Behavior is one of the major reasons Americans relinquish 3.9 million dogs and 3.4 million cats to shelters each year. Many of these animals are euthanized. Therefore, helping clients cope with behavior issues and teaching them to moderate their pet's behavior can be a lifesaving act, strengthening both the human-animal bond and the client's relationship with your practice.

All veterinary practice guidelines, like this 2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines, help ensure that pets get the best possible care. From medical director to veterinary assistant, guidelines keep your hospital staff on the cutting edge of veterinary medicine.

The 2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines offers insights, advice, and recommendations for helping you ensure that all pets are well-trained and that they get along with family members, people outside the family, other animals, and the veterinary staff.

These AAHA guidelines review the latest information to help staff address central issues and perform essential tasks to improve the welfare of the pet. In addition, these guidelines define the role of each staff member, so everyone on the team can work together to offer the highest quality of care.

Guidelines are just that—a guide—established by experts in a particular area of veterinary medicine. Guidelines do not outweigh the veterinarian’s clinical judgment; instead, they help veterinarians improve every pet’s quality of life.
Aligning your practice’s protocols with AAHA guidelines’ recommendations is a key step in ensuring that your practice continues to deliver the highest quality of care.

To support your dedicated efforts, AAHA is pleased to offer this toolkit. Here you’ll find facts, figures, highlights, tips, client questionnaires and handouts, and other tools you can use every day to implement the recommendations of the 2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines.

Thank you for helping to advance our shared mission to deliver the best in companion animal medical care. Together, we can make a difference!

Michael T. Cavanaugh, DVM, DABVP (C/F)
AAHA Executive Director and CEO