Do you know that many animals find veterinary visits and in-home health care treatment stressful. For some animals, visiting the veterinary clinic is a traumatic experience, then when they get sick, their caregivers become anxious about taking them to the …

What is Collaborative Care? And why should you train it? Read more »

For years, zoos have recognised the importance of teaching animal to allow veterinary examinations and treatments. They utilise positive reinforcement training, which, put very simply, is that the animal gets something it likes when it offers a specific behaviour, such …

Teaching an animal to allow veterinary procedures Read more »

What a week! I found out that Dr Sue McDonnell was still running her residency programme in equine behaviour. The consultations I had booked were so kind to allow me to reschedule them. It has been an amazing learning experience …

Visit to the University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Centre for equine behaviour Read more »

A recent pilot study on dogs who do not suffer from separation related problems indicates “YES!” A short petting session before promotes calmer behaviours from a dog. Although separation related problems affect dogs so their response will be different, this …

Should I give my dog attention before going out? Read more »

A study done in the US in 2011 suggested that pets’ fear of visiting the vet could be affecting an owner’s willingness to take the animal for routine health care and may cause a delay in animals getting veterinary treatment. …

Are you stressed about taking your pet to the vet? Read more »

Veterinary behaviour is a complex field. Behaviour is influenced by many factors but the three major factors influencing behaviour are: Genetic predisposition of an animal The animal’s learning The environment that is affecting the animal So let’s delve into these …

Importance of early intervention for behaviour problems Read more »

I was recently asked for scientific evidence about what we are seeing from horse behaviour by a friend and former work colleague. She was going to give a talk to children at a pony club on horse behaviour and is …

The grimace scale as a pain assessment tool in horses Read more »

When I asked my client to film while I clipped her dog Elle’s nails, it ended out being an educational session due to Elle’s high level of fear. So I turned it into a film to share with everyone and …

Nail clipping Read more »