Three paths to calmer pets

These low-stress tools are sure to make everyone involved in your next veterinary exam smile. Photo: Shutterstock.com Relieving the stress of veterinary visits for patients not only benefits the pets you care for-it adds comfort for your team members and clients too. We're sure you've seen the hype-and the hundreds of tools that come with it. Why stress over becoming low stress? To make this easier, we've found three resources for you.

Read words of wisdom, straight from the experts

Fear, anxiety and stress (FAS) can be debilitating for pets and pet owners alike. Learning how to navigate a pet's stressors can boost your veterinary clientele-and put you, team members, clients and animals at ease with each visit.

That's where From Fearful to Fear Free: A Positive Program to Free Your Dogs from Anxiety, Fears, and Phobias comes in. “… We, as veterinarians and as pet owners, can no longer ignore FAS but instead must realize that emotional distress is not only damaging in itself, but it also causes physical damage to pets and undermines their health, happiness, and longevity,” Marty Becker, DVM, writes in the introduction.

This book covers the subject of FAS in detail and guides readers through dealing with a pet's body language, vocalization and changes in behaviors, allowing you to make more accurate diagnoses and take preventive actions against triggers or fallouts from healthy habits. To read more and purchase the book for yourself, click here.

Take a course at LSHU

Take classes from the comfort of your veterinary practice to gain Low Stress Handling Certification. With Low Stress Handling University courses, you can learn strategies to create a low-stress environment-not to mention how to handle animals in a less stressful manner.

Gaining Low Stress Certification can take you one step closer to perfecting your (already close to perfect, we're sure) practice. “… Knowing how to handle patients in a Low Stress way can determine whether or not you have a one-time patient or a long-term client,” the Low Stress Handling website states. “A parent wouldn't be OK with a pediatrician who grabs their child roughly, yells at them and struggles with them to take a shot. Why would a pet parent be any different?”

Through their course material, you can gain Silver-Level, Gold-Level or Instructor-Level certification. To learn more about each and get started, visit their website here.

Be the team that changes everything for pets

With the mission to “prevent and alleviate fear, anxiety, and stress in pets by inspiring and educating the people who care for them,” the Fear Free Certification program is here to help you turn whatever frowns your practice has upside down-for team members, clients and, most important, for patients.

“Veterinarians, veterinary nurses and other veterinary professionals are the true pet health experts-and we'd like to keep it that way,” the Fear Free Certification website states. “Fear Free visits mean teams see their patients more often, and pet owners seek advice from a trusted source.”

The Fear Free Certification program consists of eight modules, each ending with an exam you must pass before you move onto the next. When you complete all of the modules, you'll receive your Fear Free Certificate. You'll also receive an annual membership for the certification program that you can renew each year. To learn more and start your certification process, click here (and take advantage of our 10% off coupon!).