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 Thursday, May 11, 2024 at 12n Pacific/3p Eastern (60 minutes)
REGISTER HERE
Can't attend the live event? Register anyway! This webcast will be recorded, and a link will be sent a day after the live event ends.
A major welfare concern in animal shelters is excessive barking from kenneled dogs. This contributes to noise pollution, can cause hearing damage, and has a negative impact on all animals within earshot. This study demonstrated that by implementing a simple classical counterconditioning exercise, consisting of instructing all ward passers-through to toss treats to each dog regardless of behavior exhibited, could change the emotional state of dogs from negative to more positive, thus reducing fear and frustration that often leads to excessive barking.
Data analysis showed that implementation of this simple exercise did reduce barking at clinically relevant levels even with a changing shelter population. Additionally, for each percent increase in compliance rate, there was an average decrease of 17.3 dB in the maximum decibel reading. Moreover, an overall positive change in attitude from most dogs towards visitors further showed the positive effects of the study.
Learning Objectives:
1. Attendees will learn to identify and apply basic learning theory, specifically focusing on Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning, to dogs in a kennel setting.
2. Attendees will learn to identify risks and consequences of noise pollution in shelters, and also ways to reduce it to improve welfare of all species in the shelter.
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 approval for 1 hour of continuing education credit in jurisdictions which recognize the Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) approval.
About the presenters
#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment#DataandTechnology#EducationandTraining------------------------------
Alison Gibson
Media Projects Manager
Maddie's Fund
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