Alison Scott Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist

10/11/2025

After months of development alongside our key partners, Loop & The Centre for Animal Inclusive Safeguarding are excited to introduce a ground-breaking project designed to provide essential support to both human and animal survivors of abuse.

We’re proud to share this during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, reflecting our commitment to creating safer, more compassionate society for all, regardless of species. The project is rooted in actions - big and small - we can take to ensure human and animal survivors of abuse receive holistic care and support they need.

Please join us for this free webinar where we will cover:

🐾 Background to The Centre for Animal Inclusive Safeguarding.

🐾 Inspiration for the Project.

🐾 Project Introduction and current partnerships.

🐾 Pilot Plans

🐾 How the project benefits survivors, services, and wider society.

🐾 Our plans for future growth post-pilot - it has applications beyond the VAWG sector!

🐾 Opportunities to get involved.

🐾 Q&A

All are welcome from across animal and human support sectors! You can sign up here - 39911b15-5503-42f9-87f6-3b105dc9a18c@8e94b4c9-d93f-4038-a975-aa7ba0f81c20" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/39911b15-5503-42f9-87f6-3b105dc9a18c@8e94b4c9-d93f-4038-a975-aa7ba0f81c20

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]

To stay in the loop, you can also sign up to our newsletter via www.loop-safeguarding.org

09/11/2025

01/11/2025

28/10/2025

15/10/2025

𝗔𝗕𝗧𝗖 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗨𝗞𝗔𝗦 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - 𝗔 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿. 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

The Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC) is proud to announce that its Assessing Organisations Certification Scheme has been formally recognised by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

Following a detailed review, UKAS confirmed that the ABTC Scheme meets the requirements of the international standard ISO/IEC 17067. In simple terms, this means the Scheme meets the high standards required for recognised certification programmes, the same framework that underpins quality assurance across many professional sectors.

This recognition, published in the UKAS Stage One Report on 6 October 2025, confirms the ABTC Scheme as suitable for use within formal certification processes. It also enables the ABTC to apply for Certification Body status under ISO/IEC 17065.

For the first time, the animal behaviour and training community has a UKAS-recognised certification scheme. This milestone strengthens ABTC’s long-term goal of embedding professional standards, supporting practitioners, and helping the public find ethical, evidence-based help for their animals.

We extend sincere thanks to the volunteers and representatives from our Member Organisations whose expertise and dedication made this possible.

“The ABTC Assessing Organisations Certification Scheme was reviewed for compliance against the requirements of ISO/IEC 17067. UKAS confirmed that the ABTC Scheme is formally recognised as suitable for use in the Conformity Assessment arena.” - UKAS Stage One Report, 6 October 2025

[Alt text: Red graphic titled “Important Announcement.” Text reads: “ABTC secures landmark UKAS recognition — a first for the animal behaviour and training sector. Driving excellence in animal behaviour and training.” Includes ABTC logo and two megaphone icons.]

08/09/2025

Eek!

Tonight I’ll be making my way to Bristol to set up for this weekends DogFest

For anyone wanting to learn more about consent based grooming, you can find me in The Big Top on both Saturday and Sunday.

9.10am Drop in grooming clinic - this is your chance to ask me questions and talk to me about the problems you may be experiencing with your dog when grooming

10.40am How to take the Grr out of Grooming! - I’ll be sharing some of my top tips for reduced stress grooming and how we can make it easier for both us and our dogs

15:10 Nail Clipping How To! - I’ll be talking about one of the biggest challenges in the world of grooming and sharing some of the best tricks of the trade

Grab your tickets at www.dogfest.co.uk and use my exclusive code BRISTOLDOGLOVER20 to get 20% off!

28/07/2025

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwq40vjw8lo

The charity calls for all dog rescue organisations to be licensed amid concerns over imported pets.

28/07/2025

Gradually we are gaining more information on how disease in companion animals can influence their behaviour.

I see a fair number of "pica" cases - both in first opinion "GP" vet practice and as a vet and behaviourist. Gut health can influence this tendency in multiple ways.
In this NEW PUBLICATION the authors discuss how potentially nausea, visceral pain and an inability to absorb enough calories or key nutrients may be the motivators for this behaviour. There is no doubt that pica can occur for reasons unlikely linked to a long standing gut issue (what we refer to as a chronic (gastro)enteropathy) but as the paper discusses, it is essential to thoroughly consider the presence of gut issues in these cases.

Sadly, we still see many dogs in particular, being muzzled, punished or repeatedly trained in some other way to "leave" items whilst the underlying cause is not effectively addressed. Given inflammatory conditions can be worsened by certain stress experiences, this type of approach might actually negatively impact the medical condition further.

Definitely worth a read.

And if delving into science papers isn't your thing, or you are keen on considering how we can practically use this type of information to help dogs and the people who share their lives ... watch this space for some exciting news about a new online course I have coming out later this year :))

Perez, J., Ford, S. and Lynch, H., 2025. Pica as a clinical sign of a chronic enteropathy in dogs and cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 1(aop), pp.1-6.