• DVM360_Conference_Charlotte,NC_banner
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Conference Coverage
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Partnering with a trainer is a no-brainer

May 11, 2017

Don't just hand your clients business cards of trainers youve never met and know nothing about. Commit to partnering with a trainer to improve your patients health.

Though many studies have shown a link between pet behavior and health (and between pet behavior and owner relinquishment), most veterinary professionals don't jump for joy at the thought of behavior consultations. (Don't believe us? Check out the results from our survey here).

If behavior isn't your cup of tea (or your area of expertise), or if you just want to take behavior services to the next level in your practice, try joining forces with a local trainer. At the very least, investigate a trainer well enough to make confident referrals. That trainer, in return, can refer clients to you. But with so many trainers, how do you choose a partner?

Look at the trainer's training model, says CVC educator Mikkel Becker, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, CDBC, CTC, KPA graduate. One model Becker really likes is the Humane Hierarchy, which was developed by Utah State University psychology professor Susan Friedman, PhD. The Humane Hierarchy incorporates the expertise of trainers and veterinary professionals by design.

Instead of jumping directly to punishment, the hierarchy lists several different ways to address a negative behavior before reaching punishment. These steps take the pet's health into account as well as its environment to take a holistic approach to behavior.

(Shutterstock.com)The first step is to look at health and nutrition. This is one of the times the partnering trainer would refer the pet to you, the veterinary health professional. The second step looks at environment (for example, is the pet getting enough exercise and enrichment?), and the third step is positive reinforcement.

“Then we [speaking for trainers] can give them a replacement behavior," Becker says. "So for example, say we have an animal that's jumping up. Rather than punishing the pet for jumping up, what we might do is reward it when it naturally settles down or give it attention then. Or, ideally, we can give the pet a replacement behavior. We could teach the pet to touch our hand with its nose, to sit, or go to its bed.”

The next step includes extinction. “For the animal that's jumping up, we're going to completely ignore it altogether,” says Becker. This step also includes negative reinforcement and negative punishment. Negative punishment might look like putting the pet in time out for a few minutes.

Time for positive punishment, right? Not so fast, says Becker. “Before getting to positive punishment, we want to stop and look at it again,” she says. Becker will often go back to the beginning of the hierarchy at this point to see if there's something she missed and perhaps refer to a veterinarian, if needed.

Listen to the audio below to hear about the Human Hierarchy in Becker's own words …

Advertisement

 

Related Content:

Leadership & Personal GrowthBehaviorClient Relations & Marketing
The significance of Women's History Month
The significance of Women's History Month
3 generations of inspiration
3 generations of inspiration
Female veterinary surgeon spotlights women who inspire her
Female veterinary surgeon spotlights women who inspire her

Advertisement

Latest News

Xylazine moves from the stables to the streets

DEA reports widespread threat of fentanyl mixed with xylazine

3 Must-reads for National Poison Prevention Week

UC Davis study on eye diseases in kittens

View More Latest News
Advertisement