The Wagging Tail

Want your paraprofessionals to be the best they can be? A good technician, receptionist or office manager is extremely valuable. Where can you get one, or how can you develop one? The latter question is more important.

Everyone has great worth and infinite potential, so growth depends only on desire, will, circumstances, and education. As a leader, you have little control over desire or will, but you have some influence over circumstance and education. Education should be part of the culture at your hospital. Having a library of accessible books, manuals, and references is the most basic sign that your hospital encourages learning. Ensure that there are charts, pictures, handbooks, and technician’s manuals in easily accessible places. Everyone should come to work with the expectation that they will learn something new every day. As a leader, try to take yourself to as many formal education events as possible. When you come back, share what you’ve learned with your team members.

Banfield, the Pet Hospital streamlines and facilitates training through the online Banfield Learning Center modules. These are of extraordinary benefit in providing education to team members. I make it a point to ensure my team has the time to take advantage of this training.

Many veterinary practices encourage technicians to attend Continuing Education (CE). Is this a possibility in your hospital? Several PetNurses subscribe to veterinary technician magazines and associations. Litter your break room or coat area with these publications. Similarly, there are online technician’s courses available through accredited sites. I recommend the VetMedTeam, or those provided by Colorado State University, the Ohio State University or Tufts University. Given the benefits of continued education, you might even consider reimbursing your paraprofessionals for the cost of one of these classes.

When all is said and done, all the training in the world will not replace good hiring, recruiting and placement practices. In order to practice the best quality medicine, hire those who take their job seriously, especially those who have experience or who have acquired formal training (such as a relevant undergraduate degree or a veterinary technician’s degree). This will provide better patient care and a more effective hospital overall.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box.  I once heard about a veterinarian who insisted upon hiring elementary school teachers to be veterinary receptionists or office managers. He reasoned that elementary school teachers are not only compassionate people, but that their communication skills are superb and they are accustomed to a workplace in which emotions run high and chaos is commonplace. Sound like a medical facility?

In an interview, try to identify a person’s worldview, personality traits and how they handle themselves in order to know how they might work under pressure or how they might respond to an angry client, a crashing patient, a lobby full of sick patients or a kennel area full of howling dogs. A lot of us enter our dream job only to discover we are not very well suited to it. Make a point to hire people with experience in the veterinary field, who are also open-minded and flexible.

Remember no matter whom you hire, patience, persistence and dedication to learning will make any practice grow.

“Holiday Puppies” are a common present at Hanukah or Christmas. Shelters routinely brace for the surrender of these dogs a few months later. And while dogs are relinquished for a variety of reasons, one of the most preventable is “behavioral issues.” Here are some simple tips you can give to your clients at the first visit with their new puppy that will help mitigate some common behavioral issues, smooth the transition of the new family member and ensure a lasting bond.

Feel free to copy the tips below and distribute to clients:

Contented Confinement: I suggest that every dog should be trained to accept confinement in a portable kennel as early in life as possible. (Prepare her now for boarding or hospitalization later.) For “gone to work” confinement, the ideal setup is a portable kennel connected to, or inside an indoor “exercise pen” with newspaper or fake grass as a toilet. This setup is safe for 8-10 hours at a time and limits the puppy’s access to everything it might do wrong. The best way to introduce the closed kennel is to pair every entry into the kennel with a toy containing a fresh dab of peanut butter. If the puppy cries later, first do a “Needs Analysis” and if elimination, exercise and other needs have been met, it will be necessary to let the pup learn that tantrums don’t work.

Chew Training: A few chew toys inside the kennel during confinement teach the puppy that these are his items to chew. Other times the owner should actively put these chew toys in the puppy’s mouth and praise any chewing.  Start with very easily chewed toys such as Greenies and work up to compressed rawhide that has one end soaked in water to soften it up.  Booby trap unacceptable targets with mouth wash or underarm anti-perspirant.

Reward Based Elimination Training:  Punishing house soiling teaches, “Don’t eliminate when he’s watching!”  This approach makes proper training more difficult because the goal is to BE THERE outside to praise correct elimination.  When home, begin with confinement in a closed kennel which inhibits elimination.  Take the pup out every few hours when awake, and no food or water inside the kennel overnight.  If the puppy does not eliminate, just put her back into the kennel and try later.  She will learn the way to get freedom, play and other rewards is to eliminate in the right place.  Make her urine or feces so valuable she won’t want to waste it indoors.  When she routinely asks to go out, she has earned her indoor freedom.

Leash Training:  After successful elimination, suggest the owner take the puppy for a walk as reward.  This habit of rewarding elimination on the owner’s property reduces the future need to bring baggies on walks.  If an outdoor walk isn’t possible, suggest an “indoor walk” i.e. hold the leash INSIDE the house during post elimination play periods.  This is a positive leash association, and makes it easy to catch the pup if mouthing something inappropriate, or if about to eliminate again.  In the evenings, use the leash to tether the pup next to people to bond, and to prevent sneaking away to trouble.

Following these simple steps will go a long way in making the “Holiday Puppy” a permanent member of the family.

If you haven’t actually started an official gift list, you’ve more then likely begun thinking about what you want to do to show your friends, family and co-workers that you care for and appreciate them this holiday season. But loved ones aren’t always the only ones on our minds this time of year. Many of us feel a tug at our hearts, a heightened sense of awareness for the less fortunate, including “the forgotten ones,” the well-deserved Pets who have no one to take care of them. Given this, I thought it would be appropriate to share some great ways to give back to the Pet community this Yuletide season.

Consider volunteering a few hours at your local animal shelter. 

I know you already spend a ton of time with animals, but volunteering at an animal shelter can do a lot to brighten an animal’s day, not to mention provide well-deserved relief for a weary kennel worker. And if you have a niece, nephew or children of your own, bring them along!  Giving back will give you the satisfaction that only comes from helping others, (not to mention get you in the holiday spirit) and will set a philanthropic example for our rising citizens.

 Be a part of the Season of Suppers Campaign.

Banfield Charitable Trust (BCT) and Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) are teaming up this holiday season to help homebound seniors feed their pets.   Helping keep companion Pets well fed, healthy and part of the family for as long as possible is the primary focus of this initiative.  You can donate Pet food or money at your local Banfield hospital.  You may even want to support a Season of Suppers fundraising event in your community. All proceeds will be donated to the Season of Suppers Campaign.

Give to your favorite Pet-focused charity. 

There are tons of them out there, so I did a little research and came up with six well-deserving and reputable organizations worth considering:

• The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
• Humane Society of the United States
• World Wildlife Federation
• Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans
• Delta Society
• National Association for Search and Rescue

Hope this information is helpful. Remember, even the smallest of efforts can bring about a measurable difference in quality of life. If you have a few minutes, I would love to know how you plan to give back this holiday season.

The present economic climate provides a challenge for veterinarians. We strive to provide the absolute best medical care to our patients, and we also strive be sensitive about the affordability of that care. Kristi Reimer, the editor of Veterinary Economics, wrote an excellent article on the matter: Affordability vs. Excellence, Do Veterinarians Have to Choose?  She asks, “Is there a way to maintain excellent medical standards, charge appropriately for them, and still be a compassionate veterinarian who’s accessible to the majority of Pet owners in the community?”

The answer is “Of course!”  We need to be offering the very best we have to every client and every patient at every visit.

The veterinary team and the Pet’s family have the same goal of restoring or maintaining the health of the Pet.  I believe we even have the same financial goals.  We want our clients in sound financial health so they are able to return again, and they want us in sound financial health so we are here when they need us.

Instead of offering “good/better/best” medical plans and “bargaining” with our client until we meet in the middle, consider offering the very best and using the treatment plan as an open dialogue.  Be transparent about what is absolutely mandatory and what is optional for your patient’s well-being and return to health and why each component is important.  You may be surprised with what your client will allow you to do when they understand why each portion of the treatment plan is important.  However, even a gazillionaire is not going to toss money at you for stuff they think you threw in just for the heck of it.

This is where your relationship with your client becomes important.  Clients who trust your integrity and medical expertise will know when you say something is mandatory or even ideal, when you really believe it and when you are probably right.

Sometimes, clients ask for help finding ways to afford the treatment their Pets need.  We may have payment plan options, charity information or other helpful resources available.  However, keep in mind that our clients’ financial situations are none of our business unless they choose to make them our business.  We are no more equipped to guess about the level of care they can afford than we are to guess about the strength of the bond they have with their Pet.  If we are focusing on the financial aspects of a case at the cost of focusing on patient care, we will convey that to the client whether we mean to or not.  

Recommend the very best for your patient.  Explain to your client why the components of the treatment plan you propose are important.  You know your patient is getting the best care you have to offer, your client is well cared for and you are being fairly compensated.  Win-win situations are possible for the patient, the client and the veterinary team, and are worth striving for with every case.