Sure, you hear that vets are one of the best referral sources for dog trainers… but how do you actually BUILD those veterinary relationships?
Well, in this video recording of our recent Facebook live over in the free Dog Trainer’s Umbrella facebook group, I talk with Liz MacHaffie about how she’s built a thriving referral network with a number of local vets.
We talk about:
- The initial approach – who does she reach out to, how, and why?
- The follow up – what if that first contact doesn’t get a response?
- Maintaining the relationship over the long-term
- A bit about her educational program with Vets (and rescues!)
… and more!
Recording Notes & Summary
Why This Matters
If you’re a dog trainer or behavior consultant, you already know that finding ideal clients can feel like a full-time job. But what if instead of chasing every lead, you built a reliable source of referrals through trusted local partners—especially veterinary clinics? In this recording, you’ll discover how to work with veterinarians, clinics, and other pet-care professionals to create a steady and high-quality pipeline of training clients.
And building veterinary relationships also benefits your clients and the vets themselves — clients benefit from more coordinated care than just training can provide, especially for those with behavior concerns, and vets want trustworthy training/behavior professionals but many don’t know who to send clients to.
If you’re looking to build this kind of referral network you need to understand how referral ecosystems actually function. This conversation offered a grounded look at what consistently brings in steady clients: thoughtful relationship-building with vets, shelters, trainers, and your local dog-industry community.
About Liz MacHaffie
Liz is the owner and head behavior consultant of Animal Insight, in the greater Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. She has her MS in Clinical Animal Behavior and is CPDT-KA certified. But she doesn’t do it alone. Now a seven-year-old business, Animal Insight consists of Liz, three other trainers, an and an admin. Together they focus on dog behavior cases (85-90%) and manners and puppy/obedience training (5-10%) via mostly in-home private lessons. While in-homes are their focus, they occasionally also offer classes or workshops.
And veterinary referrals are easily their biggest source of referrals — and referrals are their biggest source of new clients. That makes veterinary referrals a very important part of the business overall.
Getting Started (and Getting Over the “Salesy” Feeling)
Reaching out to vets feels salesy, uncomfortable, and deeply intimidating. But it doesn’t have to. Liz is naturally introverted and absolutely did not start off confident about approaching clinics. Reframing the mindset became key: instead of “selling,” she focused on supporting veterinarians, helping them, and becoming a useful resource for dogs they already cared about.
- Begin by reaching out to vets already in your social circles.
- Then reach out to clinics your clients say good things about (and pass along the compliments).
- Consider notifying your clients’ vet when they start a training program with you – that’s an easy first outreach.
- Keeping vets in the loop about any behavior work you’re doing with clients is an excellent way of beginning to build a relationship that demonstrates your expertise.
Liz also evaluates the vets themselves — she’s looking for vets who are likely to have the types of clients show works with.
Reaching Out To a Veterinary Clinic for the First Time
Create a template for yourself that makes it easier to reach out to a new clinic. For Liz that looks like:
- This is so and so and we have this mutual client
- I wanted to reach out because they raved about you and your team
- Here’s who i am and what my background is
- Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this client
- And if you’re interested in learning more about me/the team we offer free workshops for vets (with a link to a relevant page on her website)
“Dessert and Dog Behavior” Presentations: Workshops for Vets
A key aspect of Liz’s work to build relationships with vet clinics is her dessert and dog behavior program, where she offers vets a free workshop to the clinics in her network once per year (and paid additional workshops upon request).
When pitching these she focus on how they benefit the clinic with phrases like, “help your staff reduce the chances of being bitten,” and “learn the most recent training techniques,” etc. And then she asks her point of contact to give her an idea of where the staff is currently at in terms of knowledge — and tailors the presentation accordingly.
- The goal is that no one feels they’re in a learning deficit
- Keep the workshops focused on the benefits the clinic is most interested in (reducing bites, better client experience, etc)
- Ask people to self evaluate — one a scale of 1-10 how knowledgeable do you think you are? — both before and after the presentation
- Open Q&A with staff on their own pets is also helpful!
During the recording Liz share a number of other details about how she handles her Dessert and Dog Behavior presentations too — including her most popular topics, how she handles the logistics, why she includes her staff in the presentations, and how she tailors those presentations to her audience.
Other tools for building a referral network
The most powerful way to build a relationship with a vet or their staff is when they hire you themselves — so offering discounted rates for anyone who works at a veterinary clinic can be a really helpful tool in creating staff members who will refer you to others.
And Liz also drops off rack cards that clinics can hand out to their own clients about her business. The cards are focused on what she does and how she can help (specifically highlighting behavior help). She’s found that clinics will often reach out when they’re running low, though she’ll also periodically check in. When she drops off new cards she also tends to bring by cheese and crackers or another snack… which also helps further that relationship (and maybe helps encourage them to be proactive about letting her know they’re running low).
Communicating with the Vet Clinic
Vet clinics also have an easier time respecting a trainer’s expertise when the trainer makes it clear they respect the vet’s expertise — that means referring clients back to their vet for any health-related concerns and reaching out to the vet with notes about those concerns.
For example, emailing to say things like: “Can you assess for pain” or “Can you assess for GI stuff…” and letting them know that you won’t give medical advice but will let them know if you see anything of concern that might be worth investigating.
Liz will also often reach out to the vets of her b-mod clients with notes on their behavior modification work and include either notes or the full b-mod plan, so the vet is in the loop about what the client is working on. She says it only tends to take 3-5 minutes more than creating the report in the first place, and she feels that it really goes a long way in creating a positive impression with the vet.
Don’t want to miss future events like this one? Be sure to join the facebook group and sign up for the newsletter for an early heads up on future helpful conversations!
