Your Veterinarian Sent You To LOMA. Here’s Why.

Why are you here?

What the referral tells you about your pet's needs—and what you can expect from a team your veterinarian trusts.

You left your veterinarian's office with our name on a piece of paper. Maybe they said it casually, the way veterinarians sometimes do when they have a trusted resource to offer. Or maybe they said it with real urgency—because your dog's reactivity has escalated, your cat's anxiety is affecting their health, or the stress in your household has reached a point where something has to change.

Either way, here you are. And if you have questions about why your vet referred you to LOMA Behavior and Training specifically—and what happens next—this post is for you.

Why your veterinarian chose LOMA

Veterinarians in San Antonio and the surrounding region refer to LOMA because we are one of the few behavior and training services in this area that meets the standards they would stake their professional reputation on. That is not a marketing claim—it is the reality of a region where qualified, credentialed, force-free behavior specialists are genuinely scarce.

When your vet hands someone our name, they are telling you a few things at once. They are telling you that your pet's behavior challenges are real and deserve clinical-level attention, not a quick-fix obedience class. They are telling you that they have evaluated LOMA's credentials, our methodology, and our results, and they trust us to work alongside them in your pet's care. And they are telling you that they know the alternatives in this market—and they chose us anyway.

That referral is meaningful. We do not take it lightly.

What “credentialed and Force-Free” actually means for your pet

The dog and cat training industry in Texas is completely unregulated. Anyone can call themselves a trainer or a behavior specialist. Many do. And a significant number of those professionals—including some who have large followings, polished websites, and confident presentations—rely on tools and techniques that science has shown to be harmful: shock collars, prong collars, choke chains, and methods rooted in dominance or submission theory.

LOMA's team holds professional credentials in animal behavior—not weekend certifications, but rigorous, peer-reviewed credentials that require demonstrated knowledge of animal learning science, behavior modification, and ethical practice. We are bound by codes of conduct that prohibit the use of aversive tools and techniques. Full stop. For your dog and for your cat.

This matters because aversive methods do not just fail to solve underlying behavioral issues—they frequently make them worse. A dog who is shocked or choked for growling may stop growling. But they have not become safer or more comfortable. They have simply learned to suppress the warning signal while the fear and stress that caused the behavior remains, often deepening. Your veterinarian knows this. It is part of why they sent you to us. See our staff’s credentials here.

We Work with Cats, Too—and That Is Rarer Than You Might Think

Most training and behavior services in the San Antonio area focus exclusively on dogs. LOMA works with cats as well, and if your veterinarian referred you for feline behavior concerns, that is almost certainly part of why they chose us. Cat behavior—fear-based hiding, intercat aggression, inappropriate elimination, compulsive behaviors, and veterinary visit anxiety—is a specialized area that most trainers are simply not equipped to address.

Our approach to cat behavior is rooted in the same principles as our work with dogs: understanding what your cat is feeling, identifying what is driving the behavior, and creating a science-based plan to shift that emotional state in a lasting way. Cats are not small, aloof dogs. They have distinct communication systems, distinct stress responses, and distinct needs. We treat them that way. Check out our cat behavior service here.

What Your First Appointment Will Look Like

Your first session with LOMA will feel less like a training class and more like a thorough, collaborative conversation. We want to understand your pet's full history: what you have observed, what you have tried, what has made things better or worse, and how the behavior is affecting your daily life and your relationship with your pet.

Expect to be asked questions that feel personal. How does your pet's behavior make you feel? Has it changed how you live in your own home? Has it affected your family or your other pets? These questions are not incidental—your experience is part of the clinical picture, and a behavior plan that does not account for your real life will not succeed in your real life.

By the end of your initial consultation, you will have a written behavior modification plan tailored specifically to your pet and your household. Not a handout. Not a generic protocol. A plan built around the science of emotional learning and practical enough to actually implement.

Your Vet Stays on the Team

A referral to LOMA is not a handoff. It is the beginning of a collaborative care relationship. We work directly with your veterinarian throughout your pet's behavior modification process, sharing observations, coordinating on any medical or pharmacological components of the plan, and ensuring that everyone involved in your pet's care is working from the same foundation.

In many cases—particularly with fear, anxiety, and aggression—behavior modification is significantly more effective when paired with veterinary support, which may include anti-anxiety medication to reduce your pet's baseline stress enough for learning to actually take hold. A behavior specialist who dismisses that conversation is not serving your pet well. We welcome it, because your pet's wellbeing is the whole point.

You Were Referred for a Reason. Let's Make It Count.

Your veterinarian did not give you our name because we were the closest option or the most affordable one. In a market where force-free, credentialed behavior support for both dogs and cats is genuinely hard to find, they gave you our name because we are the right fit for a client who takes their pet's emotional life seriously.

If you are reading this, you are already that kind of client. You asked questions. You did the research. You showed up. That tells us everything we need to know about the kind of guardian you are—and the kind of relationship you want with your pet.

We are glad your veterinarian sent you our way. We are ready when you are.

Start with a Discovery Call

Not sure where to begin? Schedule a free Discovery Call with a LOMA specialist. We will listen to what is happening with your here pet, answer your questions, and help you understand what a behavior plan could look like for your situation—no pressure, no commitment. Schedule your call here.

About the author: Dr. Lorraine Martinez is the founder of LOMA Behavior and Training LLC and has been helping dogs and their people since 2002.  She earned a PhD in psychology from the University of Washington and went on to graduate with distinction from the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training.  She is a Behavior Consultant affiliated with the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior and is a Fear Free Certified Professional.