Essential Client Client Communication Skills You Can’t Be Without
Like it or not, training, behavior consulting, grooming and other pet professions – and volunteer activities such as pet rescue and sheltering – are first and foremost people businesses. Just like any other human service business, your success depends on how well you communicate with your clients. In every phase of your contact with your…
How To Conduct Phone and Video Distance Consults and Training
Everything You Need To Know for Making Distance Consults Work! Instructors: Suzanne Hetts, Ph. D., CAAB-Emeritus and Dan Estep, Ph.D., CAAB Distance consultations are training or behavior appointments that are conducted over the phone, or through online audio or video conferencing. You may already make use of this option for follow-ups after you’ve already…
When The Pet Can’t Stay
Talking to Clients About Euthanasia, Rehoming and Other Options Presented by Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D., CAAB, and Daniel Estep, Ph.D., CAAB There are cases that all of us work with when questions arise as to whether a pet should stay in the home. These concerns may come from the clients, from us, and/or from third parties. …
How To Do Court Ordered Evaluations
More and more communities are taking a progressive, or individual approach, when dealing with dogs that bite or threaten people. Rather than taking a “one size fits all” approach, the courts are ordering these dogs to be professionally evaluated, and using those individual assessments to help decide what consequences both dogs and owners will face.…
Everything You Need To Teach ’Prepare Your Dog For Your Baby’ Classes
Pet parents contact you when they have problems with their pets. We know, as you do, that when we delve into the “why” of these unwanted behaviors, we frequently wish people would have called us sooner. Not only earlier in the course of the development of the problem, but ideally before the problem even existed.…
Professional Tactics for Increasing Veterinary Referrals
During the 30 years we’ve had a successful behavior consulting practice, our most important source of referrals was from veterinarians. Why? Veterinarians are the ONLY pet professional new puppy owners MUST see multiple times while that puppy is growing up. AND the veterinarian’ is the first, or certainly an early stop, for most people who…
Recent Scientific Research To Help You Choose the Best Fear Reduction Methods and Improve Pets’ Behavioral Health
There seems to be greater focus these days on helping both owners and professionals reduce the fear, stress or anxiety pets experience. That’s a good thing. But how frequently are pets subjected to experiences that detract from their quality of life? Is it important to distinguish among fear, stress and anxiety or are they all…
The Science of Socialization As Compared to the Stories We’ve Been Told
Instructors: Dan Estep, Ph.D. and Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D., Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists Much has been written about the importance of socializing our dogs and cats. But what is socialization, exactly? Is it a process? Is it an outcome? Both? Something else as well? What sorts of experiences are required to “socialize” a dog or cat…
How to Resolve Housesoiling Problems
Instructors: Daniel Estep, Ph.D., CAAB and Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D., CAAB Housesoiling behavior is among the most common of problems for dog owners. At one time or another almost all owners have to deal with it, even if it’s just when housetraining a puppy. And ongoing soiling is one of the main behavior reasons why dogs lose…
Do Dogs Really Prefer Their Owners Over Food – Let’s See What the Science Really Says
Instructors: Daniel Estep, Ph.D., CAAB and Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D., CAAB A recent study that related brain activity in dogs to preferences for food or praise has generated a lot of discussion. For example, one news report of the study says: “We always knew it! Scientists at Emory University in Atlanta GA recently proved that most dogs prefer their…