VIN BHVR109-0220: An Ounce of Prevention: Behavior Edition

The lectures for this course will be presented in an audio format using a webinar platform.

Enrollment is closed.
Presenter: Meredith Stepita DVM, DACVB (Veterinary Behaviorist)
Course Open: February 14-March 4, 2020
Real Time Sessions (RTS): Sunday, February 23, 2020; 4:00-6:00 pm ET (USA)
Course RTS Times in Your Area: World Clock Converter

Level and Prerequisites: This basic course will be open to veterinarians and veterinary support staff actively interested in prevention techniques for common canine and feline behavior problems.
VIN CE Course: Open to veterinarians and veterinary support staff. This course has been submitted for RACE approval for veterinarians and veterinary technicians/technologists.

Course Information:
Behavior problems continue to be a primary cause of relinquishment to animal shelters, breaking of the human-animal bond, and ultimately loss of our patients. Are you ready to do something about it? As with many medical problems, it is often easier and less time consuming to prevent rather than treat behavior problems. As veterinary professionals we have a unique opportunity to educate our clients, work together with them to prevent behavior problems in their pets, and intervene early before the problem creates significant distress for the family. During this lecture we will discuss a number of preventative strategies that you and your team can use to aid clients in preventing canine and feline behavior problems. The goal of this lecture is to give participants the tools to provide comprehensive preventative behavioral care for their patients thereby strengthening the human-animal bond and minimizing relinquishment and euthanasia of patients due to behavior problems.

Week 1 (Real Time Session February 23, 2020): Preventative Behavior Strategies
Presenter: Meredith Stepita DVM, DACVB (Veterinary Behaviorist)
Format: Audio
Objectives: Upon completion of this session, the participant should be able to
  • Counsel clients regarding strategies to prevent common canine and feline behavior problems in pets of all ages
  • Define the canine and feline primary socialization period, understand its importance, and organize and/or teach puppy and kitten socialization classes
  • Offer programs and services in your practice to help prevent canine and feline behavior problems
Successful completion (scoring 80% or better) on the end-of-course test is required to earn a certificate of completion for the course. To learn more about the requirements for earning a CE certificate, please refer to Receiving Your CE Credit and Course Completion Certificate.

Course Materials: Course materials will be available in the course library prior to each Real Time Session.
Required Textbook(s): There is no required textbook for this course.

About the Presenter:
Meredith Stepita received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Tennessee in 2006. She then completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Southern Arizona Veterinary Specialty and Emergency in Tucson. After working in general practice in the Phoenix area for a year, she entered into the Clinical Veterinary Behavior Residency Program at the University of California-Davis, becoming board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists in 2011. She is the owner of Veterinary Behavior Specialists and spends most of her time in the San Francisco Bay Area seeing behavior cases and helping pet owners improve their pet’s behavior problems. Her research involves the frequency of parvovirus in puppies attending puppy socialization classes, finding that vaccinated puppies attending these classes were no more likely to be diagnosed with this deadly disease than those not attending these classes. She lectures on various behavior-related topics locally and nationally. Her areas of interest include canine and feline anxiety and aggression, the human-animal bond, and animal welfare.

Total CE Credit: 2

Tuition: Member $46 ($41 early bird special if enrolled by February 2, 2020)
Non-Member $110 ($99 early bird special if enrolled by February 2, 2020)
Prices are listed in US dollars.

*To ensure participants are ready and prepared for classes, enrollment will close on February 21, 2020 at 5 pm ET (USA) or when the maximum number of participants is reached.

*For more information on how online CE works, see the Participant Resource Center.

To Enroll:
  1. Enrollment qualifications: VIN CE courses are open to VIN member and non-member veterinarians. Veterinarians enrolling in a VSPN CE course must be a VIN member. Veterinary support staff must be a VSPN member to enroll in a VSPN CE or a VIN CE course open to VSPN member enrollment.
  2. Each enrollee must be able to receive emails from @vspn.org and @vin.com addresses. Email is our major form of communication with participants; personal emails are highly recommended rather than clinic/hospital email addresses.
  3. Each person is individually responsible for his/her own registration. To ensure that all information received is secure and correct, please do not enroll for a course on behalf of another individual.
  4. For further assistance call 800-846-0028 ext. 797 or email . Please include the course title, your full name, and contact information in your correspondence.
Enrollment is closed.

"This program (RACE program number to be determined) has been submitted for approval by AAVSB RACE to offer a total of 2 CE Credits, with a maximum of 2 CE Credits being available to any individual veterinarian or veterinary technician/technologist. This RACE approval is for the subject matter categories of: Medical, using the delivery method of Interactive-Distance: (Web-based, Teleconference or Audio-Conference). This approval is valid in jurisdictions which recognize AAVSB RACE; however, participants are responsible for ascertaining each board's CE requirements."

Course withdrawal and refund policy: A complete refund of the paid course price will be issued when your withdrawal request is received prior to the listed start date of the course. If you wish to withdraw after the start date please contact the VIN office 800-846-0028 ext. 797 to discuss eligibility for a pro-rated refund.

*For more information on VIN's upcoming CE courses, check the VIN Course Catalog.

Katherine James, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
VIN Education Director

VIN CE Services:
800-846-0028 or 530-756-4881; ext. 797
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from the United Kingdom: 01 45 222 6154
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from Australia: 02 6145 2357