Dog Friendly Clinic Advocate

Ambassador for canine behaviour and a role model for the clinic

The Dog Friendly Clinic Advocate highlights the importance of adopting key behavioural principles - such as low stress handling techniques - within the clinic. Their knowledge of canine behaviour is infectious and inspires other members of their team.  

They are the key driving force behind increasing awareness and understanding of canine behaviour within their clinic.  

Consistent point of contact

The Advocate is a consistent point of contact for:

• The Dog Friendly Clinic administration team
• Their veterinary clinic team, for example, highlighting to new starters how to access the learning platform ‘Campus’ that the Dog Friendly Clinic scheme is hosted on
• Owners, for example, being the person that a staff member might call upon if an owner is really concerned about how their dog will manage in the hospital ward before surgery.

Dedicated to improving canine welfare within their clinic

Taking on the position of Advocate alongside continuing their normal role within the veterinary clinic highlights how passionate and dedicated they are to improving canine welfare within their clinic. 

The role of the Dog Friendly Clinic Advocate

• Complete the Dog Friendly Clinic online application courses via Campus on behalf of the clinic.
   
• When the clinic has gained their membership (application courses have been completed, quiz passed, photos / video uploads approved, and membership payment actioned), ensure that the whole team are aware of this and provide them with the clinic’s username and password for the learning platform ‘Campus’. This then enables them to access the interactive CPD, library resources, social media posts and discussion board.
   
• Ensure the staff member(s) responsible for uploading posts onto the clinic social media platforms, also has access to the clinic’s Campus username and password so they can also access the social media posts.  
   
• Provide the link to the Dog Friendly Clinic members YouTube channel to colleagues, so they can, if they wish, watch CPD presentations alongside the CPD on Campus.
   
• Provide a DFC induction for any new staff members, this can include the ‘New Starter Introduction Course’ specifically created for this purpose and present on Campus.
   
• Inform the DFC administration team, if you leave the clinic or transfer your role to another member of staff.

Suggestions for getting your whole team engaged with the Dog Friendly Clinic Scheme

We understand the pressures that veterinary clinics are under and so we want to highlight that the following are only suggestions. We hope that you find some of the ideas useful.  

During the application process

a. Initial team meeting

During an initial team meeting you could brief all team members about the DFC accreditation scheme. This could include, for example, what the scheme is, the ethos behind the scheme and the benefits of joining, both for the individual, but also for the clinic as a whole and importantly for the dogs under the clinic’s care.

You could then show your team the online application courses on Campus and watch the Introduction to the Dog Friendly Clinic scheme lesson together, this will ensure that everyone in the clinic knows what is involved with the application process.  

b. The application courses

Although the Advocate has overall responsibility for completion of the application courses, meeting with colleagues to watch some of these lessons together can be incredibly valuable. It will not only provide team members with information about Dog Friendly Clinic principles but could also spark areas for discussion, particularly useful when compiling the required photo and video evidence. Examples of how all roles within the clinic could be involved are provided below.

• Whilst watching the ‘Preparation of the clinic environment’ lesson, the reception team could go through the items that they currently sell within the reception / waiting area and together as a team, they could discuss if the items align with dog-friendly principles and support reward-based training.  
   
• The lesson specifically looking at ‘Handling of dogs during consultations’ could prompt the veterinary care assistants to inform the team about how they would get a dog used to being weighed on the scales using low stress handling techniques.
   
• Within the lesson on ‘Socialisation and habituation appointments for puppies’, the nursing team could provide information to all colleagues about their habituation and socialisation appointments and what they cover within them / discuss potentially running these clinics if they do not already do so.
   
• The veterinary surgeon and nursing teams could discuss aspects that they currently have on their personalised hospitalisation questionnaire and whether, utilising the information in the ‘Hospitalisation’ lesson there are any additional items that they could include.  

Once your clinic is a member  

Below we have provided some suggestions for encouraging engagement on the Dog Friendly Clinic Campus platform.

a. Internal communication

Becoming a Dog Friendly Clinic member is a huge achievement, so do celebrate, and highlight to all team members this momentous milestone using preferred in-clinic communication platforms / notice boards.

You can also use these platforms to remind colleagues how to access Campus and the clinic’s Campus username and password.

Encouraging colleagues to watch the ‘Welcome to Campus’ course is a great way get to get people started on their Campus learning journey, as it will show them how to navigate the platform and its contents.  

The clinic team can also be advised that they can access lessons within the completed Application Courses, as these provide a fantastic foundation to being a Dog Friendly Clinic.

b. External communication

If your clinic produces a newsletter for clients, consider adding in a regular Dog Friendly Clinic feature:

• highlighting that your clinic is part of the scheme – use the DFC social media posts if appropriate
• clinic team members being inspired by a DFC CPD lesson and sharing with clients by writing a short piece for the newsletter.

c. An internal monthly Dog Friendly Clinic lesson /discussion session

A Dog Friendly Clinic catch up, where you can perhaps watch a DFC CPD lesson together. Then either in response to this CPD or from independent learning, discuss what you learnt from a DFC lesson. If time permits, produce a presentation based on, or incorporating a case which links to a DFC lesson, for example, an overview of a desensitisation and counter conditioning programme and then a case where you have used these principles to support a patient.  

Thank you

We recognise the time and effort required to gain Dog Friendly Clinic status and so thank you so much for your commitment to canine welfare and the embedding of canine behavioural science within the veterinary community.

The Dog Friendly Clinic team are here to support you. If you have any questions relating to your role as the DFC Advocate, then do email our team.