Did you miss CARAT last time? Here’s your chance to join us and find out why people say, “CARAT changes everything!”

CARAT is a novel temperament assessment system that categorizes behavior traits in multiple components that are intuitive and practical. CARAT is truly a game changer that will alter how you assess, understand and work with dogs.

CARAT takes a detailed view of the individual dog as a unique combination of many factors working together to influence, exacerbate, mitigate and enhance each other. In the profile created by the nuances and specifics of this complex interaction of multiple traits, an accurate picture is created of the individual, regardless of breed or age.

At all times, behavior is assessed according to how productive, functional, or adaptive it may be, with a full understanding that what may be productive, functional or adaptive in one context may not be in another context. For example, there would be great differences in the CARAT profiles for a successful guide dog, competitive agility dog and a suitable companion for an elderly person with mobility issues.

 

What Does CARAT Assess?

CARAT looks at these main categories and specifics of temperament traits:

1. CORE:  Arousal, Resilience, Energy
2. SOCIAL: Sociability, Social Tolerance, Social Use of Space
3. SENSORY: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Olfactory
4. PERSISTENCE: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Olfactory, Predatory/Chase
5. INTERACTIVE:  Patience, Biddability w/Familiar, Biddability w/Stranger
6. Complex traits:  Social Confidence, Environmental Confidence, Self Modulation

 

This is an online course, with all events taking place online through Thinkific & Zoom. The details:

·      The complete content will be presented in 8 sessions, each approx 1.5 hours in length.

·      Upon completion of the course, access to private CARAT discussion group.

·      We will release two pre-recorded sessions each week for 4 weeks.

·      You may watch the recorded sessions any time, at your convenience.

·      Q&A Zoom meeting each week. Attend live, or submit questions ahead of time.

·      In all cases, the Q&A sessions will also be recorded. Link provided to those recordings.

·      Slides for all presentations will be available for you to download and use for note taking.

·      The CARAT Introduction Handout will be available for you to download.

·      You will have access to all online materials for 120 days from start date.

 

Suzanne Clothier, Instructor

Begins March 4, 2021 – 5 weeks

Fee: $350.00 (Early BirdDog discounts and payment plan available)

CEUS for IAABC, PPAB, CCPDT

 

WEB LINK:  https://relationshipcenteredtraining.thinkific.com/courses/carat-spring-2021

RAT™ is a rapid assessment tool that provides clear information about each relationship. Whoever they may be, in every relationship the handler brings his or her habits, personalities, needs and style to interact with the dog, who also brings his own personality, patterns of response, needs and style. We need to work with the whole package.

RAT™ clearly identifies the strengths and weaknesses of any dog/handler team. Training Triage helps you prioritize and develop a sensible, targeted training plan for improving and strengthening the relationship. Put your training time, energy and resources into addressing the actual issues, not following a one-size-fits-all training plan. RAT™ is a must-have tool that streamlines your training so that you can be as effective, humane and customized as possible.

Grounded in detailed observations, RAT™ can be used for initial assessment as well as for monitoring progress over time or situations. RAT™ can be done in almost any setting to gather critical information about the dog/handler team.

RAT™ is ideal for trainers, instructors, shelter workers, rescue groups, veterinarians, vet techs, breeders, service dog trainers, AAI/AAT and anyone interested in understanding and enhancing the dog/human relationship.

Suzanne Clothier, Instructor

Begins March 1, 2021

CEUs pending

WEBSITE LINK:  https://relationshipcenteredtraining.thinkific.com/courses/rat-assessment

 

Required Course Materials

• Access to at least one cat throughout the duration of the course that
  • is social and friendly
  • has not been previously, formally trained
  • is food, touch, praise, or toy motivated
  • Access to multiple cats is recommended as a “backup” in case your primary isn’t feeling well or isn’t in the mood to train
• Ability to record, trim, and upload videos with audio of cat training sessions
• Clicker (iClick recommended)
• Target stick (to be discussed in week 1, can be made or purchased – check out example here)
• Cat rewards (to be discussed in week 1)

Weekly Content

Week 1 – Tools, Techniques, and Targets

We begin this course with a review of various tools, techniques, and tips that can be useful when addressing feline behavior problems.

Week 2 – Improving Mechanical Skill

This week students will learn about setting criteria, adjusting rates of reinforcement, assessing progress, DRI/DRO/DRA, and more.

Week 3 – Building Toward Useful Behaviors

This week, students will learn how to take target training to the next level and begin teaching cats skills that can be applied to the real world.

Week 4 – Achieving Fluency

This week, students will learn to assist their cats in becoming fluent in the behaviors they have been working on throughout this course.

Week 5 – Critical Self-Assessment

This week, students will critically self-assess their work throughout this course to identify where they excelled, where they succeeded, and where they could have been done better.

Recommended Supplemental Materials

• What is My Cat Saying? Feline Communication 101 (Munera) DVD
• Understanding Cat Behavior (Roger Tabor)
• Clicker Training for Cats (Karen Pryor)
• Starting from Scratch: How to Correct Behavior Problems in Your Adult Cat (Pam Johnson-Bennett)
• Twisted Whiskers: Solving Your Cat’s Behavior Problems (Pam Johnson-Bennett)

Prerequisites

• Understanding of and ability to effectively marker train (any species)
• Understanding of and ability to effectively train “target” or “touch” (any species)

* Experience with cats not required

Class Schedule

This five-week course will begin on the specified start date. Students will have access to the course material for 60 days after the course ends.

Course Completion/CEU Requirements

Auditors must review all course material. This will be verified in the Learning Management System.

Full Students must complete the homework assignments and participate in forum discussions. Students should expect to spend an average of 4 hours per week on course material and viewing, depending on individual speed of learning and the week’s materials.

Registration Information

	Auditor	Full Student
CEUs	5.5 (CCPDT, IAABC, KPA)	9.5 (CCPDT); 12.5 (IAABC, KPA)
Member Cost	$174*	$274*
Non-Member Cost	$199	$324

*IAABC Members – log into your member account for the discount code

Online Course Cancellation Policy

• Full refunds available more than 30 days before program start.
• 50% refund available 16 – 30 days before program start.
• No refunds available 15 or fewer days before program start.

About the Instructor

Through her business Jones Animal Behavior, Katenna Jones provides private dog and cat behavior consulting services, group classes, and seminars at both local and national events. Katenna is the former Director of Educational Programs for the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, Animal Behaviorist for the American Humane Association, and Behaviorist and Investigator for the RISPCA.

She has been involved in animal sheltering and rescue since 2000, is a disaster responder, is author of Fetching the Perfect Dog Trainer: Getting the Best for You and Your Dog and has contributed to numerous local and national publications.

Katenna earned her Master’s from Brown University where she studied animal behavior, learning and cognition. She is an Associate Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, Certified Cat and Dog Behavior Consultant, and Certified Pet Dog Trainer.

She shares her RI home with her husband, two adopted cats, and adopted dog.

If you have questions, email us at courses@iaabc.org.

 

WEBSITE LINK:  https://m.iaabc.org/courses/feline-behavior-solutions/

About the Course

This course will help you:

• Define and recognize indicators of stress
• Identify and distinguish between the different types of stress
• Appreciate the impact of stress on the brain and behavior over the course of an animal’s life
• Describe the basic physiology of stress
• Apply what you learn to your own training and behavior cases

Class Schedule

This is a 4-week instructor-led course. Each week includes a recorded lecture, a scheduled live discussion, recommended readings, and guiding questions. Knowledge of the lecture material will be assessed through participation in course discussions. Students will have access to the course material for 60 days after the course ends.

 

Course Completion/CEU Requirements

To receive CEUs and/or a certificate of completion:

Auditors must review all course material. This will be verified in the Learning Management System.

Full Students must review all course materials, visit the learning site/discussion forum regularly (at least three days per week), attend the four weekly class meetings, and prepare responses to a set of guiding questions for each weekly class meeting discussion. Students who miss more than one meeting will not receive credit for the course.

Students should expect to spend an average of 2 hours per week on course material and viewing, depending on individual speed of learning and the week’s materials.

 

Registration Information

	Auditor	Full Student
CEUs	5 (CCPDT, IAABC, KPA)	9 (CCPDT, IAABC, KPA)
Member Cost	$159*	$239*
Non-Member Cost	$179	$279

*IAABC Members – log into your member account for the discount code

 

Online Course Cancellation Policy

• Full refunds available more than 30 days before program start.
• 50% refund available 16 – 30 days before program start.
• No refunds available 15 or fewer days before program start.

About the Instructor

Kristina Spaulding, PhD, CAAB 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. She specializes in stress and behavior, social cognition and emotion, positive welfare and the prevention and treatment of behavior problems in dogs. In addition to her academic background, she has been in the dog training and behavior profession since 2000. She currently splits her time between private behavior work and teaching other dog trainers and behavior consultants online and through seminars and conferences.

In addition, Dr. Spaulding is a member of the IAABC Foundation Board. She is also a member of the Fear Free Advisory Group and an authorized Speaker for Fear Free, an organization that advocates for minimizing fear, anxiety and stress for pets at vet clinics, groomers and training facilities. She also chairs two task forces for Meeting of the Minds, a coalition of top dog professionals across the country charged with improving the 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 help 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.

 

If you have questions, email us at courses@iaabc.org.

 

WEBSITE LINK:  https://m.iaabc.org/courses/impact-stress-behavior/