Webinar Program
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Each segment starts with a presentation of about 90 minutes, followed by a 15 minute “coffee break” and ends with 45 minute Q/A session during which Sue & Trish will respond to questions posed by attendees of the live sessions.
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Whether you make the live sessions or not, you will be able to access a complete recording of each session for 1 year.
Session One (Saturday, December 5, 2020): Assess-A-Pet & Ethogram
ASSESS-A-PET (AAP) Protocols to evaluate resource guarding (RG) & aggression thresholds. Practical, detailed, step-by-step procedures that evaluators can utilize in a home or at shelters and rescues to assess the tendency for RG, the prospect of a high threshold for RG vs. a low threshold for RG, quite possibly the degree of intensity, and how we interpret what we are seeing.
Ethogram: An extensive catalog of seemingly endless, often very subtle behaviors that tell us if a dog is feeling competitive, or at risk of escalating into aggression. Focus on the AAP procedures and the subtle or not-so-subtle behaviors associated with competitiveness and/or a low threshold for RG.
Session Two (Saturday, December 12, 2020): Low Threshold RG
Some of the science of RG and assessing it in shelter dogs. The low threshold resource guarder’s behavior in the home and community. Defining low aggression thresholds and what dogs usually guard:
Recognizing these small behaviors in real life:
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Will the dog guard an owner?
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Is the dog likely to bite a stranger or neighbor?
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What behaviors to look for when meeting a new client and their dog.
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How RG can affect dog-dog interactions generally.
Session Three (Saturday, December 19, 2020): RG Management & Behavior Modification
Resource Guarding is a natural behavior in all species. Management & modification protocols depend on-
Helping clients identify problem areas including differing types of guarding & degree of risk associated with each, such as: guarding, food, objects, places, people etc., and against whom the dog is guarding: other dogs, children, adults, a single adult etc.
Identifying skill level & time availability of owners to ascertain what management or modification protocols are possible. Many people cannot maintain complex resource guarding protocols. Even when one person can, others cannot. Safeguards are important for each family, plus assessment of each dog’s degree of aggression potential and providing alternatives or resources for the family if the risk is deemed too high.
Protocols:
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Management: Identify & remove high value items – give potentially valuable objects & food in private area.
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General guidelines: Teach dog that there are unlimited resources & that owner always has better resources ready to share; Teach “drop”.
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Cognitive method : Teach dog to look up & away from item when asked or whenever owner passes by; Teach dog to leave item when asked.
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Dog to Dog: Make sure management protocols are adhered to; Status adjustment as needed.
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Outcomes: Progress reports ·Reality based decisions (some resource guarding is persistent, no matter what we do) ·Rehoming if appropriate.
Sue founded the shelter featured in an HBO documentary: Shelter Dogs (www.shelterdogs.org). She has developed national programs, such as Training Wheels® for community shelter outreach and dedicated herself to ensuring the quality of life of animals in their communities, at animal shelters and in safe adoptions. Her 30 years of canine behavior experience, includes as an animal control officer, behavior consultant at the ASPCA, shelter owner, successful competitor in dog sports, and a teacher of dog trainers world-wide.
She is the author of Great Dog Adoptions: A Guide for Shelters (Latham Foundation publication) and Successful Dog Adoption published by Wiley. Her most recent publications (all published by Dogwise) include Out and About With Your Dog, Dog-Dog Interactions, Assessing Aggression Thresholds in Dogs and Understanding Sociability (DVD).
Click here for Sue’s website.
Trish has been a dog addict since she was a teen, and managed to combine her love of dogs with her respect and affection for people. Her goal is always to enrich the lives of both, through the humane and thoughtful use of relationship work, environmental management and training.
Trish established the Canine Behavior Academy at the Marin Humane Society for new or interested trainers, which covers dog handling, evaluating, learning theory, training techniques and solving problems, as well as teaching people.
After she left Marin Humane, she taught the academy at Humane Society Silicon Valley, and then locally in Marin. It is now offered online. Several hundred people have attended all levels of the Academy. Trish also teaches workshops and seminars on behavior, canine management, temperament assessment, and handling difficult dogs.
Trish’s speaking engagements have included numerous conferences presented by the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, the Humane Society of the United States, and the American Humane Association, as well as California Animal Care Conferences, private training groups, webinars and teleconferences.
She has written a critically acclaimed book for dog owners, Parenting Your Dog (TFH Publications), as well as numerous articles about dog and cat behavior for local and national newspapers and magazines. Trish is:
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Member of the American Humane Association Task Force for Humane Dog Training.
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Equipment Chair of the Delta Guidelines for Humane Dog Training.
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Past Board member and charter member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT).
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Member of the task force to restructure PetSmart Dog Training practices.
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Instructor with “Dogs of Course”, E-Training for Dogs & Raising Canine, LLC.
