Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians

18/09/2025

🦆 Tantalising Taxa Thursday 🐓

Did you know that reward-based training isn’t just for dogs and cats? It can be used successfully with any species — even chickens! 🐔✨

In this video, FABC member Linda Ryan demonstrates the power of positive reinforcement by teaching her chicken to target coloured discs — correctly choosing the one she names each time.

This is a brilliant example of how clear communication, patience, and rewards can unlock learning across species 🌟

👉 Watch the full video here: https://bit.ly/4msYuE0

Linda Ryan BSc (Hons) VTS RVN CCABhttps://www.inspiringpets.com/Clickin' with a chicken! Starring Priscilla :-) (Who used to live in a battery cage & now has...

17/09/2025

Book now for our next Vet Q&A session on Wednesday 15th October at 8pm! 'Low stress veterinary care for horses, where are we now?' with Dr Gemma Pearson and Dr Loni Loftus.

After a short introduction we will open up for questions to our panel. You will have the opportunity to discuss principles of investigation and treatment as well as get advice on tricky cases (please make sure you maintain client confidentiality).

Kindly sponsored by Reconcile, these sessions are free to join. They are primarily aimed at those working in veterinary practice (vets, nurses, receptionists and support staff) and members of FAB Clinicians.

https://bit.ly/3goQOC7

16/09/2025

🐾 Totally Dogs Tuesday 🐾

Want to deepen your knowledge of evidence-based dog behaviour and training? 🐶

Did you know that FAB Clinicians members have access to our digital library, packed with leading textbooks and “must reads” in the field of clinical animal behaviour? 📚✨

Whether you’re brushing up on the foundations, diving into the latest evidence-based approaches, or looking for trusted references for your own cases, our library puts a wealth of knowledge right at your fingertips.

And that’s just one of the many benefits of joining FAB Clinicians! 🐶🐱

👉 Explore more about becoming a member and all the support we offer: https://bit.ly/3khPKUu

12/09/2025

The booking link is now open for our 2025 virtual conference!
Early Bird tickets are available at just £55 until end of September so get yours now! https://bit.ly/3cmVnLR

10/09/2025

FABC Webinar tonight at 7.30pm (BST/London time zone) with Dr Emma Gatehouse

"FEAR, ANXIETY AND STRESS IN DOGS VISITING THE VETERINARY PRACTICE – ASSESSING VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF BEHAVIOURAL TOOLS"

Veterinary visits are a highly stressful experience for many dogs, which is hardly surprising considering the exposure to aversive stimuli such as unfamiliar people and animals, noises, smells and diagnostic interventions. The examination of highly stressed animals poses significant challenges, raising concerns for both staff and animal welfare. To mitigate these detrimental effects veterinarians and owners alike must take responsibility for assessing and reducing canine stress within the veterinary practice. Given that behavioural responses are often stressor and context specific, it is important to develop, validate and utilise instruments specific to the environment in which they will be applied. This presentation will discuss research into currently available assessment tools and whether they are valid, reliable and fit for purpose.

Book your place now! https://bit.ly/3on0dga

09/09/2025

Conference bookings are open!

The FAB Clinicians annual conference offers a full day of CPD from amazing internationally recognised speakers. Dont miss out on the early bird price available until the end of september.

https://bit.ly/3cmVnLR

08/09/2025

More Horses Mondays
We have several helpful handouts on our website. This week we would like to highlight this one on equine travel issues

https://bit.ly/3ZOR0RA

05/09/2025

🐱

The opportunity to engage in play is important for cats of all ages. Cat play can manifest in two main ways, and developing an understanding of this is key.

Have a look at our FAB handout on feline play which explores the main types of feline play and delves deeper into the behaviour of cats during play: https://bit.ly/445wrTz

04/09/2025

🐝

Groundbreaking research from the University of Sheffield has discovered that bees use flight movements to enhance brain signals, enabling them to recognise patterns with phenomenal accuracy.

By combining their brain and body, bees use their flight movements to facilitate remarkably accurate learning and recognition of complex visual patterns - something which could revolutionise how the next generation of AI is developed.

Interested in finding out more? Find the original study here: https://bit.ly/47UJz1q

Active vision dynamically refines spatiotemporal neural representations, optimising visual processing through scanning behaviour and non-associative learning, providing insights into efficient sensory encoding in dynamic environments.

03/09/2025

"FEAR, ANXIETY AND STRESS IN DOGS VISITING THE VETERINARY PRACTICE – ASSESSING VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF BEHAVIOURAL TOOLS"

FABC webinar with Dr Emma Gatehouse on Wednesday 10th September at 7.30pm (London time zone)

Veterinary visits are a highly stressful experience for many dogs, which is hardly surprising considering the exposure to aversive stimuli such as unfamiliar people and animals, noises, smells and diagnostic interventions. The examination of highly stressed animals poses significant challenges, raising concerns for both staff and animal welfare. To mitigate these detrimental effects veterinarians and owners alike must take responsibility for assessing and reducing canine stress within the veterinary practice. Given that behavioural responses are often stressor and context specific, it is important to develop, validate and utilise instruments specific to the environment in which they will be applied. This presentation will discuss research into currently available assessment tools and whether they are valid, reliable and fit for purpose.

Book your place now at F https://bit.ly/3on0dga

02/09/2025

🐶

Researchers at Virginia Tech have discovered that companion dogs can perform very successfully in scent detection tasks - which has major benefits, particularly against the invasive spotted lanternfly.

The study found that these dogs could locate the spotted lanternfly egg-masses with incredible accuracy, despite being difficult to find.

This initiative has tapped into the recreational scent-detection dog community and opens a promising avenue to protecting agriculture.

Interested in finding out more? Read the study here: https://bit.ly/4oX7e7z

01/09/2025

🐴

Recent research suggests that horses adapt their behaviour and decisions following observing interactions between humans.

In the study the majority of horses significantly changed their preference on feeding location, where they avoided locations where confrontational human interactions occurred, and instead favoured locations where friendly interactions occurred.

This research may influence the way in which we behave around horses.
Interested in finding out more? Read the original study here: https://bit.ly/42cwMV3