Dog Behaviourist Support with Ruth Collett

We are really excited to have Ruth Collett VN DipCABT on board who is helping us whilst we are temporarily closed. Ruth will be on hand to help any St Francis dog who may need some behavioural support. 

A little bit about Ruth

I’m a Qualified Pet Behaviourist, Veterinary Nurse and a member of www.capbt.org and http://companionanimal.network/ 

I am delighted to be working with St Francis Dogs Home whilst they are redeveloping the Centre with behavioural advice and support for St Francis dogs. 

A bit about me!  I work with dogs, cats, rabbits and other small pets to help resolve behaviour issues. I also teach puppy classes, run Pet First Aid courses and a variety of other workshops/group sessions to help pet owners.

I am based in Falmouth and at the moment I’m working with my clients online but I usually meet clients outdoors or in their homes.

After leaving school many years ago I studied science and zoology at University College Galway and after a year I decided to change course and moved to Dublin to study veterinary nursing at University College Dublin and did my training at Carey and Keane vets, qualifying as the youngest vet nurse in Ireland age 19!

I soon became head nurse and began training student nurses.  By 2000 I had itchy feet and decided to move to the UK and as I had only heard lovely things about Cornwall, I found myself the perfect job at Rosemullion Vets in Falmouth.

I settled very quickly into a bigger team than I was used to and was made to feel very welcome here in Falmouth. Within a year I became Head Vet Nurse and I became more and more interested in teaching students, puppy classes, studying nutrition and behaviour. 

I really enjoyed this role as head nurse but once my children came along I switched to working part time. I enjoyed  every aspect of vet nursing, triage, critical care, surgery, radiography, laboratory work, nurse clinics and patient care.  However as I studied and learned more about animal behaviour and nutrition, more frequently colleagues were referring behaviour questions to me or asking me to work with the “more difficult” pets, I went back to college and studied again to become a qualified Pet Behaviourist.

I have loved working in vet practice, but it was just time for a change for me after 22 years to start my own business to work around my busy family life. Running my own business means I can be much more flexible for pet owners.

I’m mum to 3 beautiful children, I have 3 dogs, chickens, gerbils, rabbits a tortoise (all rescues) and some fish too!