Veterinary professionals are the trusted guardians of animal health and wellbeing and, therefore, veterinary clients often seek their advice on basic animal behaviour and training issues. It is essential that contemporary and evidence based ‘best practice’ resources inform this advice, as inappropriate approaches to animal training and behaviour modification may cause stress and predispose animals to more serious behavioural issues. Unfortunately, previous research has found that some Irish veterinary professionals experience uncertainty (Shalvey et al., 2019) or a lack of confidence (Golden and Hanlon, 2018; Goins et al., 2019) when advising on animal behaviour issues.

Therefore, researchers Sandra Nicholson, UCD lecturer in veterinary nursing, and Natalia Szumlanska, Stage 2 UCD BSc. veterinary nursing student, are designing a project to investigate how best to support Irish veterinary professionals in their provision of animal behaviour and training advice. The project is being carried out as part of the Student Summer Research Awards; an initiative operated by the UCD School of Medicine and supported/promoted by the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine. As part of their project, Sandra and Natalia will be recruiting Irish veterinary practitioners and veterinary nurses (those registered with the Veterinary Council of Ireland and practicing in Ireland) to participate in online (Zoom) focus groups during the summer of 2021.

Each participant will take part in one focus group session of two hours’ duration. The focus groups will explore participants’ experiences of providing client advice and their opinions on the animal behaviour and training supports that they would find helpful. They will also discuss the concept of a dedicated “Irish Veterinary Behaviour Community” YouTube channel and whether it would be a useful support for them. Participants in the focus groups will receive two continuous veterinary education (CVE) points from the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI). For further information or to register your interest, please email: sandra.nicholson@ucd.ie. 

Reference
Shalvey, E. et al. (2019) Ir. Vet. J. 72(1)
Golden, O., Hanlon, A.J. (2018) Ir. Vet. J. 71(12).
Goins, M. et al. (2019) Anim. 9(12), 1112.