Dogs are resilient and oh-so-forgiving! These qualities make them endearing as companions, along with their ability to love unconditionally. So, why do some dogs struggle to understand us when we are offering affection or when we want to help them, not harm them? In this session, we will focus on the HUMAN handling that contributes to unwanted behavior, even “aggression”. Get ready to rethink your approach as we reveal the common and widely accepted and taught handling errors that set dogs up for failure. Through extensive video examples, we will demonstrate alternative handling techniques that help dogs to trust and thrive!

This webinar will demonstrate:

– Examples of handling that causes negative behavior compared to handling that promotes  desired behavior

– Demonstration of handling that induces trust and learning with dogs that are too afraid to respond initially to food rewards or affection

– Comprehensive discussion around the correct use of pressure and release and why this is a critical skill for shelter canine handlers to master to save more dogs

This is a 2-hour presentation followed by a 30 min Q&A session. This webinar costs $20 and you will receive the recording the next day.

WEBSITE LINK:  https://dogsplayingforlife.com/webinars/

Maddie’s Insights are a series of webinars about the latest research in animal well-being and how you can use the findings in your shelter and community.

Join us on on Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 12noon Pacific / 3pm Eastern when Debra Olmedo and Greg Miller of the ASPCA will provide an overview of recent research aimed at identifying ways to increase awareness and engagement in kitten fostering programs among residents of areas with high intake of kittens to animal shelters. They will discuss the project methodology, what they learned about awareness, interest, and concerns related to fostering, and what opportunities this research highlighted for increasing fostering program engagement. 

Registration link https://maddies.fund/MIwebcasts

Learning Objectives:

• What are the experiences with fostering kittens and actions taken for cats by residents living in high kitten intake zip codes in Los Angeles County?
• How do barriers to participating in kitten fostering programs potentially differ for residents in these areas of LA County?
• What are the potential benefits of developing and implementing community-informed strategies?
• What are some strategies to increase awareness and engagement in kitten fostering program among residents of high kitten intake areas?

This webinar has been pre-approved for 1.0 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and by the National Animal Care & Control Association. It has also been submitted for approval for 1 hour of continuing education credit in jurisdictions which recognize the Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) approval.

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

The average American worker spends at least one-third of their life at work. Research indicates that our experiences in the workplace have a direct impact on our mental, emotional, financial, and physical well-being. These factors, in turn, influence how we make decisions, communicate, and relate to ourselves, others, and our communities.

We believe we can create a more compassionate and peaceful life by developing the skills and mindsets to Live Better and Work Better. In this webinar, we’ll explore seven key practices designed to unlock your untapped wisdom and potential, enabling you to lead a more intentional life —both at home and at work.

By delving into the power of self-worth, gratitude, curiosity, radical acceptance, boundaries, forgiveness, and compassion, we will gain insight into how our thoughts, feelings, and actions shape our reality. Your future self will thank you!

Presenters

WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.justiceclearinghouse.com/webinar/seven-practices-to-live-better-and-work-better/

How we talk about the pets in our care matters. Whether counseling an adopter about the sassy cat they are interested in or talking with staff about the reactive behavior they observed in a new dog, the words we use will affect the pathway for that animal. Join our panel of experts as they dig into the issue of how we talk and think about some of our more challenging shelter animals. Panelists will share examples and tools with attendees that can be implemented quickly into daily operations.

Takeaways

• The importance of using objective behavior language.
• Tips and tools to develop standardization in behavior language across an organization.

Suited For

Animal behavior and shelter professionals and volunteers.

Presenters
Dr. Miranda K. Workman, Ph.D., Shelter Behavior Training Liaison, ASPCA
James Pumphrey, Executive Director Wenatchee Valley Humane Society
Kara Montalbano, Director of Marketing & Community Relations, Potter League for Animals

WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.aspcapro.org/training/webinar/shelter-behavior-roundtable-changing-how-we-talk-about-behavior-dogs-and-cats

Feline calicivirus is a contagious, often severe virus in cats that can be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to treat. However, standardized protocols help treat these cats efficiently, reduce transmission within the shelter, and get cats moving toward live outcomes. This webcast will cover diagnosing calicivirus without the use of expensive testing; treating the virus and caring for sick cats in the shelter; and clearing and adopting the cats after illness.

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will learn how to diagnose calicivirus without expensive testing.
• Attendees will take away best practice treatment protocols.
• Attendees will understand how, and when, to clear cats and move them along toward their outcome.

Maddie’s Pet Forum discussion thread  https://maddies.fund/ForumWebcastCalicivrius

This webinar will be recorded and has been pre-approved for 1.0 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement and by the National Animal Care & Control Association. It has also been approved for 1 hour of continuing education credit in jurisdictions which recognize RACE approval.

Presenters

Monica Tarant
Chief Innovation Officer
Cincinnati Animal CARE and The Give Them Ten Movement

Monica Tarant is the Chief Innovation Officer: Feline Lifesaving at Cincinnati Animal CARE with The Give Them Ten movement and is helping organizations create the most humane city in the country for cats.

A decade before anyone had heard of such a thing, she cut her teeth founding a trap-neuter-return organization in rural Illinois and pioneered one of the nation’s first, and largest, working cat programs. In 2012, she joined Austin Pets Alive! where she led her team to an 88 percent growth in cat adoptions and helped Austin achieve a citywide 98 percent live release rate for cats. Monica then spent years as an instructor for the Maddie’s Fund Lifesaving Academy teaching shelters best practices and innovative lifesaving programs, advancing research in feline retroviruses, and progressing public policy as a City of Austin Animal Advisory Commissioner. Monica is a frequent speaker and advisor on innovative ways to save every cat, including cats with feline leukemia, community cats, and shelter cats in need of medical care.

Jordana Moerbe 
Medical Care Director, Austin Pets Alive!

Jordana brings over 15 years of experience in the animal welfare field and is one of the founding staff members of Austin Pets Alive!. Her work there created the Medical Triage and Wellness Clinic which is now the largest foster-centric medical clinic in the country and sees upwards of 7,500 medical cases each year. In 2017, her national work began in shelter clinic management, disease management, and outbreak response. Jordana worked with shelters and rescues nationwide to improve medical practices, live outcomes, and shelter efficiencies through innovative ideas and programming. She also served as the American Pets Alive Maddie’s Medical Program Instructor, creating in-person training courses as well as online coursework.

Jordana’s passion continues to be shelter clinic management, outside-the-box thinking to industry problems, and helping people acquire realistic methods and tools to accomplish the job. She is a national conference speaker on these topics. Jordana resides just outside Austin with her husband, daughter, dogs, cats, and many farm animals.

WEBSITE LINK:  https://maddiesfund-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3FEJayD2Qa6SXp5gKD38IA#/registration