Austin’s only Fear Free Certified Practice
Austin’s first Fear Free Certified Practice
What it means to be Fear Free
Fear free means holding each pet’s emotional as well as physical wellbeing in mind at all times. It’s not possible to treat one without the other. We have learned to recognize even subtle signs of fear, anxiety, and stress in pets in our care.
Fear Free Certified Team
Being Fear Free Certified Professionals means our team is well educated in canine and feline body language. We understand how to identify and reduce fear, anxiety, and stress during your pet’s visit. We use compassionate handling techniques along with lots of positive reinforcement in the form of treats and toys! We don’t push your pet to do anything they feel is scary or fearful. We will treat your pet on the floor, in your lap, or even outside, if that helps alleviate stress in your pet. We communicate what we are doing every step of the way.
Fear Free Certified Team
Being Fear Free Certified Professionals means our team is well educated in canine and feline body language. We understand how to identify and reduce fear, anxiety, and stress during your pet’s visit. We use compassionate handling techniques along with lots of positive reinforcement in the form of treats and toys! We don’t push your pet to do anything they feel is scary or fearful. We will treat your pet on the floor, in your lap, or even outside, if that helps alleviate stress in your pet. We communicate what we are doing every step of the way.
Fear Free Certified Practice
Practice Certification takes Fear Free implementation to the next level. Fear Free Certified Practices implement Fear Free into all aspects of their business: culture and leadership, client education, staff training, facility, and patient visits. To be a certified practice you must pass an online assessment and onsite visit with a Fear Free Practice Certification Veterinarian. Fear Free reviews their certified practices every three years to ensure they are continuing to meet their rigorous standards.
Star of Texas is honored to be Austin’s first and only Fear Free certified practice since 2018.
Happy Visits
Happy Visits are a trust building service we provide for our patients to decrease, or keep them from becoming, fearful of veterinary visits. During our happy visits, we avoid any potentially stressful events such as needle pokes, temperature taking, or restricting their movement such as they would experience during a traditional vet visit.
Generally, these upbeat visits consist of large quantities of Easy Cheese, peanut butter, and squeaky toys but this can be anything that is considered “the best” from your dog’s perspective. The trust we build with your pet during these frequent sessions can be used later on to desensitize them to things they find stressful such as nail trims, vaccinations, and restraint.
Before starting a Happy Visit the veterinary staff will judge your pet’s comfort level. Depending on what your pet is comfortable with, we may walk them around this hospital, visit exam rooms, or play in the backyard! Hopefully we will do a little more at each session than the previous one until your pet is comfortable being in the veterinary hospital. Like most training sessions, Happy Visits are recommended in frequent, short sessions to keep your dog focused and from becoming overstimulated or bored. Visits typically last about 10-20 minutes and are recommended as frequently as is convenient for you, typically weekly to monthly.
Happy Visits
Happy Visits are a trust building service we provide for our patients to decrease, or keep them from becoming, fearful of veterinary visits. During our happy visits, we avoid any potentially stressful events such as needle pokes, temperature taking, or restricting their movement such as they would experience during a traditional vet visit.
Generally, these upbeat visits consist of large quantities of Easy Cheese, peanut butter, and squeaky toys but this can be anything that is considered “the best” from your dog’s perspective. The trust we build with your pet during these frequent sessions can be used later on to desensitize them to things they find stressful such as nail trims, vaccinations, and restraint.
Before starting a Happy Visit the veterinary staff will judge your pet’s comfort level. Depending on what your pet is comfortable with, we may walk them around this hospital, visit exam rooms, or play in the backyard! Hopefully we will do a little more at each session than the previous one until your pet is comfortable being in the veterinary hospital. Like most training sessions, Happy Visits are recommended in frequent, short sessions to keep your dog focused and from becoming overstimulated or bored. Visits typically last about 10-20 minutes and are recommended as frequently as is convenient for you, typically weekly to monthly.
Victory Visits
A Victory Visit is a scheduled, personalized, training session with our In-House Behavior Counselor to acclimate your pet to gentle control, veterinary equipment, vaccinations, blood draws, and more. The goal for each pet is unique and how reactive they are varies, so their first session includes both a consultation and training plan. Trust and positive association take several visits to acquire. For many pets we are trying to undo years’ worth of negative experiences. At each visit we take small, gradual steps toward our end goal. These small improvements may seem insignificant at first, but they will be the building blocks for larger improvements down the road. Desensitization is a way for us to present stressful things in smaller, controlled sessions to your pet while positively rewarding them for being brave. In some instances, we may even get your dog to enjoy what used to make them fearful!
The more frequently these sessions occur, the more trust and positive associations we will build. Each pet’s progress will depend on their previous experience, personality, age, and amount of training.
If your doctor has previously recommended any anti-anxiety medications for veterinary visits, please give them accordingly before visits. Likewise, if your pet is less stressed when wearing a Thundershirt® or with nutraceuticals on board, please use those!
Pet selection Counseling
If you’re considering bringing in a new member to your family, we want to ensure they will be a great fit for you and your family’s lifestyle. With Pet Selection Counseling we will evaluate your family’s lifestyle and what type of pet you’re wanting to bring into the house and give suggestions as to breeds, age ranges, or personality types to look for.
Pet selection Counseling
If you’re considering bringing in a new member to your family, we want to ensure they will be a great fit for you and your family’s lifestyle. With Pet Selection Counseling we will evaluate your family’s lifestyle and what type of pet you’re wanting to bring into the house and give suggestions as to breeds, age ranges, or personality types to look for.
Puppy Classes
Getting your puppy ready for the great big world is one of the most important and impactful things you can do for their long term wellbeing. This is called socialization. Socialization is purposeful, positive experiences with animals, humans, and everyday objects to encourage proper coping skills and confidence. Socialization will have a direct impact on their behavior and emotional wellbeing as an adult.
Socializing your puppy is proven to lead to less behavioral issues and anxieties in adulthood. There is always time to teach your dog to shake or high-five, but there is a limited window (between 6-18 weeks of age) where we can shape how they will feel about the outside world. During this time your pup will develop strong opinions about the world around them that will be hard to undo as they get older. If you didn’t know your pup during these first weeks, or if you’re just getting a late start, don’t panic! Positive socialization will still be beneficial for your pup!
Most puppy classes focus on this socialization as well as fundamental skills like “touch”, “place”, loose leash walking, and others.
See our puppy page for more puppy guidance.