At Pet Valu, Bosley’s, Total Pet, Tisol and Paulmac’s Pets stores across Canada, in addition to offering retail support, they’re also Animal Care Experts or ACEs.
This means they have completed a series of training programs designed to help customers make the best choices for their pets.
“We want to make sure that everybody in the store, consistently across the board, no matter where you are in the country, can effectively offer the best advice,” says training manager Zana Ellis, who’s part of the team that develops ACE training.
Whether it’s a simple issue like choosing a treat your pet will love or a more complicated one in which an ACE might recommend a visit to the vet, the training, says Ellis, “ensures that our frontline staff have the knowledge that they need to help customers.”
Ellis says that the programs Pet Valu ACEs complete are designed around the company’s “four paws” of safety, compassion, expertise, and efficiency.
“It's not just caring about the pet, we also care about the people too,” she explains. “I used to work in animal welfare and a lot of the time animals were being surrendered because people didn't understand or didn't know how to provide certain care.”
Creating the ACE training program, says Ellis, was a way for her team to reach pet parents sooner and find ways to support them and keep beloved pets in their homes.
Becoming an ACE at Pet Valu begins with the Enthusiast level training program. The modules include dog and cat basic care, dog and cat basic nutrition, and dog and cat common health concerns. ACEs also learn care basics for other popular pets, such as birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, rabbits and hamsters.
The next stage of training is Expert level which currently covers dogs, cats, and small animals, but will soon be expanded to include other types of small pets ranging from snakes to birds.
ACEs undergoing Expert level training do a deeper dive into topics like cat and dog feeding, cat and dog common health conditions, as well as cat and dog grooming.
Staffers complete these two stages of training during their first 180 days on the job, and after reaching the Expert level, they do a yearly refresher course to ensure that their knowledge remains current and top-of-mind.
When a pet parent visits a Pet Valu store with a question or a concern about their animal’s well being, ACEs are on hand to support them — sometimes with an in-store solution and other times with advice to see a veterinarian.
“Sometimes,” says Ellis, “all you need is an extra pair of eyes as confirmation to say, ‘Yeah, you know what, that is absolutely worth the vet visit.’ And sometimes clinics are closed and what we can do is help tide you over until you can get to a vet. It's just a matter of supporting the devoted pet lover with a little bit more confidence, of being able to say, ‘Yeah, this seems like a potentially serious issue,’ or ‘Have you tried to give your dog a bath?’”
You can turn to an ACE with questions like, “What does this dog food ingredient list mean?’ or ‘Why do you think my cat suddenly stopped using her litter box?” she says.
From providing advice on when, how, and why you should switch foods to support an ageing pet, to tank set up, lights, and filters for your fish, they have a wealth of knowledge to draw on. They can even connect you with Pet Valu’s in house nutritionist for dietary advice.
The aim of ACE training is to make sure that every kind of pet and pet parent can access the information they need to provide the best care for their BFF — from our scaly pets to our fuzzy ones.
What is an “Animal Care Expert” and how do they help pet parents?
If you’ve got pet questions, our in-store staff are specially trained (in courses developed by pet experts, nutritionists and vets) to help you navigate pet parenthood.
Animal Care Experts can help with your pet food questions
It can be hard to figure out what to feed your dog, cat or small animal. ACEs have animal nutrition training so they can help you better understand your pet food options.
Types of questions you can ask an Animal Care Expert
From grooming tips to breed-specific health conditions, these are topics ACEs can help pet parents with
