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
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.
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.”
Rachel Lees RVT, KPA CTP, VTS (Behavior)
A variety of animal training programs appear on cable and streaming networks. Some of the concepts depicted in these programs are appropriate for veterinary behavior cases and some are questionable. This article is not written to insult any of these programs, trainers, or networks but instead to discuss the learning theory and training philosophies demonstrated and review why veterinary behavior professionals are using alternative protocols.
Whether you are a veterinary team member working in general practice or are interested in behavior, it is important to recommend the most Fear Free and up-to-date information for patients and clients. Giving outdated information can potentially damage the human-animal bond between client and patient, potentially ending with the patient being rehomed or in some cases euthanized.
Punishment: May the Odds Be in Your Favor
Punishment is a technique used to weaken a behavior. For a stimulus to be “punishing,” the learner must find that stimulus aversive or undesirable enough to eliminate the behavior. Punishment is difficult to use properly and does not teach the learner to perform the correct behavior. Most important, using punishment can be a liability for veterinary professionals recommending this technique because it can put the safety of the owners and pets at risk.
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior’s position statement on punishment reviews the many side effects of using this training method. Using remote punishment collars as well as choke and prong collars can cause physical damage such as damage to the skin, neck, and trachea area, an increase in intraocular pressure, upper airway obstruction, and nerve damage. For punishment to be effective, it must provoke a fear response from the learner, which can unfortunately be generalized to other stimuli in the learning environment. Consequently, this can make the animal become more fearful, anxious, and stressed in these contexts and situations.
Take the owner who is walking down the street with a 7-month-old Labrador Retriever puppy. The puppy shows a loose posture, wide tail wag, and becomes excitable on seeing people, sometimes jumping. For the owner, the dog’s jumping is undesirable. The trainer suggests using a remote “shock” collar for this issue. The owner is coached to shock the puppy for any jumping when interacting with people. The handler may be specifically punishing the pet for one behavior (jumping), but the puppy may begin to be concerned when people approach him because when this occurs, he receives a shock.
In the above example, the puppy may begin to show fear, anxiety, or stress with the approach of unfamiliar people. Using punishment, there is a risk that the learner (puppy) will associate the punishment (shock) with people approaching instead of the punishment (shock) being associated with the unwanted behavior (jumping on people).
Punishment needs to occur within 0.5 seconds of the start of the undesirable behavior. Therefore, the puppy would have to be shocked the moment his shoulders start to lower in anticipation of jumping to associate the punishment with the jumping behavior. Even with perfect timing, there is still a risk that the puppy may not associate the punishment with jumping.
Punishment Fails
Punishment can work to eliminate unwanted behaviors. The challenge is that it does not eliminate the motivation or give the learner a more appropriate behavior to perform.
In another instance, an owner was coached to use a remote collar to eliminate growling and aggression toward family members. If a family member approached the dog while he was eating a coveted bone and the dog growled, the family member was to correct the dog immediately with a shock. The growling behavior may be reduced, but it does not change the anxiety and concern related to the bone. The owners have now given the dog information that the approach of the owner is associated with a shock, which can increase the pet’s anxiety, fear, and stress. Long term, the pet may suddenly display with aggression but give only limited warning signs because the signals were suppressed with the remote collar. The animal was, in effect, told not to give this information. This makes this specific patient more dangerous and could put the family at greater risk.
In the above situation, the growling behavior is not a desirable response, but to the dog it was probably completely appropriate; he communicated his anxiety regarding the owner’s approach. Using punishment made that specific pet more dangerous. Avoiding these situations and confrontations are the first step in addressing this issue. A veterinary behaviorist may recommend specific behavior modification to change the way the pet feels during this interaction.
Veterinary behaviorists recommend that animal training should focus on setting up the environment, so the pet is more likely to perform desired behaviors, reinforcing desired behaviors, removing the reinforcer for undesirable behaviors, and addressing the emotional state of the learner. The use of punishment can slow learning, suppress behavior, increase fear and fear-based aggression, create damaging and unintended associations with owners and other environmental stimuli, and damage the human-animal bond.
Even though these techniques may be seen on TV, remember that you are the veterinary professional and your clients value your opinion and recommendations. Giving them the most up-to-date information regarding behavioral training can be lifesaving. Observe training classes that you may recommend to confirm that they use recommended Fear Free techniques. For more information, see resources from AVSAB on “Finding a Trainer” as well as the “Position Statement on Use of Punishment.” The Fear Free Level 3 course for professionals provides the tools to address typical dog and cat behaviors using Fear Free methods.
This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.
Rachel Lees, a Level 3 Fear Free Certified Professional, is a veterinary technician specialist in behavior, a KPA certified training partner, and lead veterinary behavior technician at The Behavior Clinic in Olmsted Falls, Ohio. She loves helping people create and maintain a strong human-animal bond.
Pet owners teach their animals a variety of cued behaviors that can be helpful for veterinary professionals in the exam room. “Sit” can help keep a patient stationary during an examination. When a patient knows the cue “High Five” or “Paw,” this may aid in assessing interdigital infections or performing nail trims.
One such skill that can be helpful for the veterinary team is targeting: teaching the dog to touch the nose to an object or hand. This behavior can be helpful in a few different ways.
Getting Patients from Point A to Point B
Many patients are uncomfortable with moving onto a lift table, scale, or even moving down the hallway. Instead of forcing the pet, we can use a hand target to move patients who have limited FAS. If this behavior is strong enough, most patients will be more excited about the opportunity to nose-target a hand to gain reinforcement and be less concerned about the “scary” object they need to step on. Using a hand target also gives us the option to keep our hands off of patients if they are concerned or conflicted with being touched by an unfamiliar person.
Instrumental Persuasion
Many patients are fearful of the veterinary instruments used during examination. With targeting, we can change the way they feel about the tools while allowing them to control the interaction. This can be done by presenting an exam tool and allowing the patient to interact with it on their own and then giving reinforcement.
In short, repeated training sessions, the patient learns that when the object is near, amazing things happen when they interact with it. Instead of a fear-related response, we can create a positive response toward presentation of these tools.
Teaching This Skill to Patients
Start this skill during preventive exams with pets who have a low FAS score. Puppies and kittens may be the best patients to start working with because they don’t have any preconceived notions. Patients with a high FAS score may need more therapy, and using this technique may cause additional FAS. Wait to add it until after Victory Visits show that the patient’s FAS is reduced in the veterinary hospital.
If you are a Fear Free Professional, using treats in the exam rooms should be old hat to you. As you teach this skill, use treats to reinforce any interaction with exam tools, the patient stepping onto the table, or interacting with the veterinary team (hand target).
Using a word (Good!) or a tongue “click” may be helpful as an event marker. An event marker gives the patient information about the behavior goal and can capture the desired behavior. In the case of teaching a patient to target, the goal or “wanted” behavior would be to use the event marker when the patient interacts (noses, touches, licks, or sniffs) the object or hand we are using as the target. Always follow the event marker immediately with a treat.
When teaching this behavior, offer the object one to two inches from the pet’s nose. When the patient interacts with the object, use the event marker and reward the patient with a treat. If the patient shows concern regarding the object or FAS increases, move the object farther away until the patient is more comfortable. You may need to break down the behavior into smaller steps to get the patient to interact with the object. These small approximations may include capturing the behaviors of looking at the object, moving toward the object, touching the object with paw or nose.
Example: Presenting a Stethoscope
With an FAS 0 to 1 patient, present the bell of the stethoscope a few inches from the patient’s nose
Observe for any nose touching or interacting with the stethoscope
Say the word “Treat” when the patient’s nose touches the stethoscope
Move the bell of the stethoscope away and give a treat
Repeat if the patient is loose, relaxed, and eating during this training session. If the FAS score increases, discontinue and reassess with the veterinary team.
This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.
Rachel Lees, a Level 3 Fear Free Certified Professional, is a veterinary technician specialist in behavior, a KPA certified training partner, and lead veterinary behavior technician at The Behavior Clinic in Olmsted Falls, Ohio. She loves helping people create and maintain a strong human-animal bond.
Kitten Socialization: Do Kittens Need Kindergarten?
Getting kittens off to a good start lays the foundation for an adulthood free of fear, anxiety, and stress. But just what does a “good start” mean? What exactly is kitten socialization? What role does genetics play, and what should we be doing for our kitten patients? In this webinar, Dr. Krista Sirois answers these questions and discuss the benefits of establishing a Kitty Kindergarten program in your clinic for your patients, pet parents, and your team.
Although animal trainers can typically recognize the external signs of an animal in serious pain or distress, they are not necessarily aware of what’s going on inside the animal’s body and how it can affect their behavior. This module will discuss common conditions as well as take an in-depth look at pain management strategies and the effects of pain and stress on an animal.
This module has been approved for 1 RACE CEU and 1 CEU from CCPDT, IAABC and KPA.
This module is divided into three lessons.
Lesson One: Medical Conditions and Special Considerations When Training
Lesson Two: Understanding Pain: Effects, Signs, and Treatments
Lesson Three: Stress and Its Impact on Body and Welfare
For a long time, the behavior of pet cats and dogs was of little interest to science. Times have certainly changed, but one area that’s somewhat neglected is the question of how and why cats play.
A recent review of the literature published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science sums up the findings and points to directions for future research. While there’s much we still don’t know, there are a number of results we can put into practice to give cats more enriched lives.
Play With Toys
Research into cat play with toys confirms a common observation: it is a lot like hunting. “The patterns of behavior are similar, and the things that entice cats to hunt also get them excited about toys,” says coauthor Mikel Delgado. “What we see from research is that the more similar to realistic prey the toy is, the more of a response the cat shows.”
There’s always going to be the individual cat who likes to play with a ball. But for the most part, the more a toy looks, feels, smells, and moves like prey, the better cats like it. They do have preferences, so it’s best to offer choices: toys that resemble different kinds of prey like mice, birds, bugs, and snakes.
Movement is important as well. After about 21 weeks of age, kittens start to lose interest in things that don’t move. Sure, you can bat a ball with your paw, but it’s not the same.
“They can’t really get lost in the hunting experience like they can when someone else is moving the toy,” says Delgado.
Novelty also matters: cats get bored quickly. In one study, cats presented with the same toy three times became progressively less interested, then showed more response to a new, clean toy that was identical except for color.
The practical takeaway: leaving a bunch of toys lying on the floor all the time isn’t enrichment, because they don’t move, and they don’t change. Owners need to play with their cats: move the toys and remember that they get bored with the same object before they’re bored with play itself.
Why Play?
Although cat play resembles hunting, research doesn’t really support the idea that play is a kind of practice; it doesn’t seem to help cats be better hunters later. “What seems to be most effective for hunting later is exposure to prey. Hunting experience helps you be a better hunter,” says Delgado.
Play does seem to be important to social development, however, which makes it all the more important to understand, given that most of us want sociable cats more than we want mousers.
It’s a common misconception that cats aren’t sociable. “Even cats that are living outside of human homes, free-roaming cats, live socially in colonies together,” say Krystin Vitale of Oregon State University. “They live both socially and solitarily. We see a lot of flexibility.”
Kittens learn to get along with other cats by playing. The first type of play seen in kittens is social, and research shows that kittens who don’t have playmates have difficulty with other cats later. Singleton kittens tend to direct play at their mothers, even though their mothers find this behavior irritating.
“As a cat behavior consultant, I get so many calls from people who can’t understand why the kitten is attacking their legs and hands,” says Delgado. “Kittens who don’t have littermates will direct that behavior toward other beings: their mother, their human, or the poor 12-year-old cat who the person adopted the kitten to be a companion to.”
The takeaway: encourage people to adopt more than one kitten at a time. “When we allow kittens to get adopted without littermates, we’re not recognizing that we’re tearing apart families,” she says. “Social play is very important for kittens and a lack of outlets for social play can be very problematic. Toys don’t fulfill that social need.”
What We Don’t Know
Research into cat behavior lags behind the recent explosion of studies about dogs, partly because they’re harder to study in the lab. “Dogs are used to being in new environments. But a cat that is friendly and playful in a home environment, if you take them to a strange place, they’re going to be terrified,” says Delgado. “So their behavior is not valid beyond that context; it doesn’t tell you anything about how they normally behave.”
Now that we have better technology that lets us study cats in their homes, research is increasing, but many questions remain. For instance, little research has been done on play between adult cats, so right now, science can’t tell you whether your cats are getting along. From her observations, Vitale suggests concentrating on what happens before and after the interaction to distinguish rough play from aggression.
“Before, was there aggressive vocalization? Was their fur already standing on end and were their eyes dilated and were they baring teeth? After, what did they do? Often when it’s play, you’ll see that afterwards they’ll plop down and lay together and start grooming each other. If you see one run off and try to get away that might be more of an indication that it was aggression.”
Social play with humans also hasn’t been well studied, but it may be important to cats. In one study, Vitale tested how cats reacted to a moving toy controlled by a human who was in the room, or one controlled remotely from outside the room. Cats preferred the person moving the toy to be visible, which suggests that kind of play may have a social component.
Delgado also wants to see more research into the process of object play. Prior studies have focused on actual contact with the toy, but for cats, watching and stalking seem important. This makes sense given their natural hunting style. “The way cats hunt is not highly cardiovascular. It’s very cognitive,” she says. “When they play with cats, people tend to concentrate on the cardiovascular aspects and expect backflips and running around, but that’s not really cats’ hunting style.”
Play and Welfare
Delgado says there’s an assumption that play must have a survival benefit. We don’t know for sure if it does, and in fact, research has shown that cats spend a fairly small proportion of the time playing and that it’s not very energetically costly.
But we’re not just concerned about what helps animals survive. We also want to know what helps them thrive.
“I think that one big thing that’s come out of studies about cat play and that this paper shows is that it’s really important for cats to engage in play in order for them to engage in healthy normal behaviors,” says Vitale. “If you’re giving your cat an under-enriched environment with low stimulation, potentially aggression can come out of that, and stereotyped behaviors like overgrooming, that they’re doing because they don’t have anything to engage with.”
One measure of an animal’s welfare is whether they have the opportunity to engage in species-specific behaviors. Owners need to understand what those behaviors are and how to provide the right toys and social situations to “allow cats to behave in the ways that make them cats,” she says. “They need something for all those motor patterns and biologically relevant behaviors to be directed towards.”
This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.
Linda Lombardi writes about the animals who share our planet and our homes for magazines including The Bark, websites including National Geographic and Mongabay.com, and for the Associated Press. Her most recent book, co-authored with Deirdre Franklin, is The Pit Bull Life: A Dog Lover’s Companion.
The fear of visiting the veterinarian and the anxiety of riding in the car isn’t limited to dogs or cats. Other animals experience these anxieties as well, including pigs. I know, because I was part of a major effort to help one adorably sweet and sizably grand pet pig, Dee Dee, to overcome her fear of car trips and veterinary visits.
Dee Dee’s fears were anything but mild when I met her. At one time she enjoyed riding in the car and veterinary care was a non-issue. But that changed after a spay surgery with a previous veterinarian when she was received third-degree burns from a heating pad during the procedure. The extreme pain and distress of the experience changed her behavior any time she rode in the car or was taken to the veterinary clinic. Any indication that she was going to be placed in the car sent all 250 pounds of Dee Dee into a flailing, fighting fury to flee to safety. She seemingly paired the car ride and traveling to new places with the distress and pain of the one experience.
From Chaos to Calm
Just getting Dee Dee into the car involved recruiting neighbors and the strength of many large men to push, pull, and pick her up into the car while other people blocked her movements and view using cardboard boxes. Dee Dee squealed in panic the entire trip and in her distress peeing and pooping all over the inside of the SUV in which she rode.
By the time I met Dee Dee, not only was she in distress, so was her owner, Olive. She was overwhelmed by the impossibility of getting her pig the care she needed, including hoof trims, a long overdue necessity. Olive was trapped between the duty of caring for her pig’s health and the guilt of not wanting to put Dee Dee through any more terror to get the care she needed. Thankfully, with the right Fear Free partnerships and training, Dee Dee was able to get the physical care she needed without losing her emotional wellbeing in the process.
As a trainer who is Fear Free certified, I was able to incorporate aspects of reward-based training that I commonly use with dogs into my training with Dee Dee. In addition to training, an essential step was to find a Fear Free-certified exotic animal veterinarian. We came across Dr. Alicia McLaughlin from the Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine near Seattle, Washington, who was equally committed to reducing Dee Dee’s fear, anxiety, and stress.
We taught Dee Dee to touch and follow a target, in her case a plastic serving spoon. This became her go-to way to say hi to new people. Targeting was also an excellent way to encourage her to willingly follow toward, away, onto, or off certain spaces to better guide her movements. This was useful both for getting her to willingly approach the car and walk up the ramp, as well as to move onto spaces such as the scale or into the exam room.
Dee Dee also had an impressive array of other fun tricks we capitalized on as relationship builders for her care, including sit, down, and Zen down, during which she would lie on her side. Such behaviors were vital to earn her participation during care, for keeping her in a stationary position, and for getting a better view of her hooves and belly.
Training for Travel
To get Dee Dee ready, an essential step was to replace her car ramp with a far sturdier version. Dee Dee was petrified of her previous ramp and avoided it at all costs. This time we took ramp training slowly by introducing it on a flat surface and teaching her to walk across it following a treat trail and her target spoon.
After successful ramp crossings on the flat surface, she graduated to higher spaces, including the curb and couch. Dee Dee liked this training so much she often opted to walk across the ramp and lie down atop it in her free time.
Separately, we desensitized Dee Dee to being around the car, including opening car doors or turning on the car while she did tricks, without actually getting in or going anywhere. We incorporated “go to your space” by training her to move to her blanket, which was useful as a portable safe space during trips in the car and at the vet.
In preparation for the visit to the hospital, Dr. McLaughlin prescribed pre-visit medications to help keep Dee Dee calm and reduce her panic.
Edible and Physical Treats
For training treats, we chose small, healthy snacks, including measured portions of her regular food, a cut-up apple or banana, and Cheerios. Our go-to treats were veggies cut into bite-size bits, including red, green, and yellow peppers, and her favorite, cherry tomatoes (reserved for the most challenging behaviors). Dee Dee’s previously expanding waistline began to shrink.
Dee Dee also liked back scratches and “getting forked”: a massage-like action with gentle poking of a fork that sent her into a euphoric trance. We used this to encourage her to relax as well as a reinforcer for performing certain behaviors. In getting Dee Dee up the ramp and into the car on the actual day of her veterinary trip, a human to scratch her back helped to keep her settled.
Challenging Setback
Unfortunately, our gradual acclimation timeline was thrown off because of a hoof injury that required veterinary care sooner than we had planned in our training timeline. We had to adapt the foundation we did have to help Dee Dee into the car, despite not having the full timeframe to practice with the ramp. This big jump was undeniably going to be too much for Dee Dee, so we coupled our training efforts with Dr. McLaughlin to provide pre-visit sedation that would keep her calm while still alert and mobile.
The first attempt at sedation wasn’t enough to take off the edge. Rather than forcing the issue, we settled on stopping with her moving partway up the ramp for treats and then taking a break when we noticed that past that point she was showing increased signs of FAS. The dose was adjusted, as was the angle of the ramp, so that it had a more gradual incline. Dee Dee then loaded calmly and was on her way, this time with less distress and visibly less mess.
Dee Dee’s list of known tricks was used when she arrived at the vet to increase her familiarity and cooperation with the staff and to pair the positives of trick training alongside care. The team also created a relaxed ambiance by dimming the lights and playing calming classical music. Then, by giving her pre-sedation medication of oral Valium hidden within food treats, she became sleepy and calm to the point that a sedation mask was easily placed over her nose. The care for Dee Dee’s hooves was then able to be performed without fear, anxiety, and stress being associated with the experience.
Continuing Education
After her visit, Dee Dee’s instruction continued, along with desensitization to hoof care at home. She has also learned to give in to pressure rather than to fight against it to help both with her walks and with tolerating minor restraint or guidance. Dee Dee has also been working on informational cues that teach her to turn when asked, even learning to differentiate left from right turns when asked; yet another sign of the brilliance of pigs.
The future for Dee Dee is full of hope with the help she was provided through Fear Free care. Despite a less than ideal start, she’s on track to become the healthiest and happiest pig she can be.
This article was reviewed/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.
Mikkel Becker, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, KPA CTP, CDBC, CTC, is lead animal trainer for Fear Free Pets. She is a certified behavior consultant and trainer who specializes in reward-based training that’s partnered closely with the pet’s veterinary team. Mikkel is coauthor of six books, including From Fearful to Fear Free.
Establishing & Strengthening Trainer Relationships With Veterinary Practices
Establishing a relationship with a trainer is a great way to set your current and future clients up for success, increase revenues, and help to eliminate pet relinquishment and euthanasia. While it may be simple to find a trainer in your area, finding one who fits with your style, needs, and scheduling can become difficult. Dr. Marty Becker, founder of Fear Free, and Mikkel Becker, Lead Animal Trainer for Fear Free, team up to walk you through the process of finding a trainer who fits your practice needs.