Chihuahua touching noses with vet nurse

Pet loss courses for pet professionals

Due to the cost of living, we have frozen the prices of our training courses in 2024.

We help veterinary professionals and pet service providers with the skills to support grieving pet owners.

We’ve developed our accredited and award-winning Continual Professional Development (CPD) training courses, workshop days and webinars to help you and your team learn techniques to confidently support those that have lost a pet.

Training available

Accredited CPD standards office logo

Our training can improve client experience and retention while supporting your team’s emotional wellbeing and avoiding compassion fatigue. For veterinary professionals, it’s an RCVS Practice Standards Scheme optional award requirement, which contributes to the Client Service Award.

Unlike other providers, money raised from our courses goes directly back into our charity. This means you can help us care for more sick, injured and homeless pets while developing your pet loss support skills.

Pet loss training day for veterinary professionals, South or North – 2024

This in-person training day will provide you with a compassionate approach to supporting your clients through pet loss and end of life. The session will provide you with:

  • a greater understanding of your clients’ emotional journey
  • the tools you need to support your clients during a highly emotive and challenging time
  • ideas on how you can effectively help your clients cope with the death or foreseen loss of their pet
  • a networking opportunity within your profession and a chance share common experiences

Cost: £99

South

When: 7 May 2024, 9.30am – 4.00pm

Where: Blue Cross, Shilton Road, Burford, Oxon, OX18 4PF

Sign up for the session

South West

When: 30 May 2024, 9.30am – 4.00pm

Where: Pynes Hill Business Centre, Pynes Hill, Exeter, EX2 5JL

Sign up for the session

London

When: 9 October 2024, 9.30am – 4.00pm

Where: Blue Cross Hospital, Sheppard House, London, SW1V 1QQ

Sign up for the session

North

When: 21 February 2024, 09.30am – 4.00pm

Where: Blue Cross rehoming, advice and behaviour unit, Manchester, 48 Blackburn Street, Radcliffe, M26 1NQ

Sign up for the session

Virtual live, equine bereavement support training workshop

This engaging and essential CPD training workshop will provide you with an updated view on horse loss and grief in these current times. We will equip you and your teams with the support tools needed to feel confident in providing the best possible service. The course will cover a wealth of topics such as, quality of life, euthanasia and self-care.

Course length: Five hours

Cost: £99

When: 

  • 23 May 2024
  • 18 September 2024

Sign up for the workshop

Human animal link course: supporting people and animals within the community

Enhance the support and compassion you give to pet owners by gaining an accredited certificate in our new for 2023 human animal link: supporting people and animals within the community. You can choose to study all four modules together or select those which you feel are most useful and relevant to you. Modules include:

  1. pet loss
  2. supporting individuals in the workplace with issues impacting their welfare
  3. building positive relationships, conflict resolution and safeguarding
  4. compassion fatigue, burn-out, trauma and resilience

The full course requires approximately 18 hours of study and counts towards continual professional development (CPD).

Course length: Eight weeks

Cost: £60 - £280

When:

  • 29 January 2024
  • 3 June 2024
  • 7 October 2024

Sign up for the course

Accredited pet loss support CPD course

Our award-winning e-learning course is perfect for anyone wishing to enhance the care they can offer to bereaved pet owners. It's helpful for any professionals working with owners whose pets are facing rehoming, euthanasia or have died. It covers the following:

  • pet loss experience
  • self care
  • emotional support skills
  • stages of grief
  • pet euthanasia
  • remembrance and rituals
  • grief in surviving pets
  • the loss of assistance animals

This course requires a minimum of three hours study per week and counts towards 30 hours Continual Professional Development.

Please be aware that this is not a counselling qualification.

Course length: 10 weeks

Cost: £280

When:

  • 8 January 2024
  • 8 April 2024
  • 1 July 2024
  • 23 Sept 2024

Sign up for the 10 week course 2024

The course was brilliant and I was able to fit it in between working and looking after children.

Anne, Practice Manager

Refresher pet loss support CPD course

This refresher course provides you with four CPD hours and is designed for those who have already completed our accredited pet loss support course above.

It has been developed in line with the RCVS changes to CPD requirements that require CPD hours (35 for vets and 15 for vet nurses) to be annual, rather than spread across three years. This change is to ensure quality training remains ‘regular’ and ‘relevant’ at all times as per the RCVS standards charter.

This course can be booked at any time throughout the year to suit you. You will be asked to provide your NCFE certificate details prior to starting.

Course length: Four hours

Cost: £50

Sign up to the refresher

Introduction to pet loss support skills

This short course is an excellent introduction for front of house employees who have contact with bereaved owners but do not require an in depth knowledge.

The two hour course covers the following key areas:

  • empathy vs sympathy
  • communicating with active listening skills
  • open questions
  • face-to-face emotional support, telephone support, email support and other written communication
  • how to support yourself, importance of self care and useful contacts

This course can be booked at any time throughout the year.

Course length: Two hours

Cost: £35

Sign up for the two hour course

Bespoke training

Alternatively, we offer bespoke pet loss support training specifically tailored to your business or organisation. This can be delivered at your place of work or through webinars.

For more information about these custom services, or to discuss your requirements, please call us on 01993 867216 or drop us an email at [email protected].

Live workshops

You are invited to join us for our virtual or face to face pet loss support training workshop.

This engaging five hour CPD training workshop, running on a number of dates, will equip you and your team with the tools to provide the best possible pet loss support. Covering a wealth of topics including:

  • quality of life
  • euthanasia
  • self care

The day will also provide an excellent networking and knowledge sharing opportunity through a Q&A session and case study discussion.

Course length: Five hours

Cost: £99

Workshop dates

  • 25 April 2024
  • 25 July 2024
  • 24 October 2024

Sign up for the live workshop 2024

— Page last updated 04/03/2024