American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (ACVB): How to Become Board-Certified

A board certified veterinary behaviorist is a licensed veterinarian whom ACVB has certified as a Diplomate.

The wording is interchangeable by the college's own rule: once certified, a Diplomate may use Board-certified Veterinary Behaviorist, Veterinary Behavior Specialist, or Veterinary Behaviorist to describe their credentials.

A looser phrase, behavioral veterinarian, is not a term ACVB names; the board-certified credential in this field is the ACVB Diplomate.

AVMA's specialty list attaches no separately named specialties to the college; behavior is the field itself.

What AVMA does publish is the field's size: 99 active ACVB diplomates as of December 31, 2025.

That count frames the requirements: entry runs through supervision stages, a publication and a two-day examination, and the board-certified tier of the field is compact.

Becoming a veterinary behavior specialist starts with ACVB's stated general requirements: graduate from an accredited veterinary school, attain veterinary licensure, and complete the equivalency of a rotating internship — ACVB's wording, and the certification page does not spell out how that equivalency is satisfied.

The residency then runs one of two ways: a Behavior Residency Program, or an Individual Behavior Residency Training Program mentored and approved by ACVB.

The individual route puts a concrete search on the candidate: finding an ACVB Diplomate willing to serve as their mentor.

ACVB's certification page lists the currently approved programs and points individual candidates to the Diplomate Directory to network with potential mentors.

It states no residency length; it directs candidates instead to download and thoroughly review its Applicant Packet and accompanying policy and procedures documents — the Residency Policy is among them — so near-term planning anchors on the caseload and publication requirements the page states directly.

The caseload is specified in supervision stages: the first 25 clinical cases are seen with the mentor present, 25 of the next 50 cases are seen under the mentor's direct supervision, and close supervision is required for all 400 cases.

Alongside it sits a publication — candidates author a scientific paper published in a peer reviewed journal based on their own research.

With that training work in place, the candidate makes application for the examination; a successful application allows the candidate to sit a comprehensive two-day certifying examination.

When that examination has been successfully completed, the individual may become an ACVB Diplomate.

Recertification of Diplomates is required at ten-year intervals, commencing January 1 of the first calendar year after initial board certification, with the certificate expiring December 31 ten years later.

Certification is therefore time-limited rather than one-and-done: the expiry is fixed by the initial board certification date, and the document speaks of subsequent ten-year cycles rather than a one-time requirement.

ACVB's recertification document obligates the diplomates its time-limited rule covers to the process, while diplomates certified before the rule took effect are encouraged, but not obligated, to participate — so a veterinarian drawn to the behavior title should read the ten-year clock as part of holding the credential.