Shelter Learniverse Return to the Shelter Learniverse

Shelter Learniverse and Industry-Wide Calendar

Blog

  • Online Course – Starts 1/5/26 – The Thinking Animal: Cognition and its Role in Behavior – IAABC (fee applies)

    Online Course – Starts 1/5/26 – The Thinking Animal: Cognition and its Role in Behavior – IAABC (fee applies)

    ** IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT ONLINE WEEKLY MEETINGS **

    Meetings are not recorded
    Meetings take place on Mondays at 2:00 pm Eastern (first meeting January 12th)
    Meetings are 1 hour in duration
    There are 4 meetings for this course

    What’s going on in an animal’s head (even when they’ve decided it’s a great idea to stick their head in a wasp’s nest) is a complex, fascinating, and vital part of understanding their behavior!

    This 4-week course will introduce some key questions in animal cognition, including:

    • How do animals understand time?
    • Do animals have good short- and long-term memories?
    • Can animals comprehend numbers, logic and other abstract concepts?
    • How can we use animal cognition to make more effective and enjoyable behavior interventions for animals and humans?

    Your instructor, Dr. Kristina Spaulding, CAAB, will guide you and your fellow students through exercises and discussions designed to engage and excite you about this ever-growing field of research!

    WEBSITE LINK: https://iaabcfoundation.org/courses/the-thinking-dog-cognition-and-its-role-in-behavior/

  • Online Event – 12/19/25 – December Feline Chat and Chuckle with Marci Koski – Paths To Becoming a Feline Behavior Consultant – PPG

    Online Event – 12/19/25 – December Feline Chat and Chuckle with Marci Koski – Paths To Becoming a Feline Behavior Consultant – PPG

    Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat with Marci Koski about paths to becoming a feline behavior consultant.
    PPG members, you can log in via Zoom if you prefer. The link is in your event confirmation email.
    This event will be live-streamed on Facebook from the main PPG Facebook page.

    WEBSITE LINK: https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/webinars-events/webinars/december-feline-chat-and-chuckle-with-marci-koski/

  • Online Meeting – Mondays – Weekly Community Conversations #ThanksToMaddie – Maddie’s Fund

    Online Meeting – Mondays – Weekly Community Conversations #ThanksToMaddie – Maddie’s Fund

    Maddie’s Fund hosts a weekly 50-minute Zoom call for animal well-being professionals. These calls are a collaborative space to share exciting new programs and research, discuss uncomfortable topics, connect with peers in the industry, and more, all while sharing a common goal of preserving the human-animal bond.

    Who Should Join?
    Executive directors, animal well-being leaders, shelter workers, pet support professionals, volunteers, rescue organizations and anyone who shares the common goal of preserving the human-animal bond.

    Win Ca$h for Attending!
    Each month, Maddie’s Fund will be giving away up to $5,000 in grants. You can enter to win each time you attend a call or watch on-demand during the month by completing the giveaway drawing entry forms shared in the chat during the calls.

    Register Today
    Join us each Monday at 11am PT/2pm ET to receive support and learn about innovative ideas other organizations across the country are seeing success with. If you registered prior to July 2025 or are new to these meetings, please use this link to register:
    https://maddies.fund/CommunityConversationsRegistration2025

    All calls are recorded and uploaded to the Community Conversations page on Maddie’s Pet Forum https://forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations

    Please note: All views expressed on these calls are not necessarily endorsed by Maddie’s Fund.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://maddies.fund/CommunityConversationsRegistration2025

  • Webinar – 12/11/25 – Disasters and Large Animal Evacuation: Best Practices and Preparedness – NACA/Justice Clearinghouse

    Webinar – 12/11/25 – Disasters and Large Animal Evacuation: Best Practices and Preparedness – NACA/Justice Clearinghouse

    Natural disasters can strike any moment, and it’s crucial to ensure the safety of human lives and our beloved animals during these events. Evacuating large animals is a complex and often under-discussed aspect of disaster preparedness. This webinar will examine the essential steps and strategies for safely evacuating large animals and establishing an evacuation site during emergencies.

    This webinar has been certified by the National Animal Care & Control Association and is approved for 1 Continuing Education Unit.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.justiceclearinghouse.com/webinar/webinar-on-disasters-and-large-animal-evacuation-best-practices-and-preparedness/

  • Webinar – 1/8/26 – Maddie’s Insights – Consentful Contact: Pilot Study on Human–Dog Touch – Maddie’s Fund

    Webinar – 1/8/26 – Maddie’s Insights – Consentful Contact: Pilot Study on Human–Dog Touch – Maddie’s Fund

    Understanding and respecting an animal’s signals during interactions can significantly enhance their welfare and improve the human-animal interactions. In this presentation, Dr. Amir Sarrafchi will discuss his research on how dogs respond behaviourally when allowed to choose or refuse human contact. Drawing from his work on animal agency and consent, Dr. Sarrafchi will explore how these concepts can be practically applied in everyday animal care, shelter environments, and adoption programs.

    The session will translate research findings into simple, effective strategies that caretakers, trainers, and shelter staff can use to promote consent-based handling and improve welfare outcomes.

    Learning Objectives

    • Recognize behavioural indicators that reflect a dog’s comfort or discomfort during human interaction
    • Understand the importance of agency and consent in enhancing animal welfare and fostering a more humane relationship between humans and animals
    • Apply practical strategies for incorporating choice and consent into daily care, training, and shelter routines

    Earn continuing education credit from The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement towards 1.0 CAWA CEs. This webinar has also been pre-approved for 1.0 continuing education credits by the National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA). It has also been approved for 1 hour of continuing education credit until 10/14/2027 in jurisdictions which recognize RACE approval.

    About the speaker
    Dr. Amir Sarrafchi is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. His PhD research focused on animal behavior and the impact of providing animals with agency and consent on their welfare during human-animal interactions. He holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree and a Master’s in Applied Ethology and Animal Biology.

    During his PhD, Dr. Sarrafchi investigated how allowing animals, particularly horses and dogs, to exercise choice during interactions with humans influences their behavioral and physiological responses. His recent work explores how promoting agency can improve welfare outcomes in both companion and working animals. Dr. Sarrafchi is passionate about bridging the gap between science and practice to enhance the daily care, handling, and understanding of animals.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://maddies.fund/MIwebcastsRegister

  • Online Event – 1/21/26 – Shelter Med LIVE: Behavior Belongs in Shelter Medicine: The Shelter Vet’s Role in Behavioral and Emotional Health – UC Davis KSMP

    Online Event – 1/21/26 – Shelter Med LIVE: Behavior Belongs in Shelter Medicine: The Shelter Vet’s Role in Behavioral and Emotional Health – UC Davis KSMP

    Behavior might have felt like a blip on the vet school radar, but in the shelter it’s a critical skill to develop and essential to helping animals cope. Care for an animal’s mental and emotional state is a part of a shelter veterinarian’s daily workload and one of the most important aspects to supporting whole animal health. As a shelter vet, only you can determine when a medical issue is behind behavior changes, legally diagnose conditions, and prescribe treatments, and you’re uniquely positioned provide guidance on balancing human and animal health and safety to staff, volunteers, adopters, community members, and colleagues caring for animals who need behavior support.

    Join Drs. Cindi Delany, Emilia Gordon, and Sarah Mantovani on this episode of Shelter Med Live to explore the shelter veterinarian’s impact and often overlooked role in shaping and managing dog and cat behavioral and emotional health.

    After this conversation, you’ll be ready to:

    • Clearly articulate the goals of behavior management and how those differ before and after the shelter stay
    • Identify the most common behavioral diagnoses in sheltered animals and best practices for medical management
    • Understand the shelter veterinarians’ role in pathway planning and behavioral decision making and how they can impact capacity for care

    Approved for 1 hour of continuing education credit by CAWA and NACA.

    Host: Jennifer Bennett (host), DVM, MS (Behavioral Neuroscience), CAWA

    Guests: Cynthia Delany, DVM, KPA-CTP; Emilia Gordon, DVM, DABVP (Shelter Medicine Practice); Sarah Mantovani, DVM, MS (Shelter Medicine)

    About Shelter Med LIVE
    Shelter medicine bridges gaps in veterinary care access, ensuring animals are sterilized, vaccinated, and have the medical treatment they need before going home to the people and communities who care for them. Shelter Med LIVE is the place where vet professionals connect around what it takes to make shelter medicine happen every day—from intake triage to MacGyvering creative fixes. Every third Wednesday, join your UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program host Dr. Jenn Bennett and special guests for real talk and real solutions.

    Ask questions (or send them in ahead of time). This isn’t a lecture—it’s a conversation for everyone who wants to nerd out on shelter medicine. Kick back and recharge with your colleagues in the middle of a long week.

    This event has been approved for 1 hour of continuing education credit by CAWA and NACA, and 1 hour of non-medical continuing education credit by RACE.

    Can’t make it live? Register to receive the recording and resources after the event, accessible through the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program Shelter Learniverse, #ThanksToMaddie!

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.shelterlearniverse.com/events

  • Online Event – 3/26/26 – Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection – Beyond our Safety Net: Navigating Returns, Risk and Humane Outcomes in Dog Adoptions – Maddie’s Fund

    Online Event – 3/26/26 – Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection – Beyond our Safety Net: Navigating Returns, Risk and Humane Outcomes in Dog Adoptions – Maddie’s Fund

    This session will explore the complex realities of accepting adoption returns for dogs exhibiting challenging or dangerous behavior. While our goal is always to keep adopted animals in homes, there are times when a return is requested and the shelter environment may not be in the dog’s best interest—or safe for staff and volunteers. We’ll walk through how to guide adopters through private rehoming when appropriate, the questions we ask before accepting a behaviorally complex return, and how we incorporate professional assessments into our decision-making.

    The session will also cover how we provide compassionate support and clear guidance when behavioral euthanasia is the most humane option. Finally, we’ll examine how to communicate transparently with staff, fosters, and volunteers while centering safety, quality of life, and organizational sustainability.

    Key Takeaways:

    • Learn how to assess behavioral risk while balancing animal welfare, public safety, and
      staff/volunteer well-being.
    • Understand how to navigate difficult conversations about return, risk, and humane
      euthanasia with clarity and empathy.
    • Gain tools for fostering internal alignment and supporting emotionally invested team
      members through hard decisions.

    Guest Speaker: Stacy Price, COO at One Tail at a Time

    About Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection:
    Join us on the fourth Thursday of every month as we talk about dog and cat behavior – supporting pets in our community and animal shelters. Each month, we hear from speakers about topics of interest to our group, such as behavior medications, modifying animal behavior, assessing and improving animal welfare, and how organizations successfully provide behavior support to dogs and cats.

    Who should join: Animal welfare staff and volunteers who are interested in dog and cat behavior, and everyone who works to keep pets out of shelters and in homes.

    You only need to register once for all meetings: https://maddies.fund/MonthlyBehaviorRegistration

    Can’t attend live? Register anyway and you will get a link to the recording within a day or two after each meeting.

    All recordings and resources shared during the webcast will also be available in the Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection group on Maddie’s Pet Forum – https://maddies.fund/monthlybehaviorconnectionMPF

    Maddie’s Fund does not share registration information.

    The opinions expressed by webinar presenters are their own and do not necessarily represent those of Maddie’s Fund.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://maddies.fund/MonthlyBehaviorRegistration

  • Online Event – 2/26/26 – Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection: Breaking Up a Dog Fight – Maddie’s Fund

    Online Event – 2/26/26 – Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection: Breaking Up a Dog Fight – Maddie’s Fund

    One  of the most important ways we can meet shelter dogs’ needs and reduce behavior problems is to allow our dogs contact and playtime with their own species. Many staff and volunteers are concerned about giving dogs this vital exercise, enrichment, and important natural behavior outlet because of a fear of dog fights. While dog fights can sound scary, most are just “spit and noise” and cause little to no damage, many of us have seen fights that caused more damage, or fights where a person was also injured. Most of the ways we naturally approach breaking up a dog fight can actually make things worse, so teaching people how to break dog fights up efficiently and safely is an important part of onboarding any employees who may supervise dog interactions.

    Laurie Lawless (of Shelter Behavior Integrations) and Trish McMillan (of Shelter Behavior Hub) are shelter behavior experts with decades of experience monitoring and facilitating dog play in many different contexts, but especially with shelter dogs. This webinar will review the tools and techniques they believe shelters should have on hand and employees should be taught to use, so that dogs can be cared for more safely, and so that they can have their needs met and behavior improved through social contact with their own kind.

    Guest Speaker: Trish McMillan (Shelter Behavior Hub) & Laurie Lawless (Shelter Behavior Integrations)

    About Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection:
    Join us on the fourth Thursday of every month as we talk about dog and cat behavior – supporting pets in our community and animal shelters. Each month, we hear from speakers about topics of interest to our group, such as behavior medications, modifying animal behavior, assessing and improving animal welfare, and how organizations successfully provide behavior support to dogs and cats.

    Who should join: Animal welfare staff and volunteers who are interested in dog and cat behavior, and everyone who works to keep pets out of shelters and in homes.

    You only need to register once for all meetings: https://maddies.fund/MonthlyBehaviorRegistration

    Can’t attend live? Register anyway and you will get a link to the recording within a day or two after each meeting.

    All recordings and resources shared during the webcast will also be available in the Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection group on Maddie’s Pet Forum – https://maddies.fund/monthlybehaviorconnectionMPF

    Maddie’s Fund does not share registration information.

    The opinions expressed by webinar presenters are their own and do not necessarily represent those of Maddie’s Fund.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://maddies.fund/MonthlyBehaviorRegistration

  • Online Event – 1/22/26 – Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection – Pain and Behavior: A case-based talk – Maddie’s Fund

    Online Event – 1/22/26 – Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection – Pain and Behavior: A case-based talk – Maddie’s Fund

    Pain and discomfort are often under-diagnosed in dogs with behavioral issues. This presentation will highlight why this happens, and reviews cases where pain was the cause of the behavior issues or made behavioral issues worse. This is happening in young dogs and dogs who may not show any typical signs of pain/discomfort, but rather express it as aggression and/or anxiety.

    Speaker: Emily Levine, DVM, DACVB, Animal Behavior Clinic of New Jersey

    About Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection:
    Join us on the fourth Thursday of every month as we talk about dog and cat behavior – supporting pets in our community and animal shelters. Each month, we hear from speakers about topics of interest to our group, such as behavior medications, modifying animal behavior, assessing and improving animal welfare, and how organizations successfully provide behavior support to dogs and cats.

    Who should join: Animal welfare staff and volunteers who are interested in dog and cat behavior, and everyone who works to keep pets out of shelters and in homes.

    You only need to register once for all meetings: https://maddies.fund/MonthlyBehaviorRegistration

    Can’t attend live? Register anyway and you will get a link to the recording within a day or two after each meeting.

    All recordings and resources shared during the webcast will also be available in the Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection group on Maddie’s Pet Forum – https://maddies.fund/monthlybehaviorconnectionMPF

    Maddie’s Fund does not share registration information.

    The opinions expressed by webinar presenters are their own and do not necessarily represent those of Maddie’s Fund.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://maddies.fund/MonthlyBehaviorRegistration

  • Online Course – Starts 1/5/26 – Shelter Care Specialist Certification Program Winter 2026 Session – UC Davis KSMP Shelter Learniverse

    Online Course – Starts 1/5/26 – Shelter Care Specialist Certification Program Winter 2026 Session – UC Davis KSMP Shelter Learniverse

    Are you ready to take your career in animal sheltering to the next level? Offered by the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program Shelter Learniverse as part of Maddie’s® Million Pet Challenge, the Shelter Care Specialist Certification Program empowers frontline animal shelter workers to provide exceptional care, grounded in best practices, with a focus on improving outcomes for animals and communities.

    Through engaging online courses, you’ll gain expertise in:

    • Best practices to reduce animal stress.
    • Foundational animal care and medical care to enhance your skills.
    • Behavior, training, and enrichment for healthier, happier animals.
    • Population management to optimize shelter resources.
    • Daily care best practices that streamline your workflow and maximize impact.

    Whether you’re new to shelter work or a seasoned professional, this program equips you with the tools, knowledge, and recognition to make a greater difference.

    Why Become Certified?

    • Advance your career with professional credentials.
    • Learn practical, actionable skills to improve daily operations.
    • Gain confidence in providing high-quality care for every animal.

    Start learning today and become part of the growing movement to transform animal sheltering. 

    APPLICATION DEADLINE: 12/5/25.

    Certification is currently free, #ThanksToMaddie!

    This program is most relevant for individuals working in public shelters or private shelters with municipal contracts. Enrollment is limited; applicants from these shelter types will be prioritized for this session.

    Learn more about upcoming sessions and apply at https://tinyurl.com/SCS-General