A Journal Review - A PPG Membership Benefit

Not a one-way road—Severity, progression
and prevention of firework fears in dogs

with Stefanie Riemer PhD.

Join us for this 60 minute session where we will review this paper with Stefanie Riemer PhD . When you register you will receive a link to download the full paper

Abstract

Noise fears represent a highly prevalent welfare problem in dogs. An online survey was performed to explore severity and progression of firework fears in dogs, and relationships with demographics, health, behaviour problems and owners’ training efforts to prevent or alleviate firework fears. Fifty-two percent of dogs in the sample (N = 1225) were at least partially affected by firework fears, and the majority developed a fear of fireworks in the first year of life, with a decreasing frequency of new occurrences up until seven years, and only few newly affected dogs beyond this age. While almost three-quarters of fearful dogs had recovered by the next morning following firework exposure, recovery took up to one day in 10%, up to one week in 12%, and several weeks or even months in >3%. Univariate analyses indicated a significant effect of breed group, age, sex, neuter status, origin and age at acquisition on severity of firework fears in dogs. However, binomial models including multiple predictors of presence/ absence of firework fears identified only age, breed group (mixed breeds being most affected), health problems, and an interaction between health problems and age as significant predictors. This discrepancy might be explained by collinearities of predictors and underlying differences between mixed-breed dogs and purebreds, such as mixed breeds being acquired from shelters more often and being neutered more often. Firework fears are highly correlated with fears of gunshots and thunder, and to a low extent with fears of other noises, but not with any other behavioural problems. Both improvement and deterioration of firework fears were frequently reported. While an early age of onset and breed differences point to a strong genetic contribution to firework fears, the data indicate that training puppies or non-fearful adults to associate the noise with positive stimuli is highly effective in preventing later development of firework fears

About Stefanie Riemer PhD.

PD Dr. Stefanie Riemer is a behavioural biologist and dog behaviour consultant in Vienna, Austria. During her PhD at the University of Vienna, she investigated personality development in pet dogs. Subsequently, she was involved in several research projects at the University of Lincoln (UK), where she explored impulsivity and reward responsiveness in dogs. From 2016 to 2022 she headed the Companion Animal Behaviour Group at the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern (Switzerland), where her research focused on emotional expression in dogs, puppy socialisation, noise fears, the mitigation of fear at the vets, and the phenomenon of ‘ball junkies’ and possible parallels with behavioural addictions in humans.

Besides publishing over 30 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, it has always been important to Stefanie to create a link between science and practice. She does this in seminars for dog trainers and behaviourists, dog owners and veterinarians. Her seminar topics include personality in dogs, the interplay of genes and environment, optimal puppy raising practices, emotions in dogs, or more specifically, understanding fear from a neurobiological perspective and interventions to help fearful dogs.

www.hundeuni.info, www.facebook.com/hundeunibern, www.instagram.com/hundeunibern, www.twitter.com/RiemerStefanie

How The Scholarly  Circle Works 

1. Register for the event
2. Download the paper
3. Review the paper
4. Document any thoughts or questions you have
5. Join the live event
6. Using your camera and audio setting you can participate in the session

Email Marketing Quickstart

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

Registered for the live event, get busy and cannot make it!

No worries you will automatically receive a recording!

Kick-starting your email marketing strategy can be a daunting task. It takes all the things that small businesses and non-profits don't seem to have- time, effort, and budget. This workshop is designed to assist you with finally taking the email marketing leap you've wanted to make. Whether you are looking to finally commit to getting started with email marketing or you know there are some best practices you missed when starting out, we will get you off and running (or continuing to run) on the right foot!

In this presentation, we’ll cover:

• Why email marketing must be a part of your marketing strategy
• The 7 elements of successful design
• How to grow your email list
• How to write your email
• How to design your call to action
•  And much more!

About Your Presenter

Tracey Lee Davis, founder of ZingPop Social Media, turns busy small business owners into online marketing rockstars! A social media expert and Certified Partner for Constant Contact, she coaches entrepreneurs in how to grow their business using social media and provides total management for their email marketing campaigns. Tracey Lee is also a featured speaker for associations and business groups. She is a 2022 Silicon Valley Woman of Influence, Alignable's 2022 Local Businessperson of the Year for San Jose as well as a Top 25 U.S. Business Mentor of 2021, a Certified Content Marketing Strategist, and the Co-Owner and Vice President of the Women’s Networking Alliance. She also really, really loves cheese.   

Trauma, Memory, & Learning - Understanding and Working with Dogs Impacted by Trauma 

presented by Danielle Beck

CEUs pending: PPAB , CCPDT, KPA , PMCT , & IAABC 

Registered for the live event, get busy and cannot make it!

No worries you will automatically receive a recording!

In this session, we will explore the neural mechanisms underlying trauma and its profound impact on a dog's cognitive development. Come and gain a deeper understanding of how trauma disrupts a dog's ability to learn, hindering their progress in training programs and impeding their overall well-being. Gain insights into the challenges faced by traumatized dogs in memory recall and adapting to new situations. Learn about the impact of trauma on a dog's social engagement system and discover strategies to support them in rebuilding trust and fostering positive social interactions.

Join our webinar to unlock the secrets of how trauma affects our canine friends. In this eye-opening session, we will provide practical strategies and interventions to support dogs on their journey to recovery. Whether you're a professional in the field or a concerned dog owner, this webinar will equip you with the knowledge and tools to make a lasting difference.

Learning Objectives

In this webinar, attendees with understand how trauma impacts the brain of our dogs. How trauma affects their ability to learn and their executive functioning. how trauma affects a dogs ability to form and recall memories and how this impacts learning. How trauma impacts a dogs social engagement system. We will look at what this looks like and how we can help support these dogs.

About Your Presenter -   Danielle Beck

Danielle is an enthusiastic and passionate Clinical Animal Behaviourist and trauma-informed rehabilitation trainer. They have been helping people to find the best way to help their animals for over 20 years. The primary species Danielle works with are dogs however, due to her background in zoology and work within zoological facilities, she is happy to see both domestic and non-domestic species. Danielle lives with her assistance dogs and often supports others with the training of their dogs for future assistance dog work. Danielle often breaks down complex neuroscience into easy-to-explain analogies featuring meerkats and founded a trauma-informed educational resource for caregivers and pet professionals called Control The Meerkat. Danielle offers professional mentoring and support for other pet professionals, particularly those wanting to progress to the role of Clinical Animal Behaviourist.

WHERE PANELISTS  ENGAGE AND DISCUSS SOME OF THE IMPORTANT ISSUES IN OUR INDUSTRY.

Advocacy Panel - The Shock-Free Coalition,

What Is it and How You Can Help

The goal is to both advocate and inform through purposeful discussions and debate while networking, building relationships, and having some fun.

Come and join the PPG Advocacy Committee for our monthly event.

The Advocacy Panel is a selection of notable practitioners, scientists, and representatives. 

The sessions are live streamed via the PPG public Facebook page. 

Members who choose not to view the live feed on Faebook may access these events using zoom where we will also provide closed captioning.  

If you are not a member of PPG then please access the event via our Facebook page live stream. 

The PPG Facebook Page is  https://www.facebook.com/PetProfessionalGuild

Taking the Grrr out of Grooming Your Dog 

presented by Sue Williamson

CEUs pending: PPAB , CCPDT, KPA , PMCT , & IAABC 

Registered for the live event, get busy and cannot make it!

No worries you will automatically receive a recording!

In this webinar Sue will discuss  techniques to help guardians make grooming easier for their dogs, including: desensitisation techniques, and consent based technique.

The webinar will also disucss and cover why grooming is important, the best brushing techniques, and some considerations why dogs may find grooming aversive.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the desensitising  grooming processes to make grooming less stressful
• How to encourage  guardians to think about their dogs emotional state during the grooming session .

About Your Presenter

Sue Williamson is a canine grooming behaviourist specialising in dogs with grooming sensitivities. She is also the author of "Taking the Grrr out of Grooming" series of books and founder of the Facebook Group Taking the Grrr out of Grooming Dogs.

Sue is one of the leading voices in improving the emotional welfare of dogs in the grooming environment and is also a Animal Centred Education Advanced Tutor, Tellington TTouch Practitioner and Low Stress Handling Silver Certified.

The impact of having a close bond with a pet dog or cat on owner health.

Presented by Dr. Tiffani Howell

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

Registered for the live event, get busy and cannot make it!

No worries you will automatically receive a recording!

The media is full of reports about the benefits of pet dog and cat ownership, However, these reports do not reflect the current state of the science around the impact of pet ownership on human health. Some studies show improved health for pet owners compared to non-owners, but others show no effect, and still others show that pet owners are worse off than non-owners.

The reasons for these mixed results are unclear. It may be that the quality of the pet-owner relationship is a factor. When measuring the quality of the relationship and correlating it with health outcomes, however, the results are still confusing. In some cases, a stronger relationship with one's pet is related to worse health, especially mental health, when there is limited social support from other people. This presentation will describe the evidence base in detail and attempt to disentangle these confusing results.

At the end of this webinar, participants will know:

• The current evidence base for pet ownership and human health
• Why the evidence isn't as clear-cut as is often reported in the media
• Understand the importance of a high quality pet-owner relationship in addition to, rather than instead of, human social support networks

About Your Presenter

Tiffani is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Psychology and Public Health at La Trobe University. She has extensive experience in research on animal welfare, dog-owner relationships, and assistance dogs, including surveys, focus groups, and behavioural studies. She recently completed a four-year trial, funded by the Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs, to understand the effectiveness of assistance dogs as an adjunct to treatment for veterans with PTSD.

The Genetics of Dog Aggression.

 Presented by Dr. Jessica Hekman, DVM, PhD

CEUs: PPAB 1, CCPDT 1, IAABC 1, KPA 1

What do (and don't) we know about how genetics affects canine aggression?

In this webinar, Jessica Hekman will take a deep dive into her own area of research - how genetics affects personality in dogs. How much of canine personality is due to genetics and how much to environment? How do researchers track down genes related to personality? Have any such genes yet been found? Can we expect a genetic test for dog reactivity any time soon? In this webinar, Jessica will particularly address examples from human literature about traits that are similar to reactivity and aggression in dogs, why they are so hard to understand from a genetics viewpoint, and what the future holds for us.

As always, there will be something for everyone, so come listen and ask questions, whether you are just starting to wrap your head around genetics or whether you're a confirmed science geek!

About The Presenter

Dr. Jessica Hekman, DVM, PhD

Jessica is a veterinary researcher who is fascinated by dog behavior. After eleven years working as a computer programmer, she decided to go back to school to research the causes of behavior problems in dogs. She received her veterinary degree in 2012 from the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Massachusetts, where she also received a Master's degree for her work on stress behaviors in hospitalized dogs. After graduation, she completed a year-long internship specializing in shelter medicine at the University of Florida Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program. She received her PhD in genetics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studying a group of foxes (often known as the "Siberian silver foxes") which have been bred over many generations to be friendly to humans. She is currently working at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard as a postdoctoral associate, studying the genetics of behavior in pet dogs through the Darwin's Ark project and the Working Dogs Project. Her ultimate goal is to find genetic causes of fearfulness in dogs, to work with behaviorally challenged shelter dogs, and to help people better understand the science behind dog behavior. She also frequently teaches online classes and webinars about canine genetics and behavior. Jessica lives in Raymond, NH with her husband and three dogs. You can follow her on Twitter @dogzombieblog or on Facebook at facebook.com/dogzombieblog.

Terrible Teens 

Presented by Lorna Winter 

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

A Webinar Sponsoring The Pet Training Science Alliance 

Join us for this webinar all  about adolescence and puppies turning into adults. We will talk a little about the science behind what is happening physically, as well as what is happening emotionally.

The webinar will provide practical advice on how to guide and coach pups and their owners through this time, with the key things to watch out for to ensure a smooth transition during this critical stage of development that MOST dog owners, aren't even aware exists.

Learning Objectives

• Puberty and Teenage emotions
• Family interactions and handling
• Single event learning
• Secure attachments
• Reactivity
• Concentration & Frustration
• When to ask for help

About Your Presenter

Head of Programme and Co-Founder zigZag Puppy App

• Diploma in Companion Animal Behaviour
• Chair of CAPBT (COAPE Association of Applied Pet Behaviourists and Trainers)
• A Director of the UK Dog Behaviour and Training Charter

Lorna has over 25 years of experience in Marketing and Innovation, 17 of which have been in the petcare space. Lorna is also a fully qualified Dog trainer and Behaviourist (Dip CABT), is currently chair of CAPBT and is a Director of the UK Dog Behaviour and Training Charter.

In the team, Lorna is known as the ‘Dog Guru’ and her speciality is the incredible drive that she has to improve the welfare of all animals, but she focuses this on dogs for us at Zigzag (she’s also a crazy hedgehog lady but don’t tell anyone!).

Lorna lives with her utterly adorable rescue dog ‘Alvin’ – oh and her husband John.

Preseners Business 

Why Zigzag?

We are puppyhood specialists and don’t believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Puppies comes in all shapes, sizes and temperaments and this is why we create tailored plans by breed, and age, which also align to the unique development windows puppies have where they easily learn vital skills for life. This is what makes our approach seem so intuitive!

Conquering Noise Fears - how to help your fearful dog based on science 

with Stefanie Riemer PhD.

Noise fears are the most common “behavioural problem” in dogs, affecting up to half the pet dog population. For a long time, using noise recording for desensitisation/ counterconditioning has been the gold standard in the treatment of noise fears. Recent research by Dr. Stefanie Riemer has indicated that counterconditioning to real-life stimuli and relaxation training may even have higher success rates.

In this webinar, Dr. Stefanie Riemer will give an overview over the best management and training approaches to conquering noise fears in dogs, including many video examples and training instructions. The focus will be on different approaches to counterconditioning. Dr. Riemer will also cover when and how to use noise recordings correctly, as well as give a brief overview over relaxation training methods, and training dogs to create noises by themselves. Finally, she will talk about what to do when time is too short for training or when training is not sufficient to relieve a dog’s anxiety. The talk focuses primarily on firework fears, but the advice applies similarly to fear of thunder or of other types of noises.

Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate awareness of the biological background of noise fears
• Be equipped with a range of mangement options to reduce stress in dogs during noise events as much as possible
• Possess knowledge of the most effective training approaches to conquering noise fears in dogs, including
• (1)Counterconditioning (both to situational stimuli and in a planned training setting)
• (2)Where noise recordings have their use
• (3)Relaxation training
• (4)Games in which dogs can elicit noises or object movements themselves
• Appreciate that not all noise fears can be resolved by training alone and when anxiolytic medication may be indicated

About Stefanie Riemer PhD.

PD Dr. Stefanie Riemer is a behavioural biologist and dog behaviour consultant in Vienna, Austria. During her PhD at the University of Vienna, she investigated personality development in pet dogs. Subsequently, she was involved in several research projects at the University of Lincoln (UK), where she explored impulsivity and reward responsiveness in dogs. From 2016 to 2022 she headed the Companion Animal Behaviour Group at the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern (Switzerland), where her research focused on emotional expression in dogs, puppy socialisation, noise fears, the mitigation of fear at the vets, and the phenomenon of ‘ball junkies’ and possible parallels with behavioural addictions in humans.

Besides publishing over 30 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, it has always been important to Stefanie to create a link between science and practice. She does this in seminars for dog trainers and behaviourists, dog owners and veterinarians. Her seminar topics include personality in dogs, the interplay of genes and environment, optimal puppy raising practices, emotions in dogs, or more specifically, understanding fear from a neurobiological perspective and interventions to help fearful dogs.

www.hundeuni.info, www.facebook.com/hundeunibern, www.instagram.com/hundeunibern, www.twitter.com/RiemerStefanie

To Spay or Not to Spay – That is the Question.

Presented by Dr. Jessica Hekman, DVM, PhD

CEUs: PPAB 1, CCPDT 1, IAABC 1, KPA 1

Veterinarians used to routinely recommend that your dog be neutered (spayed or castrated) at 6 months of age.  That recommendation has been questioned in the past decade as information about the possible health consequences of early age neuter (or neuter at any age) comes to light.

Jessica Hekman, DVM, PhD, will discuss what we know about the relationship of spay/neuter timing and changes in the risk of development of cancer and/or of orthopedic injuries such as cranial cruciate ligament disease (CCL tear).  She will also talk about how spay/neuter can affect behavior, for better or worse.  She will specifically discuss some recent studies and will detail problems designing effective studies to ask these questions. She will also cover alternative approaches to the traditional spay/neuter surgery. If you are wondering when, or if, you should neuter your dog, make your decision based on facts, not emotions.

Learning Objectives:

• Interpret recent findings about spay/neuter outcomes in light of what those studies can actually tell us
• Make reasoned decisions about the risk of cancer/orthopedic disease and early spay/neuter
• List alternatives to traditional spay/neuter and compare their pros and cons to traditional spay/neuter
• RELAX about this decision!
  

About The Presenter

Dr. Jessica Hekman, DVM, PhD

Jessica is a veterinary researcher who is fascinated by dog behavior. After eleven years working as a computer programmer, she decided to go back to school to research the causes of behavior problems in dogs. She received her veterinary degree in 2012 from the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Massachusetts, where she also received a Master's degree for her work on stress behaviors in hospitalized dogs. After graduation, she completed a year-long internship specializing in shelter medicine at the University of Florida Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program. She received her PhD in genetics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studying a group of foxes (often known as the "Siberian silver foxes") which have been bred over many generations to be friendly to humans. She is currently working at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard as a postdoctoral associate, studying the genetics of behavior in pet dogs through the Darwin's Ark project and the Working Dogs Project. Her ultimate goal is to find genetic causes of fearfulness in dogs, to work with behaviorally challenged shelter dogs, and to help people better understand the science behind dog behavior. She also frequently teaches online classes and webinars about canine genetics and behavior. Jessica lives in Raymond, NH with her husband and three dogs. You can follow her on Twitter @dogzombieblog or on Facebook at facebook.com/dogzombieblog.

Cognition Under Stress 

with Daniel Shaw

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

Registered for the live event, get busy and cannot make it!

No worries you will automatically receive a recording!

This webinar aims to examine the impact of environmental stressors on canine cognition. Specifically, examining the way the brain perceives and interprets information and how learning in the presence stressors such as poor welfare or punitive training methods lead to negative outcomes for the animals.

About Your Presenter

Daniel Shaw BSc (Hons), GMBPsS, CDBC is an animal behaviourist with a background in animal behaviour, psychology and neuroscience. As the owner of Animal Behaviour Kent, Daniel has a successful track record of supporting dogs and cats with behaviour problems, and has a special interest in the effects of trauma on animals. Daniel is a degree qualified psychologist, a certified dog behaviour consultant with the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants (IAABC), and is currently obtaining a masters degree in neuroscience.

Presented by Shay Kelly

CEUs:  PPAB ,  CCPDT ,  KPA ,  IAABC &  PMCT  - Pending

A Webinar Sponsoring The Pet Training Science Alliance 

This webinar explores Tinbergen's four questions relating to the mechanism, survival value, development, and evolution of behaviour. During the webinar, we will ask whether these questions are still relevant and what other questions we should ask about behaviour.

About Tinbergen according to The University of Oxford.

In 1963 Niko Tinbergen published a seminal paper entitled ‘On the aims and methods of ethology’, which laid the foundation for how to conduct research in the fledging field of animal behaviour.

Tinbergen formulated four different, albeit somewhat interlinked, approaches to the study of animal behaviour, or four different types of questions we can ask about an observed behaviour

The four questions are:

1. Function (or adaption): Why is the animal performing the behaviour? How does the behaviour increase the animal’s fitness (i.e. its survival and reproduction)?

2. Evolution (or phylogeny): How did the behaviour evolve? How has natural selection modified the behaviour over evolutionary time?

3. Causation (or mechanism): What causes the behaviour to be performed? Which stimuli elicit or what physiological mechanisms cause the behaviour?

4. Development (or ontogeny): How has the behaviour developed during the individual's lifetime?

Learning Objectives 

• The learner will be able to identify and evaluate distinct causes of behaviour, based on Tinbergen's four questions.
• The learner will be able to consider further questions of behaviour.
• The learner will be able to consider the relevance of Tinbergen's questions, in relation to modern-day canine behaviour assessment.

About Your Presenter

Shay Kelly is a behaviour consultant and author of three books. Canine Enrichment: the book your dog needs you to read, Dog Training & Behaviour: a guide for everyone, and Puppy Nurture: raising your puppy with love.

Shay holds a Foundation degree in Applied Canine Behaviour & Training, Bachelor's degree in Canine Behaviour Management, and a Master's degree in Applied Animal Behaviour & Training. Shay has specific interests in enrichment and olfaction.

Preseners Business 

Triage for Dog Training Professionals: An interactive webinar

Presented by Kristi Benson and  Jean Donaldson 

CEUs: PPAB , CCPDT , KPA , & IAABC 

A Webinar Sponsoring The Pet Training Science Alliance 

Triage—that is, identifying and prioritizing issues in order of urgency for treatment—is an important skill for dog training professionals, who are often presented with dogs that have a veritable laundry list of issues and dog guardians who have limited bandwidth together with a tenuous understanding of animal welfare and public safety. During this webinar, the Academy for Dog Trainers staffers Jean Donaldson and Kristi Benson will operationalize triage with plenty of useful examples, and then, using a case-study format, have an interactive segment with audience participation to practice making triage decisions in sample cases.

Learning Objectives

• When triage is unimportant/when the client can choose
• Important considerations for triage: Public safety, animal welfare, and others
• Scripts for clients to assist with getting buy-in to treatment plans
• How triage can guide you to refer cases as needed

About Your Presenters

Jean Donaldson is one of the top dog trainers in the world and has lectured extensively in the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. She is a four-time winner of The Dog Writers’ Association of America’s Maxwell Award, and her seminal book The Culture Clash was named number one training and behavior book by The Association of Pet Dog Trainers.

Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of the Academy for Dog Trainers, where she earned her Certificate in Training and Counseling (CTC). She has an online school helping dog guardians with a variety of behaviour issues, such as barking and house soiling. Kristi is also on staff at the Academy for Dog Trainers, helping to shape the next generation of canine professionals. She handles special projects such as the Academy's Husbandry Project, books webinars, and is a student mentor and coach.

Preseners Business 

The Academy for Dog Trainers is a two-year comprehensive professional program in evidence-based pet dog training, behavior, class teaching and behavior counseling.  The Academy will celebrate its 25-year anniversary in 2024, and has certified over one thousand behavior counselors and trainers.  After running it for 10 years out of The San Francisco SPCA as an in-person full-time program, Jean re-invented the program as a self-paced part-time online course in 2011.

Creating Behaviour Modification Plans in

Challenging Environments (shelter) 

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

A Webinar Sponsoring The Pet Training Science Alliance 

This webinar looks at how we can create successful behaviour modification plans in challenging environments. from shelters to busy households learn how to work around challenges

• Understand the importance of BMPs in shelters 
• Learn how to introduce HAPPIER Bmps for challenging enviroments 
• Learn about setting appropriate goals for BMPS

About Your Presenter

Tom Candy

A passion for animal welfare and training led Tom (he/him) to undertake a BSc (Hons) in Bio-veterinary science and a MSc in Clinical Animal Behaviour from the University of Lincoln (UK). Having started volunteering in rescue at the age of 15, Tom has been involved in a variety of aspects of rescue including fundraising, home checking, transporting and general day to day operations.

Currently Tom works as a Senior Training and Behaviour advisor with the UK’s largest canine welfare organisation, where he supports the training and behaviour teams across the southwest. Tom is responsible for supporting and advising managers and Training and Behaviour Advisors on matters relating to behavioural concerns and helping to promote higher levels of welfare for dogs.

Tom is a Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (UK) and a Certified Canine Behaviour Consultant and Certified Shelter Behaviour Specialist with the International association of Animal Behaviour Consultants. He has been luckily enough to speak on several Shelter behaviour related topics across webinars, pods casts, workshops and Conferences both in the UK and internationally including America, Canada, Spain and most recently at the International Companion Animal Welfare Conference in Bulgaria where he presented on meeting dogs needs in a kennel environment and ran workshops on topics such as enrichment and training as part of everyday life in kennels.