- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- the ability to work on your own
- customer service skills
- the ability to work well with others
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
- thinking and reasoning skills
- excellent verbal communication skills
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
Your day-to-day duties might include:
- taking referrals from vets
- holding consultations in your own centre, in veterinary surgeries or in owners' homes
- talking to owners and observing animals
- looking at the nature of the problem and likely causes
- writing a behaviour-modification programme
- checking progress
- adapting the modification programme if necessary
You could work at a veterinary practice or at a client's home.
Your working environment may be outdoors some of the time.
With the right qualifications and experience you can apply to the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour for Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB) status. This will allow you entry onto the Register of Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourists.
You could set up your own practice or consultancy, or move into teaching or lecturing.
You can get more advice about working in pet behaviour through the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors and Animal Behaviour and Training Council.
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