Managing Separation Anxiety in Shelter Dogs
Separation related problems result in extreme mental suffering in affected dogs and negatively impact the quality of life of their owners as well. With time, these types of problems can severely damage and eventually destroy even the strongest of human animal bonds. Helping pet owners to understand that affected dogs are not “acting out” and that they don’t just need “more structure” or “more exercise” is imperative if we are going to solve these problems. This presentation will review the most common clinical signs of separation anxiety, some of the “red flags” in a dogs history that suggest it may have a separation related problem and how to accurately identify the problem. Some practical approaches to treatment will also be presented.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Valarie Tynes, Shelter Veterinary Behaviorist, SPCA of Texas
Dr. Valarie Tynes is a native Texan and received her DVM from Texas A&M University. She worked in private practice for 14 years before beginning her residency in clinical animal behavior at the University of California at Davis in 2000. She has been a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists since 2003 and is also Board Certified in Animal Welfare. Her special interests are the behavior and welfare of pet pigs, exotic pets and zoo animals. She has been actively involved in the Fear Free initiative since its inception and serves on the Fear Free Speakers Bureau. She is a frequent speaker at veterinary meetings around the world and author of numerous articles and textbook chapters. She currently serves as the Shelter Veterinary Behaviorist for the SPCA of Texas in Dallas.
About Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection:
Join us on the fourth Thursday of every month as we talk about dog and cat behavior - supporting pets in our community and animal shelters. Each month, we hear from speakers about topics of interest to our group, such as behavior medications, modifying animal behavior, assessing and improving animal welfare, and how organizations successfully provide behavior support to dogs and cats.
Who should join: Animal welfare staff and volunteers who are interested in dog and cat behavior, and everyone who works to keep pets out of shelters and in homes.
You only need to register once for all meetings: https://maddies.fund/MonthlyBehaviorRegistration
Can't attend live? Register anyway and you will get a link to the recording within a day or two after each meeting.
All recordings and resources shared during the webcast will also be available in the Maddie's Monthly Behavior Connection group on Maddie's Pet Forum - https://maddies.fund/monthlybehaviorconnectionMPF
Maddie's Fund does not share registration information.
The opinions expressed by webinar presenters are their own and do not necessarily represent those of Maddie’s Fund.