petvet profile
Doctor Steven Edwards:
A person crouching on grass with a lemur on their shoulder, wearing a gray hat and reflective sunglasses.
A person in blue scrubs kneeling on a tiled floor interacting with a brindle dog.

Forming a Deeper Level of Care Through a

Focus on
Behavior

By Rebecca Shipman
Photos provided by Dr. Steven Edwards

“F

rom middle school through college, I worked at a summer camp’s Nature Center, teaching lessons to children about various exotic pets,” shares Dr. Steven Edwards, owner of Veterinary Relief and Behavior, LLC. “This sparked my interest not only in working with animals professionally, but in the teaching aspect of working with people. I think this is one of the reasons why I love veterinary behavior so much. I get to teach clients about their pets’ behavior.”

Dr. Edwards initially became interested in focusing on behavior when he found out about the animal behavior club at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, where he attended veterinary school.

“I loved the idea of how much we could learn from dogs and cats simply by observing their behavior,” he says. “This prompted me to explore a behavior externship during my clinical year with Dr. Siracusa at the University of Pennsylvania’s Behavior Clinic.”

Person in scrubs interacting with a dog on a scale in a veterinary clinic.
After graduating in 2013, Dr. Edwards tried to incorporate veterinary behavior into his general practice work as much as he could; however, he found it difficult to provide the behavioral support for his patients that he wanted to in the limitations of a general practice appointment. So, in 2017 he took the NAVC Institute Applied Clinical Behavioral Medicine course, and then started a veterinary behavior service at the hospital he was working at in New York.
I still do some general practice, but at this point, it’s DEVELOPED INTO A FULL-TIME VETERINARY BEHAVIOR CONSULTING BUSINESS, with almost 4,000 hours of CASE EXPERIENCE.
– Dr. Steven Edwards
One year later, Dr. Edwards made the decision to move to Florida, where he started Veterinary Relief and Behavior, LLC., which provides in-home veterinary behavior services to the Tampa, Florida region.

“At first I was mostly doing general practice relief, with veterinary behavior consultations as a side job,” Dr. Edwards shares. “I still do some general practice, but at this point, it’s developed into a full-time veterinary behavior consulting business, with almost 4,000 hours of case experience.”

A typical day for Dr. Edwards starts with a new-patient consult, where he reviews the patient’s medical records from their primary care veterinarian, reads through the behavior questionnaire that the client filled out, and then drives to the client’s home. On average, the behavior consult is two-and-a-half to three hours in length.

While his initial consultations are typically done in the client’s home, sometimes Dr. Edwards does his recheck appointments virtually, or for annual follow-ups, he’ll have them meet him at a local hospital.

Dr. Edwards says that the behavior consults are multifaceted: “First, they’re an interactive learning experience for the client—showing them videos and pictures of behavior, and then helping them observe and correctly interpret body language in their dog or cat, in real-time, in their home,” he explains. “I love teaching my clients to understand their pets’ communications.

“Second, I really enjoy the detective work of arriving at a behavioral diagnosis, and helping the client understand the emotion that drives their pet’s behavior,” Dr. Edwards continues. “It’s also extremely rewarding to change the lives of my patients and clients. Seeing a fearful dog who is afraid of the world start to want to explore outside, or seeing a timid cat start to develop the confidence to begin engaging with people, is really special.”

Small dog sitting on a person who is lying on a tiled floor, with a wooden cabinet in the background.
I really enjoy the detective work of arriving at a BEHAVIORAL DIAGNOSIS, and helping the client UNDERSTAND THE EMOTION that drives their pet’s behavior.
– Dr. Steven Edwards
In addition to his regular day-to-day of conducting behavior consultations, Dr. Edwards also served as President of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) from 2022-2024, served as President-Elect from 2020-2022, will serve as Past President from 2024-2026 and is a Fear Free Certified Professional.

During his time on the executive board, Dr. Edwards played an important role in the planning of the Clinical Animal Behavior Conference, which resumed in 2022 after it was paused during the pandemic. As president, he also oversaw numerous changes and milestones in the organization, such as allowing credentialed veterinary technicians to join and organizing a virtual attendance option for the conference, which was new for 2024.

A person in blue scrubs uses a stethoscope on a fluffy white dog, which is eating from a blue paw-shaped mat on the floor.
With around 250 hours in continuing education related to veterinary behavior, Dr. Edwards also enjoys educating other veterinary professionals in this specialized sector. He has hosted presentations at around 25 hospitals in the Tampa area, teaching veterinarians, technicians and other support staff how to implement better behavior practices in their hospitals.

Dr. Edwards’ hope for the future is to see a greater appreciation of the emotional health of our four-legged patients, which oftentimes takes a backseat to their physical health.

“While it’s starting to change, the ‘just get it done’ mentality is still prevalent,” he explains. “I hope that in the coming years, hospitals—and clients—will realize that veterinary visits don’t have to be scary.

“I am encouraged by the interest in behavior that I see in the younger generation of veterinarians. I hope that discussions on pets’ behavior will become a normalized part of the veterinary appointment,” Dr. Edwards concludes.

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