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Do you work with dogs who have big behavior issues and are stressed to the max?
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Do you want to learn more about how giving dogs choices can help decrease their stress and improve behavior?
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Do you want to add more to your toolbox for assessing and modifying behavior in stressed dogs?
Join Irith Bloom (CPDT-KSA, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CSAT, KPA CTP, VSPDT, CBATI, TAGteacher, VSDTA Faculty, DWA Faculty) and Kristina Spaulding (PhD, CAAB) for two days of interactive learning with working spots for 6 dogs. Irith and Kristina will present on the power of giving dogs choices and how it can decrease dogs’ stress and modify their behavior in a positive way. This workshop will help you hone your assessment and training/behavior plan development skills so you can work more successfully with dogs who are stressed out and have behavior issues.
This workshop is open to trainers, behavior consultants, veterinarians, shelter staff, and anyone else interested in learning more about the power of choice and how it can help decrease stress and improve behavior.
When: April 24th and 25th, 2021
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM US Pacific Time Each Day
Where: Via Live Stream
In this workshop the following topics will be covered:
What is stress?
Definitions and function
Physiology of stress
Why is chronic stress bad?
Effects on health, learning/memory, and behavior
Research on stress
How can we reduce stress?
Stress during development
Control (or the lack thereof)
Adding choice to daily life
Improving coping mechanisms
Enrichment
Cooperation from the animal learner
Training
Petting
Husbandry
Walks
“Room of one’s own”
Why don’t we already do this?
Human need for control
Lack of understanding/cultural fog
Delayed reinforcement (for human)
Teaching animals to make better (by human standards) choices
The matching law and why it matters
Foundation skills for a choice-rich life
Setting up the environment for success
The Schedule – subject to change
DAY ONE
Lecture: What is stress?
Definitions and function
Physiology of stress
Activity: How do you and your dog react to stress?
MORNING BREAK
Lecture: Why is chronic stress bad?
Effects on health, learning/memory, and behavior
Research on stress
Activity: Evaluate your dog’s chronic stress load
LUNCH BREAK
Lecture: How can we reduce stress?
Stress during development
Control (or the lack thereof)
Control as a mediator of stress
Activity: Giving your dog more control
BREAK
Lecture: Adding choice to daily life
Improving coping mechanisms
Enrichment
Activity: Evaluating enrichment options
END OF DAY
DAY TWO:
Lecture: Cooperation from the animal learner
Training
Petting
Husbandry
Walks
“Room of one’s own”
Activity: Choose what you want to
BREAK
Lecture: Why don’t we already give animals more choices?
Human need for control
Lack of understanding/cultural fog
Delayed reinforcement (for human)
Activity: Evaluate your own need for control
LUNCH BREAK
Lecture: Teaching animals to make better (by human standards) choices
The matching law and why it matters
Research on sub-optimal choice making
Cognitive bias in non-human animals
Activity: Matching law activity
BREAK
Lecture: Foundation skills for a choice-rich life
Setting up the environment for success
Activity: Foundation skill related activity
Speaker Bios
Irith Bloom, CPDT-KSA, CBCC-KA, CDBC, CSAT, KPA CTP, VSPDT, CBATI, VSDTA Faculty, DWA Faculty
Irith Bloom is the owner of The Sophisticated Dog, a pet training company based in Los Angeles. She has been training animals since the 1980s and has worked with everything from chickens and rabbits to dogs and horses—not to mention humans. A biologist by training, Irith is fascinated by the science of learning and presents at conferences and seminars worldwide. Her writing has been published both online and in print. She is on the board of the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT) and Chair Emeritus of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT).
In addition to her Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge & Skills Assessed (CPDT-KSA) and Certified Behavior Consultant Canine-Knowledge Assessed (CBCC-KA) certifications, Irith is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC); a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT); a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP); a Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Trainer (VSPDT); a Certified Behavior Adjustment Training Instructor (CBATI); and certified in TAGteach, a positive-reinforcement method for teaching humans. She is on the faculty at Victoria Stilwell Academy for Dog Training and Behavior as well as DogBiz’s Dog Walking Academy.
Irith has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her company, The Sophisticated Dog, LLC, offers online virtual training to clients worldwide, as well as in-person training in a limited area of Los Angeles, California. Irith volunteers with National English Shepherd Rescue; the Los Angeles County 2020 Healthy Pets Healthy Families Coalition (a One Health initiative aimed at improving the health and well-being of people and their pets throughout Los Angeles County); and Wallis Annenberg PetSpace
Kristina Spaulding, PhD, CAAB
Dr. Kristina Spaulding owns Smart Dog Training and Behavior LLC. She has a PhD in biopsychology – the study of the biological basis of behavior – and is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist through the Animal Behavior Society. Kristina has been in the dog training and behavior profession for 20 years.
In addition to working with behavior clients, Dr. Spaulding teaches a variety of online courses and webinars on the science of behavior. She conducts staff training on dog behavior for local veterinary clinics and animal shelters, and regularly presents on the science of animal behavior at training and behavior conferences.
In addition, Dr. Spaulding is a member of the APDT Education Committee. As a member of this group, she helps the APDT develop and evaluate their educational resources. In 2019, Dr. Spaulding received the Association of Professional Dog Trainer’s (APDT’s) Member of the Year Award. She is also a member of the Fear Free Advisory Group and an authorized Speaker for Fear Free which advocates for minimizing fear, anxiety and stress for pets around the country. She chairs the Quality of Care task force for Meeting of the Minds, a coalition of top dog professionals across the country charged with improving quality of life for our dogs.
Before opening Smart Dog, Dr. Spaulding earned her B.S. in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. In college, she volunteered for a year at the local humane society. She was then hired by the same shelter. During her time at the animal shelter, she and a coworker established a training program for shelter dogs and their volunteer walkers to make the dogs more adoptable. She also served as an assistant trainer at Dog’s Best Friend, which was owned at that time by Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist Dr. Patricia McConnell. In 2000, Dr. Spaulding moved to Minnesota where she worked as a dog trainer at a local dog training school before moving to her permanent home in upstate New York.
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