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  • Webinar – 6/18/24 – The Roundtable: Setting Boundaries & Combating Burnout – The AAWA

    Webinar – 6/18/24 – The Roundtable: Setting Boundaries & Combating Burnout – The AAWA

    Caring for animals and helping the people who support them can feel daunting. Add in a staffing shortage and you’re officially overwhelmed. How do you prioritize when you don’t have enough help or time? When should you take a break or push forward? How do you say ‘no’ to the next task so you can say ‘yes’ to your well-being?

    Learn how panelists across different animal welfare sectors manage wellness and boundaries when staff and morale are constantly shifting. This roundtable is ideal for staff interested in adding coping strategies to their wellness toolkit.

    The Roundtable Panel:

    • Allison Cardona, California State Director, Koret Shelter Medicine Program
    • Jessica Umunnabuike, Senior Talent & Diversity Specialist, San Diego Humane Society
    • Kristen Williams Community Events & Outreach Manager, Forsyth Humane Society

    Moderated by:

    • Jasmin Robinson, Director of DEI Initiatives, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement

    This roundtable has been approved for 1 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://learning.theaawa.org/p/RT-6-18-24

  • 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 $10,000 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.  There is a NEW registration page for meetings starting May 6, and anyone who has been attending the calls will need to re-register here before then: https://maddies.fund/CommunityConvoRegistration2024

    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://forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations

  • Online Course – Starts 5/29/24 – Shelter Dog Behavior Mentorship with Trish McMillan – Shelter Behavior Hub (fee applies)

    Online Course – Starts 5/29/24 – Shelter Dog Behavior Mentorship with Trish McMillan – Shelter Behavior Hub (fee applies)

    Is your shelter struggling to meet the needs of your dog population? Do you feel like your SOP’s aren’t meeting industry standards? Are you facing challenges related to intake, meeting the needs of dogs in your care, or finding appropriate placement? The Shelter Dog Behavior Mentorship is your opportunity to take your shelter’s canine program to the next level. This 13 week deep dive into all things shelter behavior will help you create evidence-based policies and procedures for your shelter behavior department.

    This intensive course will cover all aspects of shelter behavior, from intake to post-adoption support. With the help of your peers from all over the world, we will explore science and best practices in building your shelter behavior programming to meet and exceed industry standards, and to give every dog in your care the best shot at a new home. There will be an emphasis on creating written policy and protocols for your department.

    Register before June 5 with the code UCD10 to receive 10% off.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://trish-s-school-bcb6.thinkific.com/courses/2024b-sdbm-shelter-dog-behavior-mentorship

  • 4/25/24 – Why Animals Need Trainers Who Adhere to the Least Intrusive Principle: Improving Animal Welfare and Honing Trainers’ Skills – Dog iBox (fee applies)

    4/25/24 – Why Animals Need Trainers Who Adhere to the Least Intrusive Principle: Improving Animal Welfare and Honing Trainers’ Skills – Dog iBox (fee applies)

    Recent interest in basic and applied research on negative reinforcement creates an opportunity to confirm the understanding of why animals need trainers who support the least intrusive principle in selecting behavior-change procedures. In this presentation, we will
    1) examine the rationale for a hierarchy of behavior-change procedures according to the least intrusive principle,
    2) consider the principle’s impact on animal welfare and trainers’ skills,
    3) explore the research comparing positive and negative reinforcement for addressing escape-maintained behavior,
    4) review alternative solutions to negative reinforcement, and
    5) acknowledge recent concerns about the adoption of a procedural ethical guideline as it applies to the animal training profession.

    These concerns offer the animal training community the opportunity to disagree well when disagreement exists.

    Presenter: Dr. Susan G. Friedman

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.dog-ibox.com/en/why-animals-need-trainers-who-adhere-to-the-least-intrusive-principle-improving-animal-welfare-and-honing-trainers-skills.html

  • Webinar – 5/1/24 – Leaving Conflict Behind: Skills to Reduce Intra-Household Aggression – PPG (fee applies)

    Webinar – 5/1/24 – Leaving Conflict Behind: Skills to Reduce Intra-Household Aggression – PPG (fee applies)

    This webinar will discuss when and why dogs living together in a home might fight. Once management is in place, then what? How can we teach dogs to move away from conflict rather than into it? We will look beyond the basics to what skills and games can help dogs learn to move away.

    Learning Objectives:

    • Learn skills and games to help dogs learn to move away from conflict.

    Presenter: Christina Young

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/webinars-events/webinars/leaving-conflict-behind-skills-to-reduce-intra-household-aggression/

  • Webinar – 4/11/24 – Why trust matters: How grantmakers and nonprofits can build lasting partnerships – Bonterra

    Webinar – 4/11/24 – Why trust matters: How grantmakers and nonprofits can build lasting partnerships – Bonterra

    Trust is at the center of all relationships. Is it at the center of your charitable partnerships?

    Reporting impact has been central to building transparency between funders, grantees, employees, and consumers. Funders use impact reports to share their progress toward funding commitments with key stakeholders, including employees and consumers.

    They also depend on nonprofits to report how their funds are being used to build accountability and trust. But this reliance can create a power imbalance, suggesting a lack of trust in a nonprofit’s ability to maximize grants and requiring resources not all nonprofits have to build comprehensive impact reports.

    During this session, we will explore how to strengthen transparency and build trustworthy partnerships without creating an undue burden on nonprofits and grants administrators alike. We’ll share examples of creative, scalable partnerships and tips for garnering internal and community support.

    Key takeaways:

    • Building trust
    • Tips for stronger funder and nonprofit partnership
    • Building nonprofit innovation

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://go.bonterratech.com/webinar-how-grantmakers-and-nonprofits-build-partnerships.html

  • Webinar – 5/18/24 – Targeted TNR & Getting the Most Bang for your Buck – Community Cats Podcast

    Webinar – 5/18/24 – Targeted TNR & Getting the Most Bang for your Buck – Community Cats Podcast

    The more cats you fix, the more impact your TNR program will have, right? Wrong! Spay/neuter volume alone is rarely enough by itself to keep consistently reducing a community’s free-roaming cat population over time.

    Another aspect to the program needs to be identifying areas of high need (meaning, lots of cats) and then focusing TNR resources at that location in order to achieve high sterilization rates.

    Discover what targeting is, why it’s so important and how you can do it no matter how large or small your program currently is.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/events/targeted-tnr-getting-the-most-bang-for-your-buck-presented-by-neighborhood-cats-may-2024/

  • Webinar – 4/25/24 – Cyber Security: A Leadership Perspective – CalAnimals

    Webinar – 4/25/24 – Cyber Security: A Leadership Perspective – CalAnimals

    Cyber security pros from Syntech Group have generously agreed to share this super important information with our CalAnimals members. They will discuss current topics and stories about cyber security including examples and tactics that leaders can employ to enhance awareness and implement practices for organizational security. Lastly they will share a few resources for ongoing training and awareness. You won’t want to miss this!

    Presenters:Katherine Wetherbee & James Stover – Syntech Group

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BGSyV1QmRXiXzSvHQCb64w#/registration

  • Online Event – 4/25/24 – Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection: Hyperarousal in Dogs – Maddie’s Fund

    Online Event – 4/25/24 – Maddie’s Monthly Behavior Connection: Hyperarousal in Dogs – Maddie’s Fund

    This month’s session topic: Hyperarousal in Dogs 

    Guest Speaker:  Dr. Jill Sackman, Animal Behavior Consultants of Michigan

    Hyperarousal behaviors are common in dogs and are often not correctly identified in the non-clinical behavior setting. Dogs with hyperarousal behaviors can be dangerous, resulting in bruising and bites to family from jumping and grabbing. Injury is often serious enough that many dogs are relinquished. Effective assessment and treatment can result in a majority of dogs being able to stay safely in their adopted home.  This talk will review what is currently known about hyperarousal/ hypersensitivity syndrome in dogs and report on a treatment approach used by the author that has led to significant improvement in behaviors and most of the dogs being able to stay safely in their adopted homes.

    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

  • Hybrid Conference – 7/12/24 to 7/14/24 – 2024 ASPCA® Cornell Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Conference – ASPCA (fee applies)

    Hybrid Conference – 7/12/24 to 7/14/24 – 2024 ASPCA® Cornell Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Conference – ASPCA (fee applies)

    The 2024 ASPCA® Cornell Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Conference will be held July 12-14, 2024, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Now in its 21st year, this year’s conference features our largest offering ever of educational opportunities! Experience more than 30 hours of world-class continuing education from dozens of sessions covering the latest in medical, behavior and shelter operations.

    This year’s conference features a keynote address by Emily McCobb, DVM, MS, DACVAA. Dr. McCobb is co-section head for Community Medicine and Director of the Luke and Lily Lerner Spay Neuter Clinic at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University. Dr. McCobb works to support community programs at the Cummings School and assisted in opening the Tufts at Tech Community Veterinary Clinic. Dr. McCobb’s keynote will focus on the roots and evolution of Access to Care in veterinary medicine and will examine how the field grew out of work being by Shelter and Community Medicine Programs for decades. Where might this field go next and what ramifications might this have for our discipline?

    Conference Livestream

    Can’t make the trip to Ithaca? We’ve got you covered! For the first time in conference history, Saturday’s and Sunday’s sessions will be livestreamed and available for livestream ticket holders.  And thanks to our Livestream sponsor, Independence Pet Group® (IPG), there is no registration fee for the livestream!  For more information on Livestream offering please visit the Livestream page.

    WEBSITE LINK:  https://events.bizzabo.com/sheltermedconference