Tackling The Difficult Questions!

Your 

Come and join the PPG Advocacy Committee at one of our monthly events. The Advocacy Committee is a selection of notable practitioners, scientists and representatives from PPG committees.

The session are live streamed via the PPG public Facebook page. Attendees who choose not to use Facebook can also access the events via Zoom.

Click here to checkout the PPG Advocacy Panel

CEUs: PPAB 1, CCPDT 1, IAABC 1, KPA 1

Classical conditioning is important to understand for anyone interacting with animals. This session will examine and discuss practical examples of:

• The matter of order.
• Blocking.
• Overshadowing.
• Respondent extinction.
• Spontaneous recovery.
• Pre-exposure.
• Learned irrelevance.
• Latent inhibition.

In the session, the presenter will discuss how these learning mechanisms impacts animals’ emotional states, decision making and behavior – and how we can best harness them.

Level of difficulty: Advanced

About Your Presenter

      

Dr. Karolina Westlund

Prof. Karolina Westlund helps pet parents and animal professionals attain happier animals that thrive in the care of humans. She grew up pining for a kitten and pestered her parents until they finally gave in. The resulting black, green-eyed, half-Siamese cat she got for her seventh birthday became a true friend who lived to be 21 years old but was an easily startled cat who often went into hiding when there were visitors. She had grand ideas about becoming a field biologist, but instead she majored in ethology and developed a passionate interest in animal welfare as seen through a multidisciplinary lens, including behaviour analysis and affective neuroscience. She is now an associate professor of ethology at the University of Stockholm, Sweden where she mainly teaches about how behavior management can be used to improve animal welfare. She also conducts live seminars, free online webinars and masterclasses in addition to more extensive courses, as well as the occasional scientific publication on the topic of enrichment, animal training and well-being.

CEUs: PPAB 1, CCPDT (pending), IAABC (pending), KPA (pending)

Personality is all about individual differences in dogs and can help explain why some dogs react to life so differently than others. How is personality measured? What personality traits have been found in dogs? How consistent is personality over time? And how does all of this help you when working with dogs? We’ll explore all of these questions and more in this one-hour webinar.

Learning Objectives:

• Define personality and explain why it's important for training and behavior
• Summarize what is known about personality in dogs
• Describe how consistent personality traits such as aggression are over time
• Apply this information to training and behavior work

About The Presenter

Dr. Kristina Spaulding

Dr. Spaulding 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 for 19 years. 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 long-standing member of the APDT Education Committee. She is also a member of the Fear Free Advisory Group and an authorized Speaker for Fear Free. She also chairs a task force for Meeting of the Minds, a coalition of top dog professionals across the country charged with improving the quality of life for our dogs and is a member of the IAABC Foundation Board. You can find out more about her on her website. (http://smartdogtrainingandbehavior.com/online-services/)

CEUs: PPAB 1, CCPDT 1, IAABC 1, KPA 1

In this session, the presenter will go over some of the ways she sees good trainers tweak their shaping sessions using completely different strategies depending on context. She will discuss:

• Why the 80% rule is problematic.

• Bold shaping.

• Cautious shaping – pingponging.

• How the 10 Laws of Shaping evolved into the Modern Principles of Shaping.

• Some common shaping mistakes – and how to address them.

Shaping is the sharpest tool in the animal trainer’s box…theoretically. Practically, it can be hard to execute, and many trainers get stuck. Hopefully, this lecture will provide you with some ideas of how to get unstuck.

Level of difficulty: Intermediate

About Your Presenter

      

Dr. Karolina Westlund

Prof. Karolina Westlund helps pet parents and animal professionals attain happier animals that thrive in the care of humans. She grew up pining for a kitten and pestered her parents until they finally gave in. The resulting black, green-eyed, half-Siamese cat she got for her seventh birthday became a true friend who lived to be 21 years old but was an easily startled cat who often went into hiding when there were visitors. She had grand ideas about becoming a field biologist, but instead she majored in ethology and developed a passionate interest in animal welfare as seen through a multidisciplinary lens, including behaviour analysis and affective neuroscience. She is now an associate professor of ethology at the University of Stockholm, Sweden where she mainly teaches about how behavior management can be used to improve animal welfare. She also conducts live seminars, free online webinars and masterclasses in addition to more extensive courses, as well as the occasional scientific publication on the topic of enrichment, animal training and well-being.

CEUs: PPAB 1, CCPDT 1, IAABC 1, KPA 1

Through a case series, this session will explore how the partnership between veterinary behaviorist, dog training professional and pet parent improves the lives of the dogs they collectively treat.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn through case-based learning how dog training professionals, behavior technicians and veterinary behaviorists can work together to provide the best outcome for the patients that we share.
• Learn through case-based learning how to approach the topic of medical treatment for a behavior disorder.
• Learn through case-based learning what roles the veterinarian, veterinary technician, veterinary behaviorist, and dog training professional play in the outcome of cases.

About Your Presenter

      

Dr. Lisa Radosta DVM DACVB

Lisa Radosta DVM DACVB graduated from the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2000. During her residency in behavioral medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, she was presented with the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists Resident research award two years in a row.

Dr. Radosta lectures nationally and internationally for veterinarians, their staff and lay people. She has written chapters for a number of textbooks including Handbook of Behavior Problems of the Dog and Cat, Blackwell’s Five Minute Veterinary Consult, Decoding Your Cat and Canine and Feline and Small Animal Pediatrics and is co-author of From Fearful to Fear Free. She has also published scientific research articles in Journal of Applied Animal Behavior Science and The Veterinary Journal and written review articles for Advances in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, Compendium, NAVC, Veterinary Team Brief, Clinician’s Brief and AAHA Newstat. She is the section editor for Advances in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery and serves on the Fear Free Executive Council and the AAHA Behavior Management Task Force.

She has been interviewed for many publications including Cat Fancy, Dog Fancy, Palm Beach Post, NAVC Clinician’s Brief, Sun Sentinel, WebMD, AAHA trends, Real Simple, Good News for Pets and AAHA News Stat. She has appeared on Lifetime television, Laurie Live, News Channel 25 (West Palm Beach, WPBF), Mitch Wilder's Amazing Pet Discoveries, Nat Geo Wild, Animal Planet, News Channel 10 (Miami, ABC), and Steve Dale's Pet Talk.  She also podcasts for VetGirl.

Geek Week 2021 - The Sequel

We’re Back and Better than Ever!

Members $250.00. Public $300.00 until August 30, 2021

CEUs

PPAB & KPA 30  CCPDT  24  IAABC 36  PPGA 30 and INTODogs 30 CPD

• We had so much fun, learned so much and you told us what a great experience Geek Week 2020 was for you that we’ve hit the replay button to bring you Geek Week 2021 in November.  But this won’t be just a repeat of last year.  We asked, you spoke and we heard what you wanted so Geek Week 2021 will include the fantastic upgrades you asked for.

Geek Week 2021 will include all of the most popular features that you loved like:

1. Hosted by 4 collaborating,  aligned industry associations.  We all succeed together!
2. The rare opportunity for you to hear from a fabulous selection of international presenters across many disciplines.
3. At Your convenience and a great  value  - 24-hour sessions to accommodate all time zones
4. Your membership working for you - Discounts for PPG, APDT-Australia, PPG-Australia  and INTOdogs members

It’s worth saying again, could there be a better return on your investment? 

1. Great fun and who doesn’t love SWAG - Fabulous prize opportunities and fun competitions each day
2. No risk and easy access for your continuing education - Recordings available for 6 months after the event
3. So much networking and support of those who support you and our industry - Exhibitors, sponsors and special offers
4. The opportunity for you to drill deeper and solidify concepts and ideas
5. Sponsors Spotlight sessions and panel discussions

And Geek Week, The Sequel will also feature:

1. Convenience and ease of use for you - A brand new platform with enhanced attendee networking, chat functions and live Q&A’s
2. For the uber Nerd in you and in all of us, dig deeper into the science with our new GeeNerd track highlighting the leading edge in academia at its very best.
3. You can never get enough free stuff - so of course you’ll have daily chances for raffle prizes
4. The science is great, but when you use  the science in the real world - Oh what a feeling.  Your Behavior “How To” track, shows you specific, tangible skills across many topics that can be implemented into your own practice.
5. You know the importance of rest so ease into your day before tackling all that science with your 7-day fun warm up with daily raffles and presenter interviews starting November 6, 2021.
6. You get all the access you want with Live Q&A sessions with each presenter
7. Put on your party clothes and join your friends and colleagues at your virtual GeekedUP Fancy Dress Cocktail Party including a selection of great prizes.
8. You love your books so we’ve included a Meet The Author Sessions where you can chat with and question your favorite authors and purchase a signed copy of their featured book.
9. AND finally, in honor of all of our rescue heroes out there Geek Week 2021 will be rescue focused supporting the ongoing education of Shelter and Rescue staff

FINALLY - You don’t want to miss out. Get a head start and be the first to know! Grab your early bird ticket now!

Co-hosted by

If you are a member of a sponsoring organization then please make sure you have the registration code so you can acess the membership rates. 

Early Bird – Before August  30, 2021 Member $200.00 Public $250.00

Post August 30, 2021 Member $250.00 Public $300.00

CEUs: PPAB 1.5, CCPDT (pending), IAABC (pending), KPA (pending)

Scent and the assistance dog sent an assistance dog has truly been a giant step forward it has revolutionised assistance dog training throughout the world. From diabetes alert through to the recently more discovered epileptic alert. I will discuss simple methods that could be used and developed in many aspects of scent-work

The objectives for this webinar will encourage the candidates to think about and address the following:

• How can we introduce this to trained assistance dogs?
• An insight into, an ‘open method’ of training using PTSD Nightmare alert as an example
• Could nose-work be used as ‘release’ for the working assistance dog?

About Your Presenter

Dr. Robert Hewings

Author of the award winning ’Scent Training for every dog’ (First Stone Publishers) and head of learning and development for the UK College of Scent Detection, Dr Robert Hewings is a highly experienced Canine Trainer.

Rob retired from London’s Metropolitan Police after 30 years’ exemplary service, 25 of which was as an operational police dog handler. The final nine years as a full-time police instructor with the world-famous Metropolitan Police Dog Training Establishment. He has successfully underpinned his valuable operational experience with the highest academic qualifications, his Doctoral study is entitled ‘Is there a better way? Can humanistic education improve operant conditioning in canine scent detection training?'

During his time at the prestigious Metropolitan Police Dog Training Establishment (2007-2016) Rob headed the training for SWAT dogs, and was active in the instruction and development in all aspects of Police Search Dog Training. He played an active role in the instruction and development of the ‘Canine Training Instructor’ authoring two training manuals, and designing coaching programmes that have enhanced the effective performance of operational dog handlers.

After his retirement in 2016 Rob, took on new challenges to complete his desire to learn, lecturing at university (BSc Canine Behaviour and Training) where he specialised in ‘Assistance Dog Training’, writing his book, and practical assistance dog training using scent-work within epilepsy alert, diabetes alert and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder alert. He also attended Bergin University of Canine Studies where he gained a valuable insight into assistance dog training, particularly for PTSD sufferers.

Rob is now head of learning and development with the UK College of Scent Detection where he has been invited to share his knowledge world-wide, lecturing in USA, Australia and Europe. He is presently engaged in writing two academic papers for enhancing scent detection within the assistance dog community and emotional learning in our dogs.

However, prior to joining the Police Service Rob was a member of the British Army, and as a veteran himself, he has now combined his dog training and academic knowledge becoming a training advisor and consultant for the UK Charity Bravehound (www.Bravehound.co.uk). Here he has pioneered an assistance dog training methodology to incorporate scent alerts for PTSD. Realising the potential of ‘Scent Alert’ for PTSD assistance dogs, where the dog will alert to the onset of a nightmare, or day time anxiety attack. Rob is coaching a Phd student who is writing her thesis supporting and researching Robs hypothesis that dogs can detect these disturbing events, giving our veterans life changing assistance from the dogs.

Finally, Rob truly understands the importance of a positive training schedule with the dogs he trains and the people he coaches. He wishes to share his love and experience of search training with you and your dog. Witnessing the enjoyment, enthusiasm and excitement the dogs get from being engaged in the natural process of ‘nose-work’ has been his guilty pleasure for the last 25 years, long may this continue!!

CEUs: PPAB 1, CCPDT 1, IAABC 1, KPA 1

Communicating in writing can be tricky, and things can quickly snowball into sticky situations that are stressful and not always good for business.

By the end of this webinar, you’ll have skills and scripts that will allow you to communicate effectively and with confidence. When things get heated and the stress is on, you’ll know exactly how to respond – and help grow your business in the process.

Easily handle uncomfortable issues with a professional, empathic tone:

• How do I get an evasive client to settle his bill?
• How do I establish boundaries with a client who calls or texts me several times a day?
• How do I handle a dissatisfied client who’s demanding a refund they’re not entitled to?
• How can I make my cancellation policy sound firm, but kind?

Business writing is a skill, and communicating electronically in an emotionally-laced industry like ours is a specialized skill. But this webinar will turn the chore into a joy!

No more:

• Stressing over having to deal with a confrontation with a client in writing.
• Feeling guilty about the policies you want to establish for your business.

All this, delivered with large doses of humor!

 

About Your Presenter    

Nancy Tucker

Nancy Tucker is a certified trainer with the CCPDT, and a fully certified behavior consultant with the IAABC. She teaches seminars, webinars, and workshops on dog training, dog behavior, and the business end of training throughout Canada, the U.S., and Europe. She has presented at conferences for the Pet Professional Guild, the IAABC, the Dog Event in France, the WOOF! conference in the UK, and The Lemonade Conference.

She also teaches online courses focusing on various topics, including how to resolve separation anxiety, how to use desensitization and counterconditioning to address fearful behaviors, and how to tackle other common behavior issues.

Nancy has written numerous articles on dog behavior and has a professional background in public relations and copywriting. She shares her home in Québec, Canada with her husband and their border terrier, Bennigan.