Unity Training and Behaviour

08/17/2023

Come watch my presentation at the Constructional Approach to Animal Welfare and Training members conference!

🌟Speaker Spotlight🌟CAAWT Membership Shelter and Zoo Conference
We are excited to welcome Bob Siemens (ZBob Siemens) as one of the speakers at this year's CAAWT Membership Conference🎉 Bob will be presenting how our understanding changes if we look at the function of the behavior, rather than the topography of the behavior only. This is an important step in using behavior analysis to analyze behaviors and to program for behavior change🐶✨

Join CAAWT Membership to attend for free AND invite your staff, co-workers, and volunteers from your shelter, zoo, aquarium, or veterinary clinic: https://www.caawt.com/caawt-membership

Here is his presentation title, abstract, and bio💫

⭐️Title⭐️
Contingencies of Reinforcement: The Fearful and the Friendly

⭐️Abstract⭐️
Behaviour comes in many forms. When we look at a particular behaviour our own history's with similar behaviour may skew our opinion of it's purpose. In this presentation we will examine the function of reactive behaviour and how a single form of behaviour may serve different functions across different subjects.

⭐️Bio⭐️
Bob resides in Airdrie, Alberta just outside Calgary and lives with his 3 dogs Frieda, Bella and Ryder and his Cockatiel Zeus. Bon runs his business Unity Training and Behaviour and helps pet parents and their furry family with a wide variety of challenges ranging from fear and aggression to jumping. Bob is a Karen Pryor Academy certified training partner, an accredited dog trainer through the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants and the vice president of the Alberta Force Free Alliance.

08/14/2023

🌟Speaker Spotlight🌟CAAWT Membership Shelter and Zoo Conference
We are excited to welcome Hillary Hankey as one of the speakers at this year's CAAWT Membership Conference🎉 She will be presenting a wholistic view of looking at training with birds with ethics in mind🦅🦜

Join CAAWT Membership to attend for free AND invite your staff, co-workers, and volunteers from your shelter, zoo, aquarium, or veterinary clinic: https://www.caawt.com/caawt-membership

Here is her presentation title, abstract, and bio💫

⭐️Title⭐️
Both/And: How Nature and Nurture Inform Reinforcement Systems in Bird Training Programs

⭐️Abstract⭐️
This is a species by species look at how phylogeny and adaptive strengths and weaknesses can help us build stronger, more ethical training methodology that fine tunes what it means to exhibit natural behaviors in educational and husbandry programs.

⭐️Bio⭐️
Hillary Hankey is a falconer, professional animal trainer, and behavior consultant. She has been living, breathing, sleeping, and dreaming of flying birds free for decades. Though she grew up with a childhood bedroom filled with parrots – much to her older sister’s chagrin – it wasn’t until she met a good friend in college that she received formal education in training. She began free flying her parrots outdoors under her friend’s mentorship and continued for many years flying and training birds. In 2008, when Hillary moved to San Diego, California filled with hopes and dreams and worked for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and the San Diego Zoo, training in free flying bird programs. In her spare time, she volunteered consulting at exotic animal education and bird breeding facilities to broaden her understanding of animals. Along the way, she met her match in Andre Mondin, an animal lover that can keep up with the unique lifestyle of living on a farm stride for stride. Because Hillary got her start flying birds in a much more informal way, connecting birds and people in the prairies and hills at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, her desire was to return to her roots, allow birds to fly in more natural way and for people to experience firsthand what birds are truly capable in the skies.

In 2013, she set out to find the perfect property in rural, agrarian San Diego county. Through setbacks and triumph, she founded the ABI ranch, twenty acres with ocean views and glowing sunsets, and set out to realize her dream of creating a space to build an organization based around progressive training techniques, a place safe for ideas to incubate and grow as trainers explore the importance of ethical training methods, and oasis for visitors to enjoy the company of birds that are as excited to see them as the visitors are to have an interactive bird adventure. Similarly, Hillary knew she also wanted to teach other zoo trainers around the world these concepts and ideas to open the doors of the human-animal connection.

Avian Behavior International was a vision of Hillary’s for a very long time, but jumping off can be scary. Entrepreneurship is a challenging life choice in general; basing a business model on a “service” that can fly anywhere and everywhere is darn near foolhardy. Undeterred, Hillary and Andre have enjoyed sharing their love of animals with everyone they meet. It is with hope, enthusiasm, and a sense of reverence that they carefully, transform the property step-by-step they purchased into their vision, a place for discovery, of excitement, and sustainable, permaculture farm that fondly recalls the idyllic childhood Hillary’s father had in these citrus cloaked valleys of San Diego County.

08/13/2023

🌟Speaker Spotlight🌟CAAWT Membership Shelter and Zoo Conference
We are excited to welcome Morgan Katz as one of the speakers at this year's CAAWT Membership Conference! She will be presenting how she and her team at the MSPCA-Angell adoption centers in Boston, Centerville, Methuen, and Salem, Massachusetts, works with the potential adopters during and after they welcome their family member🐶This is a must-watch presentation for those of you that work and volunteer at animal shelters❤️

Join CAAWT Membership to attend for free AND invite your staff, co-workers, and volunteers from your shelter, zoo, aquarium, or veterinary clinic: https://www.caawt.com/caawt-membership

Here is her presentation title, abstract, and bio💫

⭐️Title⭐️
Supporting the Human Animal Bond Through Matchmaking and Adoption Counseling

⭐️Abstract⭐️
The process for adopting a new dog can be an overwhelming one. A quick internet search for available pets in your area may turn up hundreds of different adoption groups, ranging from individual families seeking to rehome a pet, private rescue groups, and non-profit organizations. At the MSPCA-Angell adoption centers in Boston, Centerville, Methuen, and Salem, Massachusetts, we know that people have many choices when it comes to finding their next family member. We are grateful to those who choose to support our mission and take home a pet from one of our adoption centers. In this presentation, we’ll outline how we design our adoption program to best match the behavioral needs of the animals in our care with the environment, lifestyle, and expectations of the families looking to adopt, and how we layer in behavior support for both the humans and the animal before, during, and after adoption.

⭐️Bio⭐️
Morgan Katz is the Director of Behavior Services for the Adoption Centers at the MSPCA-Angell in Boston, Centerville, Methuen, and Salem, MA. In this role, she develops and oversees programming related to intake, behavior assessments, in-care training and behavior support, matchmaking and adoption counseling for difficult to place dogs, and behavior support to members of the community both post-adoption and for surrender prevention. She and her team assist with staff and volunteer training on the aforementioned topics.

Morgan earned her Master of Science degree in Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas where she studied under Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz. Her research interests included using touch as a reinforcer to teach shelter dogs calm behavior, and changing problem behaviors related to aggression and separation anxiety. Morgan’s thesis research involved adapting a shaping procedure to teach fearful dogs in shelters to approach and interact with people. Morgan also graduated from the Karen Pryor Academy as a Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP).

Morgan currently lives on the north shore of Massachusetts with her three dogs Jase, Tula, and Marne. She credits her passion for helping dogs and the people who love them to her first and best dog, Jerry.

08/12/2023

Having a plan during your training is a crucial part of success. Having an idea of what you are going to do when things go wrong or what your next step you will take when successful is what makes a great trainer.

08/11/2023

Resolving problem behaviours can sometimes be tricky. But it can be done without the use of fear, pain or punishment. In fact, certified and accredited organizations for dog trainers encourage the use of LIMA (least invasive, minimally aversive) methods, if they don't advocate for ZERO aversive methods.

All problem behaviours can be resolved without the use of punishment. If you are struggling with finding a way to resolve it on your own, then before reaching for a the stick, try finding someone who is trained in finding other ways to use the carrot.

Organizations like the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, the Karen Pryor Academy, the Certification Counsel for Professional Dog Trainers, the Academy for Dog Trainers and the Pet Professional Guild, are all certify trainer and behaviour consultants in LIMA or zero aversive standards and have a trainer locator built into their website.

08/08/2023

When a dog performs an undesirable behaviour, the dog can't be the one to blame. There is always something the human could have done differently to prevent the dog from acting out. It is always best to learn from our mistakes and be better prepared next time.

08/05/2023

Enough said! 💯

08/05/2023

I'll be presenting at the 2nd Constructional Approach to Animal Welfare and Training membership conference! Any member can attend for free AND invite anyone from their shelter or zoo for free as well!

We are pleased to announce the CAAWT Membership Shelter and Zoo Conference - FREE FOR ALL CAAWT MEMBERS - a special 3-day virtual conference from August 25th to 27th from 6:00 pm Eastern time🎉 Here is the speaker lineup ✨

One of the programs we run is CAAWT membership. With CAAWT members, we explore, think, learn, and solve various behavioral challenges encountered with different animals, like dogs, cats, and exotic animals. CAAWT members are designing and implementing amazing work and obtaining remarkable outcomes!

To celebrate their wonderful work, we are hosting this conference! We will have several special guests from their expert field in animal shelters and zoos! You will learn a wide array of training programs to achieve meaningful behavior change across several species of animals, how we can ask questions to understand their behaviors better, help identify the training programs best for our learners, and use many different kinds of consequences to reinforce good behaviors and more!

You can join the conference by joining the CAAWT membership! Once you have joined the membership, you can invite all your coworkers/employees of any shelter, rescue, zoo, or veterinary clinic to join the conference for free🤩

Learn more about CAAWT membership:
https://www.caawt.com/caawt-membership

We will have more information about the conference soon! Stay tuned🙌🏼

08/04/2023

Just like any sort of fear based behaviour, when the environment its self is scary we need to change the association with the environment.

There are a number of ways to change environmental associations:

📌 Nose work does a great job at this. Hide really high value treats around the area, making sure to keep distance from any objects that may worry your dog a little bit more then others. You can slowly start moving them closer and closer to those objects as your dog's comfort level grows.

📌 Practicing your basic training. Skills your dog is highly confident with. Any sort of operant conditioning is a fantastic way to apply classical conditioning. Practicing known skills that have been trained with positive reinforcement in a new environment will get your dog having fun and build their confidence.

08/02/2023

As the summer heat sets in, we want to ensure that you and your pets have a safe and enjoyable season ahead!

We have compiled some valuable Summer Pet Safety Tips to help you keep your pets cool, happy, and healthy during the summer. Click the link below to get the free PDF! 🐶

https://linktr.ee/unitytrainingandbehaviour

Additionally, you can also sign up using the link below to get more exclusive contents in the future!

http://eepurl.com/hsojOL

08/01/2023

Reactivity can come from a number of places, but not one of them is because your dog is being a jerk, dominant or for no reason at all. All behaviour has a function and reactivity is your dog going over their stress threshold and communicating that they are uncomfortable. Listen to them when they are speaking and give them space from what they are reacting towards.

07/29/2023

You and your dog are more than just companions; you're a dynamic team! Building a strong relationship is essential for making this team truly remarkable. Show your four-legged buddy that he can trust you 100% by being consistent and patient in your training.

07/28/2023

Stress is a natural part of life, and our dogs experience it too. Just like we coach children to navigate challenges, let's guide our dogs in coping with stress and building resilience. Provide clarity, consistency, and meet their genetic needs to reduce stress. Regular exercise, engaging games, and prompt health care are essential.

07/25/2023

Remember, overcoming dog aggression starts with shedding light on their fears and uncertainties. Help them conquer fear and uncertainty with love and patience!

07/24/2023

Fancy tricks can be fun but aside from showing off they don't really serve a purpose. Many of the skills the average owner teaches their dog CAN be very useful.

Take "shake a paw" for example. Many people teach shake a fun trick their dog needs to perform in order to earn treats, but that is functionally useless. Shake could be used for teaching cooperative nail trims, taking the stress off your dog when you have to force it on them.

How about teaching your dog to play dead? Cool trick or useful skill? I opt for useful skill every time! Trips to the vet can be made a lot less scary when your dog know what to expect. When the vet needs to listen to their breathing or heart, check teeth or ears, play dead is a fantastic way to get them to lay calmly and still on their side in order to allow the vet to examine them.

So when you're teaching a trick, ask yourself what can your dog get out of this other than just a treat. Ask yourself why you're teaching that skill. Your vet will love you too.

07/23/2023

Dogs have a very natural set of behaviours they do which may vary a bit depending on the breed.

Unfortunately many of these behaviours are not in line with what many humans consider to be a "good dog". But taking away or preventing these qualities is also taking away their dogness and their forms of expression, communication and fun.

Let's try and change how these behaviours are viewed and allow them to present them in a natural manner. At the very least understand why they do them and that it doesn't make them "bad dogs", it just makes them dogs!

07/20/2023

Instant messaging, fast food, email and TV shows that portray months of work in half an hour including the ones about dogs made our society evolve into an instant gratification nation.

We want things that will happen now and nothing else will suffice. There are some things that just can't happen overnight though. When it comes to behavior change, often behaviors are deeply rooted and ingrained into a dog's repertoire and have been practiced for years.

Other times they are simply just genetic. These behaviors take time to change and it needs consistency and patience. When we use techniques that rely on behavior suppression rather than force free, positive reinforcement, science-based methods, we are actually teaching our dogs that the world is scary and they have every right to be and even more afraid of their fears, taking away their ability to communicate how they feel.

07/18/2023

In case you didn't know, we are now offering dog walks in airdrie! This is our client searching for squirrels, contemplating a dip in the creek and just generally being a good girl!

07/15/2023

When it comes to pain and punishment people seem to think the shock is superficial. In reality there is a whole host of things going on under the hood everytime you press that button including the release of stress hormones.

We all know that excessive stress can have some major side effects on our bodies. Every time you activate the shock, you are flooding the dogs body with chemicals that make him feel stressed and unpleasant. Everytime that happens he will associate those bad feelings with the environment because our bodies are hardwired to to keep us out of situations that cause pain and discomfort even more so then they are to keep us in situations that will help us survive.

Every time you press that button your are inducing a mini panic attack in your dogs body. Everytime you give a cue and press that button your dog is associating your voice with the shock. Everytime you press that button you are breaking your dogs trust that you are supposed to keep him safe.

07/14/2023

Lighting, static electricity, a 9 volt battery, and an e-collar walk into a bar, the bartender says "you all have something in common, but I can't put my finger on it" The e-collar replies "it's shocking isn't it?!"

07/11/2023

By choosing a path of compassion and understanding, we create a training journey that's filled with trust, joy, and mutual growth. Let's leave behind prong and shock collars and embrace a training approach that brings out the best in you and your dog.

07/07/2023

The first stop on the humane hierarchy is health, wellness and enrichment. When these core aspects of an organism are not met, it often displays in the form of behaviour issues. Many trainers see these problem behaviours and start looking for ways they can train the behaviour out of the dog. While this may seem to solve the issue from the outside, the dog is still missing a vital aspect of its over all welfare. This could be anything from health and safety to diet and the ability to exhibit species / breed typical behaviours.

Some training may be vital in the process of ensuring we are encompassing the entire welfare aspect of the humane hierarchy.

This may fall under the category of force free and cooperative grooming and veterinary care, counter conditioning, and teaching behaviours such as recall to allow a dog to safely burn some energy and have fun experiences outdoors.

But before we use training to overcome problem behaviours don't forget to make sure all an animal's needs are being met.

07/05/2023

Small dogs loose so much choice in their life because they are small and easy to manipulate. While there are some benefits to being able to pick up your dog whenever you want such as endless snuggles, moving them away from something that frightens them or getting them out of the kitchen, all these things can be done without picking them up.

Picking dogs up is a good way to accidentally hurt them. Let's give them some choice and control and only pick them up when they want to be picked up.

07/03/2023

Reinforcement happens everyday of our lives and is the primary reason why we behave. Without reinforcement, our world would crumble down around us. A bribe is a cue or an SD. When the mother says to the child "I'll give you a cookie if you do the dishes", the statement is a bribe, the cookie is a reinforcer. Just the same as the the statement "do the dishes or else" is a threat and avoiding the aversive is the reinforcer.

06/30/2023

This might be controversial but I stand by it. Behaviour is a study of one. We hear it all the time but rarely apply it. We follow procedures and processes designed and put into practice by industry pros and often, but not always, they work. They work because there is science behind them, but just because there is science behind them and they follow LIMA standards does not mean they are the most effective or even most humane approaches for the individual.

06/29/2023

06/28/2023

Without trust, your relationship means nothing.

06/26/2023

We don't take our kids to Toys R Us to teach them math. Why do we expect dogs to learn loose leash walking on a walk? 🤔🐾

Today, let's talk about the incredible power of our canine companions' noses and how it affects their ability to learn loose leash walking.

06/26/2023

Come find us at Pawz in the Park in Airdrie July 22nd!!!

FROM BIG & FURRY, TO SCALY & SMALL - PAWZ IN THE PARK CELEBRATES THEM ALL! THIS IS THE PET EVENT AIRDRIE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR!