Learn about all the ways in which DPFL Playgroups are transforming shelters all across the country! In this first of three webinars, we will present powerful examples of how playgroups can not only enhance the quality of life for your shelter dogs but how focusing on their quality of life through enrichment can lead to game-changing benefits to your shelter’s everyday operations. Attendees will get to view dynamic video examples and impactful data and experiences from some of the nearly 300 shelters who have embraced the power of letting shelter dogs play!

This is a 1.5-hour presentation followed by a Q&A session. This webinar will not be recorded.

This course has been pre-approved for 1.5 continuing education unit (CEU) credits for: Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA) by The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement (AAWA) International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP)

IMPORTANT: This webinar is scheduled on Eastern Time. Webinar recordings will not be available so make sure you don’t miss it!

*Part 1 attendees will be sent the signup links to parts 2 & 3 upon completing the first webinar.

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

Much of dog training is focused on the dog, or the mechanics of markers and rewards. Yet in many ways, handlers can and do affect their dog’s behavior and learning. Many training problems are rooted in communication issues, caused by a handler’s body language and unintended messages.

The dog’s understanding of the handler’s behavior is built in the details of how the handler typically moves, laughs, smiles, speaks, breathes, etc. in familiar and comfortable settings. But under stress, in unfamiliar or challenging situations, things can change. Shifts in the handler signals to the dog that the person he relies on is alarmed, angry, worried, or even afraid. Depending on the dog, this can have significant impact on behavior. We can be more effective in helping the dog when we understand the handler in new ways, and have practical approaches to help them say what they mean and mean what they say.

Learning Objectives

Meta-messages – seeing the whole picture
Breathing – how breathing impacts our ability to move, learn and think
Muscle tension & quality of movement
Flexion, balance & stance – warning, welcoming, worried or wild?
Blink rate and expression – what story does your face tell?
Core & gaze orientation – how we signal our awareness and focus

About Your Presenter

Suzanne Clothier has been working with animals professionally since 1977. Her positive and humane approach, Relationship Centered Training™ (RCT) promotes promote healthy, respectful and joyful dog/human connections.

The author of Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships With Dogs (2002), her innovative programs include Treat/Retreat, the Enriched Puppy Protocol, CARAT™, RAT™, FAT™, as well as many RCT techniques, online courses and webinars. A trainer of trainers, she has taught on a broad range of topics throughout the US and internationally, and served as a consultant to major service dog schools.

CEUs: PPAB 1 & IAABC 1

WEBSITE LINK:  https://petprofessionalguild.com/event-5202798

Does living with your dog sometimes feel like you’re riding in a Ferrari with a newly licensed teenager, and you’re barely holding on? Or, maybe you feel like you’re tootling along with a senior driver in an older Buick, smoke pouring out of the exhaust, waving people off the sidewalk? Either way, the partnership is not going how you imagined. You’re not alone, and there are many ways to help you and your dog feel more like a team.

We all have different lifestyles our dogs need to learn how to dog in, and this is where the “RUBBER” (Relationship, Utilitarian Behaviors, Boundaries, Expectations and Reinforcement) meets the road in FUNctional Obedience.

In this session, we will draw real world analogies to help you think about the relationship you currently have with your dog, and to describe where you hope that relationship goes. Continuing the car analogy, I have a high mileage stop and go lifestyle with three low mileage, high octane malinois. Have you considered how you would describe your lifestyle-dog relationship using the car analogy? Each dog, even within their breed, is individual in their “gears” and “drivability” much like their automotive (and human!) counterparts. Each dog has unique maintenance needs, both physical and mental! The same is true with us humans – and this is where relationship building truly begins!

This webinar will help you identify your dog’s needs, and more importantly your needs, within your life at this moment. The Relationship, Utilitarian Behaviors, Boundaries, Expectations and Reinforcement that I establish with my dogs, especially in my multi-dog household, keeps our day-to-day running smoothly. Here’s how:

–> Relationships allow us to understand one another.
–> Utilitarian Behaviors are the key to day-to-day life and reduce conflict. (There are behaviors that can help us enjoy life together better that we may not realize without reflection.)
–> Boundaries are key to building strong relationships. Setting boundaries creates a safe environment where everyone’s needs can be met.
–> Expectations give us habits and routines through consistency.
–> Reinforcement is incredibly FUN and builds and solidifies all of the components…

when the RUBBER meets the road.

Let me help you see both yourself and your dog differently, while reflecting on ways to improve your life with your dog through FUNctional obedience, no matter what your competition or non-competition goals are. This webinar is about reflecting, planning and observing your day-to-day life and how to make it better for both you and your dog(s). (Plus, spending time with an ADHD high school art teacher of 20+ years by day, and protection sport decoy/helper with three malinois by night, is guaranteed entertainment and education! Hope to see you soon!)

Presenter: Crystal Wing

WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/self-study/webinars

A deep dive into the herding breeds, their selection and the reason why they do things that challenge owners and trainers on a daily basis.

A lot of the herding breeds that are now popular in sport and pet homes are considered the most intelligent and easy to train breed and yet, most are faced with such a high prey drive and need to control movement that sometimes a normal walk with them feels impossible.

Where is this desire to control everything that moves comes from? How can we avoid it from the beginning or if the behavior is already happening, how do we help our dogs to focus on us instead of moving cars and bikes?

Martina will explain the main management and training tools that she uses in her Herder Bootcamp programs for herding breeds dogs in urban and pet environment.

Presenter: Martina Miradoli

WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/self-study/webinars

Do you know all you NEED to know about Lyme?

In this complimentary, 30-minute VETgirl – Merck Animal Health YouTube LIVE event, Dr. Kathryn Duncan, DVM, PhD, DACVM (Parasitology) reviews canine Lyme disease as it relates to the tick vector, clinical signs, and available diagnostics. Tune in for case discussions to learn about the latest recommendations on treatment and prevention!

NOTE: To attend this YouTube LIVE session, there is no “registration.” To attend, simply go to our YouTube Page at the time of the event where the webinar will be hosted, LIVE!

Thanks to sponsorship from Merck Animal Health, this webinar is FREE to all! (Remember: you must be logged in as a free Trial or Elite member to register for the live event)

WEBSITE LINK:  https://vetgirlontherun.com/webinars/may-1-2023-youtube-live-expanding-our-minds-with-lyme/

Mind over matter!

In this complimentary, 1-hour, VETgirl–Elanco webinar, Dr. Jacqueline Neilson, DVM, DACVB tackles some common mindsets that may sabotage our health, happiness, and work in the veterinary setting. Tune in and learn how we can shift those mindsets to improve our personal well-being, the well-being of the profession, and the care we deliver to our patients.

Thanks to sponsorship from Elanco, this webinar is FREE to all! (Remember: you must be logged in as a free Trial or Elite member to register for the live event)

WEBSITE LINK:  https://vetgirlontherun.com/webinars/april-23-2023-milkshakes-mindsets-medicine-the-power-and-potential-of-mindsets-in-veterinary-medicine/

This is the fourth installment of GoodPup’s new webinar series: Surrender Prevention; Addressing Common Behavioral Challenges.

During the spring webinar series, GoodPup will break down how to provide some preventive management and simple solutions for addressing a variety of common behavioral challenges experienced with the welcoming of new family members. The series begins in January with House Training struggles including common setbacks and the demands encountered within different lifestyles. Then they’ll dabble into other challenges during the following months including barking, jumping, mouthiness, crate concerns and reactivity to unfamiliar people.

This month’s topic is: Jumping!

There are a variety of reasons that dogs jump.  It may provide a solution for them to get what they want or need.  Or, it may just be a way for them to express themselves; to communicate.  And, while jumping is a normal behavior for our dogs, if left unaddressed, it can certainly become an undesired and even unsafe one.

In this webinar GoodPup will focus on how best to address our dogs that love to jump. We’ll identify different reasons why our dogs jump. Then we’ll explore how to prevent the jumping from becoming a problem and we’ll build some plans together as a group to help us solve when jumping is already a problem. This is one team discussion you won’t want to miss.

GoodPup will be following their April webinar with a May webinar on mouthy behavior.  Again, they’ll discuss various situations where dogs express mouthiness; talk about how to use management to help prevent the behavior from ever starting and lastly look at some problem solving tips with dogs that are already displaying the behavior as a concern.

Register for this free webinar here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/surrender-prevention-series-jumping-tickets-604107099597

Presenter:

Kait Hembree VTS (Behavior), CVT, KPA CTP
Head of Training at GoodPup

Kait Hembree and her team designed the GoodPup Training Program using the latest scientific research and positive reinforcement training techniques. Kait’s career in Animal Behavior spans decades. She has extensive experience working with behavior modification both in and outside veterinary practices and animal shelters. She regularly consults as a dog behavior expert across the country.

WEBSITE LINK:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/surrender-prevention-series-jumping-tickets-604107099597

It’s raining cats and…kittens. Kitten season is upon us and feline lifesaving is front of mind. We’ve convened a panel of experts to share their best kitten season tips, tools, and tricks to help you save lives this year—and prevent a seasonal population boom in years to come.

Our Q&A-style panel includes Peter Wolf, Senior Strategist for Shelter and Community Research at Best Friends Animal Society; Monica Tarant, Chief Innovation Officer: Feline Lifesaving at Cincinnati Animal CARE with the Give Them Ten Movement; Danielle Bays, Senior Analyst for Cat Protection and Policy, the Humane Society of the United States; Marnie Russ, National Kitten College Program Administrator at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington and Co-Founder of the National Kitten Coalition; and Neil Hay, Senior Director of Operations at Austin Pets Alive!. Vincent Medley, Director of Human Animal Support Services, will moderate.

Register below and send questions in advance to webinars@americanpetsalive.org. We’ll see you live for a cat-tastic night on Thursday, April 27 at 5 p.m. CT.

WEBSITE LINK:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/2616740581796/WN_NMLK-YrQRDO0xqsX-Ah9bA