We repeated the same process. Sal was a rock star and ate throughout the blood draw. Now we have a set protocol for when he comes in for workups or annual visits, and he stays with mom and dad for any procedure possible.

Maria Marano, RVT, Fear Free Certified, Community Practice, The Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio

This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.

Kim Campbell Thornton is content manager for Fear Free Pets and is a Level 3 Fear Free Certified Professional. She has been writing about dogs, cats, wildlife, and marine life since 1985.

Six Client Tips for Puppy Socialization

Six Client Tips for Puppy Socialization

Veterinarians often recommend that new puppy owners actively socialize their puppy during the sensitive socialization period. Well-intentioned pet parents may take that general guidance and inadvertently create, not prevent, problems. In this webinar, Jacqueline Neilson, DVM, DACVB, demonstrates how sharing six socialization principles will allow veterinary staff to help owners make wise choices for socialization that promote the pups’ emotional and physical wellbeing.