2013_Conference

   April 18

   6:00 - 8:00 pm Check-in & pick up badges

   April 19

   8:00 - 8:45 Check-in & pick up badges

   8:30 Breakfast bagels, donuts & coffee

   9:00 - 12:30   Seminars

      Conference Introduction
             Building upon the common threads: vets, vet techs, shelters & rescues
             The need to be "multi-lingual" when working with animals
             Human social rules vs canine social rules
             Why be proficient in dog psychology?
             Life-changing things that we can all learn from the dogs (really!)

      SHF Feeding Ritual - VIDEO
             Feeding & walking 25 shelter dogs in 25 minutes without so much as 2 barks
                Identifying ways to
                  (1) build trust;
                  (2) teach patience, acceptance of leashes & general manners;
                  (3) address hyperactivity & resource guarding issues;
                  (4) reward good behavior;
                  (5) expand pack cohesiveness
                 efficiently, effectively, humanely & economically

      Canine Behavior & the Concept of Energy
             Hi-energy dogs vs. low-energy dogs (size does not matter)
             Defining the "default mode" of a dog
                  The importance of reaching level 1
             Personal energy
                 Concept of balance
             Working with hospitalized and shelter dogs
                  Training hospital & shelter staffs
                  Recognizing the best people to be working with the animals
              Addressing "poor baby" syndrome!
              Matching the right dog with the right home
               Forward movement & the psychological rehabilitation of dogs
              Consequences & corrections: Picking the appropriate response

   Rituals and Routines - Bringing out the best in shelter & hospitalized dogs
             Why rituals?
             What's the big deal about walking?
                 The male dog myth
                 Pack walking to address prey drive
             Posture & position
             No touch, no talk, no eye contact - why & when
             Helping clients who are new parents
             Creating Positive Packs wherever the dogs are
                 Hospitals, boarding kennels, shelters & rescues
             Rules, boundaries & limitations for the new dog
                 New adoptees, new patients to a veterinary hospital, new dogs at a shelter
             Where time spent up front saves lots of time spent later

   12:30 - 2:00    Midday walk & box lunch on the water

   2:00 - 5:30   Seminars

      Non-verbal communication in dogs (and a few cats, too!)
             Smiles, tail wags & happy feet
             What the tails are telling you & what to do about it
             Isolated dogs: problems in the making
             Ignoring a dog to build trust
             What we say with our hands
             Picturing success, and getting it
             When your voice says "come," but your body says "stay back"
             What your leash is telling your dog
             How your staff & volunteers can improve the client-pet bond
             Veterinary staff & owner-protective dogs (how to get everyone on the same side)
             Kennel construction
             Using one dog to build another's trust
             Claiming space; threshold behavior
             Jumping dogs
             Resource guarding

      Verbal communication (going beyond "good boy!")
             The problem with saying "good boy" to bad boys
             Timing is EVERYTHING
             Substitute behaviors (when NO conveys the wrong message)
             Fence aggression
             Low-level prey drive
             Reading the barks
                 Knowing when to intervene and when not to
             Teaching "orange"
             Naming the behavior - teaching our language to our dogs

      Aggression is not aggression is not aggression (taking the fang out of "Fang")
             Dominance aggression (who's the top dog?)
             Fence-generated aggression (who are you and why do you act that way?)
             Fear-based aggression (I'm going to get you before you get me)
             Resource-guarding (mine, mine, mine, mine)
                 Food aggression (this is sooooo easy to address!)
             Prey drives
             The need for an appropriate response
             Temperament testing for the average Joe

      Interactive teaching: the Chihuahua from Hell
             Introducing muzzles & leashes to scared dogs
             The value of repeated movements
             Positive, negative & neutral zones of cages & carriers
             Capturing the keep-aways

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   April 20

   7:30 - 9:00   Pack walk at the Croatan salt marsh

   9:00 - 9:45   Smoothie bar at the conference center.

   9:50 - 1:30   Seminars

      NC Shelter Disposition Figures - Is euthanasia at municipal shelters (at
          taxpayer expense) the #1 cause of death in NC cats & dogs?
             NC legislation & historic compliance
             2006 - 2011: Are things changing, or is it all more of the same?
             Stats from other eastern states (NH, MS...)

    The big picture: bringing veterinary clinics & rescues into the big pack
             Speaking "clinic," "HVSN," "shelter" & "rescue"
                ....the benefits of being multi-lingual
             Veterinary clinic studies
             TNR: FUN with ferals! (yes, we really wrote that!)
             In-clinic clinics

     Addressing surplus animal euthanasia thru S/N transport
           Identifying & maximizing resources
           Hitting the target through targeted campaigns
           Professionalism: standardized forms & well-trained volunteers
           Group releases
           Training TNR folks - post-op care is VITAL
           Marketing spay-neuter during hard economic times
           When spay-neuter is just the first step: getting pet owners to take the next ones.

     Proven practical practices for clinics & shelters, alike
           Pre-op, intra-op & post up time-savers for veterinary clinics
           For shelters & rescues: the benefits of a good sound bite, maximizing donations-in-
               kind, workamping programs & more!

1:30 - 2:00   Pizza at the conference center

   2:00 - 6:30   Seminars

      Interactive Teaching: Treadmills 101
      (Treadmilling for rehabilitation, exercise, conditioning & behavioral issues)
             Concepts of forward momentum & muscle memory
             Exercise first, then lessons
             Treadmilling for psychological rehabilitation
             Anxiety issues (including separation anxiety)
             Interdog aggression issues
             Introducing dogs to treadmills (it is NOT the same with each dog!)
             ATVing with dogs

      De-stressing for dogs (and their people, too)
             No pop-psychology, just many years of experience from working with shelter dogs
             Making the choice to lead the way with leadership behavior
             Living in the moment (dog fights & dog friends)
                  Learning to let go of frustration
             An excited dog is not necessarily a happy one
                 Teaching "quiet dog"
             Controlling the volcano: how exercise, discipline, and then affection can help with
                 separation anxiety
             Veterinary clinic animal housing vs shelter housing
             Cats, cleaning & pheromones
             Introducing new dogs, umbilical leashes & default modes, revisited

     Veterinary clinics, shelters & rescues, and their communities
             New veterinary clinic models
                 SN clinics - statistics
                 Helping Hands - addressing economic euthanasia
                 Do vets ever really retire?
                 Veterinary behavioral centers
             Shelters & rescues - quantity & quality issues
                 Meeting public expectations or evolving public expectations?
                 Keeping more dogs out of the system by asking more questions (and having the
                     public love you for it)
                 Pets don't teach kids responsibility - parents do (the CA study)

      A school program with veterinary support*
          A fourth grade standardized approach
                    Now in use or under consideration in 16 NC counties
            Meeting character education elements as required under law
            Pet owner responsibility - budgeting for new pets

*A note to fellow vets & vet techs, from one North Carolina veterinarian:

     "I want to share with you how I feel about the Moore County Pet Responsibility Program.
As a veterinarian, I am dedicated to educating clients for the benefit of all animals but am usually limited to the pet owners who enter my hospital. The challenge has always been, "How do I reach the population of pet owners that don't bring their pets to the vet?" This is the pet population that needs the most help. Most of these pets are being raised and treated exactly like the generation before them raised and treated their pets. There is no evolution in the pet owners' expectations of what humane treatment of animals is, or should be.
     Of course, like most veterinarians, I try to speak at schools and community functions but I never seem to be able to target the right population of pet owner - the ones I never see.
     The American Veterinary Medical Association just released the 2012 U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook. According to the report, over 7 million cats and 2.45 million dogs never see the vet. Over 20 million cats and 7 million dogs only see the vet when they are sick. These 27 million cats and 10 million dogs are most likely the pets that are not neutered, unvaccinated, and infested with parasites. These are the pet owners that need the most education but remain inaccessible to veterinarians.
     Enter the Moore County Pet Responsibility Program for fourth graders. This is an amazing way to get the message of Pet Responsibility to all pet owners. The program is fostering a culture of the humane treatment of animals by educating children about the necessities of responsible pet ownership and the children are bringing this message home to their parents and their communities. As a veterinarian, the PRP is the answer I have been looking for. The program is well thought out, organized, easy to teach, and it covers all aspects of pet ownership. It is the perfect program for veterinarians to be involved in and the best way to change the devastating reality for those pets who currently are not receiving proper care.
     The Moore County Pet Responsibility Program should be taught in every fourth grade class in the country."
                       Sincerely,
                   Tamra Edgar, DVM.