Dr Hannah Donovan

BSc (Hons) BVM&S MVetSci MSc (Clinical Animal Behaviour) MRCVS CCAB
RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Companion Animal Behaviour

Vet and Clinical Animal Behaviourist

DVBP Director

Since before she could walk, Hannah has had an exceptional interest and particular way with animals. Growing up around birds, rabbits, guinea-pigs, hamsters, gerbils, dogs, cats and horses, Hannah was often known to spend the majority of her time with animals. Hannah’s enthusiasm for understanding life from the animal’s perspective and her seemingly innate ability to communicate with them has driven the path forming a career where she enjoys working closely with animals.

Hannah graduated with a 2.1 Bachelor of Science Honours degree (BSc (Hons)) in Animal Science from the University of Leeds, UK, in 2006. She then went on to study for her veterinary degree, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (BVM&S) at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and qualified as a vet in 2011. During her time at the University of Edinburgh, Hannah also obtained a Masters of Veterinary Science in Canine Behaviour Research (MVetSci). She then worked as a mixed vet in Lincolnshire and during this time, completed a Master of Science in Clinical Animal Behaviour (MSc) at the University of Lincoln, UK, she graduated with distinction in 2013.

Since then, Hannah has worked in small animal practices in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, she has also travelled and volunteered around the world in clinics and shelters, and spent some time working in a large RSPCA hospital and shelter in Sydney, Australia. Hannah has worked as a veterinary surgeon since 2011 and has been seeing behaviour referrals simultaneously since 2013. Hannah has enjoyed providing continued education for vets and vet staff around the world about animal behaviour and how to improve handling and understanding during veterinary visits, rehabilitation of rescued animals or teaching young animals and preventing behaviour issues. Hannah’s aim has always been to improve animals’ quality of life and welfare by continually learning herself and teaching veterinary and shelter staff.

Hannah is an RCVS (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) Advanced Practitioner in Companion Animal Behaviour, an ASAB (the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour) accredited Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB), an ABTC (Animal Behaviour and Training Council) registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist and registered Veterinary Behaviourist, a Full Member of the APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors), a Committee and Certificated Member of the FAB Clinicians (Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians) and a Committee Member of the BVBA (British Veterinary Behaviour Association).

Memberships

ASAB (Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour) accredited Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB)

ABTC (Animal Behaviour and Training Council) registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist and registered Veterinary Behaviourist

RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Companion Animal Behaviour

Full Member of the APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors)

Director and Certificated Member of FAB Clinicians (Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians)

Committee Member of the BVBA (British Veterinary Behaviour Association)

Emma Baker

BVetMed MSc MRCVS RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Companion Animal Behaviour

Vet and RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Companion Animal Behaviour

Emma graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 2005 and spent the first 5 years in mixed practice.

The next 7 years she spent working for a veterinary charity, during which time she also gained her masters in applied animal behaviour.

Emma is an RCVS (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) Advanced Practitioner in Companion Animal Behaviour. She divides her time between working as a vet in a first opinion, small animal hospital in Leamington Spa and seeing behaviour cases.

Emma supports Donovan Veterinary Behaviour Practice by providing veterinary support to our clinical animal behavourists on their animal behaviour cases.

Memberships

RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Companion Animal Behaviour

Vet Subcommittee Member of FAB Clinicians (Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians)


Loni Loftus

BSc (Hons) Equine science, MSc (Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare) CCAB

Clinical Animal Behaviourist

Loni is an experienced Clinical Animal Behaviourist specialising in horses, cats and dogs, having worked in the field for 20 years. She gained her professional accreditation with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council via successful application to the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors for Full membership in all three species. She is also an ASAB Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB) for dogs and horses and an ABTC Animal Training Instructor for Dogs. Loni is a Certificated member and Director of the Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians and is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Loni holds an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare with Distinction from Newcastle University and a BSc(Hons) in Equine science. She is currently a PhD scholar at Newcastle University studying the field of positive affective state in equines and is also a lecturer in animal behaviour and welfare at a number of UK universities. Loni supports Donovan Veterinary Behaviour Practice with cat, dog and horse behaviour cases.

Loni is actively engaged in research and is also an editorial board member and reviewer for a number of high impact animal behaviour and welfare journals. Her current research projects include equine positive affect, enrichment in equines, quality of life in equines, physiological measures of stress in equines, canine reactivity, frustration in horses, the impact of Covid-19 on companion animals, farrowing systems in pigs, piglet welfare and welfare assessment in cattle.

Memberships

ASAB (Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour) accredited Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB)

Full Member of the APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors)

ABTC (Animal Behaviour and Training Council) accredited Clinical Animal Behaviourist and Animal Training Instructor

Emily Harvey

BSc (Hons) Zoology, FdSc CAS (Canine Assistance Studies), MSc (Clinical Animal Behaviour)

Clinical Animal Behaviourist

Emily has worked in the field of animal training and behaviour for the last 15 years. From 2008 until 2022 she has been employed in several roles within the assistance dog industry, firstly qualifying as a guide dog mobility instructor in the UK then working as a guide dog trainer in New Zealand, where she also became head trainer of New Zealand Epilepsy Assist Dogs Trust. On her return to the UK, Emily worked as a positive reinforcement training specialist at Guide Dogs UK (co-created and tested Guide Dogs’ first standardised dog training programme based on positive reinforcement) and latterly was their training and behaviour consultant covering Scotland and Northern Ireland. Prior to this Emily also worked as a Sea Lion trainer in Devon and spent time interning and volunteering at marine mammal training facilities in the US and UK. Emily also volunteers as a trainer for Dog AID.

Emily now works as a clinical animal behaviourist for Dogs Trust covering Scotland, as well as supporting Donovan Veterinary Behaviour Practice with dog behaviour cases. She has a BSc (Hons) degree in Zoology and a Clinical Animal Behaviour MSc (with Distinction) at Edinburgh University. Emily is a candidate member of FAB clinicians and is pre-certified with ASAB where she is working towards her CCAB accreditation to become recognised as a certified clinical animal behaviourist. From a young age Emily has had a passion for all things training and behaviour and is particularly interested in applied behaviour analysis, cooperative care and choice-based training. She spends her spare time training her chickens, parrot, geese, dog and goats!

Memberships

Candidate Member of FAB Clinicians (Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians)

Natalie Light

BSc Zoology, PGDip PGCert (Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare) CCAB

Clinical Animal Behaviourist

Nat is an ASAB accredited Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist, an ABTC registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist and Animal Training Instructor, and a full member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors, Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians & Professional Association of Canine Trainers. She has been working professionally in the companion animal sector since 2006 having studied Zoology BSc at University of Southampton and Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare PGDip at Newcastle University. Nat is the Director of Behaviour at PACT (Professional Association of Canine Trainers) and an Associate Lecturer on the Animal Welfare & Society BA Hons at University of Winchester. Nat supports Donovan Veterinary Behaviour Practice with cat and dog behaviour cases.

Nat's aim as a behaviourist and trainer is to help people understand their non-human companions by teaching them the subtle signals dogs and cats use to communicate how they are feeling. Nat believes that by focussing on the relationship that dogs, cats and their humans have, and encouraging effective communication, we can live much happier and more successful lives together. Nat lives in Hampshire with her 4 wonderful dogs; Gru, Mouse, Fish and Drax, seven adorable ducks, Dame David Attenborough the tortoise and her lovely husband Jason.

Memberships

ASAB (Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour) accredited Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB)

Certificated Member of FAB Clinicians (Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians)

Full Member of the APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors)

ABTC (Animal Behaviour and Training Council) accredited Clinical Animal Behaviourist and Animal Training Instructor

Full Member of PACT (Professional Association of Canine Trainers)

Fellow of the HEA (Higher Education Authority)

Lucy Michaliszyn

BSc Hons Animal Behaviour Science, FdSc Canine Assistance Studies

Clinical Animal Behaviourist

After years of badgering her parents, Lucy finally got her first dog aged 11, a rescue collie cross called Jaycee. Jaycee came with some behavioural issues which further ignited Lucy’s passion for learning more and seeking to understand animal behaviour.

Following her dreams, Lucy graduated with a 2.1 BSc Hons in Animal Behaviour Science at the University of Lincoln. Her degree gave her a good grounding in behaviour science which she was soon able to put into practice through being hired by Guide Dogs. Lucy spent ten years training assistance dogs and teaching people how to work with their guide dog, a rewarding experience which honed her practical training and coaching skills.

Her passion towards utilising science-based training techniques led Lucy to becoming a regional training and behaviour consultant for Guide Dogs in 2018. As well as providing support for dogs with more complex behavioural needs, Lucy also led on the creation of internal training materials targeted at developing and maintaining strong working relationships between dogs and their owners. Lucy’s greatest pleasure is in coaching, educating and inspiring people to better understand and communicate with their dogs. Committed to professional development, Lucy continues to build her knowledge and expertise through conferences, webinars and on-going study. Achieving her pre-certification in 2022, she is now working towards gaining full CCAB accreditation through ASAB.

Lucy has delivered learning content at the International Society for Anthrozoology conference, with the same content now forming a part of post-graduate student curriculum material at the University of Lincoln. She is also presenting at the International Guide Dog Federation conference in 2023 on her work in applying behaviour science to build strong positive relationships between dogs and their owners. Lucy supports Donovan Veterinary Behaviour Practice with dog behaviour cases.

Lucy is a keen runner and loves exploring new trails with her pet dog Raven. She also enjoys doing trick training with her cat Loki.

Memberships

ABTC (Animal Behaviour and Training Council) registered Animal Training Instructor

Full Member of PACT (Professional Association of Canine Trainers)

Candidate Member of FAB Clinicians (Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians)


Giulia Danielis

Master of Laws (LLM)

Canine Training Instructor

Giulia has lived surrounded by dogs and many other animals her whole life. It was Ruby, a chihuahua cross and Giulia's first dog that she got as an adult, who inspired her to start learning more about dogs and working with them in a more professional setting. After finishing her Master's degree in Law 8 years ago, Giulia relocated from Italy to Bristol, where she started working in the sustainability industry as a marketing and sales coordinator. After undertaking several courses, she started volunteering for Dogs Trust Dog School Bristol, and after a few months of assisting classes she became an official member of staff.

Working with Dogs Trust, gained Giulia a lot of experience running both group and private sessions, working with a wide variety of dogs of all breeds and ages.

Giulia now runs her own business, focusing on puppies and adolescent dogs and on scent detection training for pet dogs. She's passionate about helping people understand, communicate, and build happy and trustworthy relationships with their dogs. Giulia supports Donovan Veterinary Behaviour Practice by providing live one-to-one online training sessions for our clients and their dogs to run concurrently within our behaviour modification programme or as individual sessions. Giulia also provides our puppy parenting course and training.

Giulia is a full member of the Professional Association of Canine Trainers (PACT), a Registered Animal Training Instructor with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC), a Full Trainer Member of INTODogs, a Certified Animal Trainer with ICAN, and a GOLD Scent Detection Instructor with UK Sniffer Dogs. She is currently studying and working towards becoming a registered clinical animal behaviourist. Giulia lives in Bristol with her dog Ruby.

Memberships

ABTC (Animal Behaviour and Training Council) registered Animal Training Instructor

Full Member of PACT (Professional Association of Canine Trainers)

Full Trainer Member of INTODogs

Certified Animal Trainer with ICAN (International Companion Animal Network)

GOLD scent detection instructor with UK Sniffer Dogs

CTDI (Certified Trick Dog Instructor) with Do More With Your Dog!


Mr Alex Calam

MEng

Practice Manager

Alex has worked in the Engineering Sector since graduating with a Masters in Chemical Engineering at University of Leeds. Originally wanting to be a vet, Alex now supports his wife, Hannah in the day to day operation of the Practice. He has participated in a number of volunteering programs across the Globe, and with this knowledge and experience, Alex is constantly striving to offer a welcoming and efficient service.


Sarah Finlayson

BA (Hons)

Administrator

Sarah grew up on a farm in Caithness, in the north of Scotland. She studied Publishing at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and has spent her career as a technical author in Peterborough, Auckland and Edinburgh. Now that she’s returned to Caithness, Sarah has rehomed a collie pup called King.

Sarah helps behind the scenes in the office, dealing with your enquiries, scheduling consultations and keeps DVBP operating smoothly.

Jade Andrews

Administrator

Jade grew up in the Lincolnshire countryside, since leaving school she has always worked with animals, these roles have included a Veterinary Receptionist at a large, mixed veterinary practice and a Secretary for a racehorse trainer.

Jade was lucky enough to share her life with her late dog, Missy, who was wonderful and taught her a lot! They were Besties! Jade currently housesits all over the UK, caring for a wide range of animals.

In Jade’s spare time, she loves mountain hiking and keeping fit!

Jade forms part of the admin team, dealing with your enquiries and scheduling consultations.


Our Methods

During the consultation, we identify the likely inferred underlying emotions causing the behaviour displayed by the animal. If the emotional-motivation behind a behavioural output is established and therefore changed, the behavioural output can subsequently be changed. For example, if a dog is barking at something due to fear, if the emotional-motivation underlying the behaviour (fear) can be changed, then the dog may stop feeling the need to bark, so the barking may stop. Sometimes, depending on complicating factors, work can also be done on the behavioural output (for example, the barking), but a significant amount of the time, the behavioural issue may change without the need for direct influence on that behaviour (barking), because we have managed to change the dog’s underlying emotions.

We use positive, reward-based training methods. We strive to remain up to date and maintain use of techniques focussed on science-based knowledge and research.

Donovan Veterinary Behaviour Practice © 2019-2023

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