Intake and Adoptions - Behavior History When taking in animals you need a thorough behavior history, in order to find the best next home. To get honest, useful information we will review:

1. What to ask
2. How to ask it, and
3. Having good adoption counseling tools.

1. Assess an animal's emotional state
2. Safely handle the animals &
3. Reduce animal stress.

1. Why shelters are stressful;
2. How to recognize signs of stress in dogs and cats, and
3. What steps to take to reduce stress.

1. How to implement enrichment and achieve:
2. An interesting, challenging, stimulating environment,
3. Encouragement to think, learn, explore, engage, and
4. Wellness - mentally and physically, which can also reduce stress.

Aggression in Dogs: It's a serious, complex behavior, and a frequent cause for surrender. You need to understand the aspects of aggression that we review:

1. Where aggression comes from;
2. Why dogs exhibit aggression;
3. How to recognize it on intake;
4. The difficulty of trying to modify it; and
5. Liabilities and risks if behavior modification fails.

1. The dog's basic personality,
2. The dog's sociability & temperament, and
3. It's threshold level for aggression.
4. The goals: better re-homing matches and less exposure to potential aggression for adopters and others.

1. How they learn,
2. How best to communicate & train them, and
3. The basics of behavior modification for troubling behavior.

Kelley Bollen, MS, CABC is a Certified Animal Behavior Consultant with a Master's degree in Animal Behavior who has specialized in shelter behavioral care for over fifteen years.

Kelley is the former Director of Behavior Programs for the Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. Kelley currently serves as a member of the Shelter Medicine Program's Academic Steering Committee at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University where she is also a lecturer.

Kelley is the owner of Animal Alliances, LLC (www.animalalliances.com) - an animal behavior consulting business in Northampton MA, and she consults with animal shelters across the country to help address behavioral wellness in the shelter. In her previous position as the Behavior Manager for the Massachusetts SPCA Kelley conducted published research on shelter dog behavior evaluations. Kelley is an invited speaker at national conferences on subjects relating to shelter behavioral care.

DOG ETIQUETTE
Due to space limitations, we will not be permitted to have dogs in the meeting room (other than service dogs, of course).

PEOPLE ETIQUETTE
During the lectures, please turn off all cell phone and pager audio alerts. Please take all private conversations outside while the speakers are presenting.

BABIES
The presence of a baby is likely to be distracting to other participants, so we ask that you refrain from bringing any babies or very young children into the lecture hall.

VIDEOTAPING
No videotaping or audiotaping is permitted. A selection of videotapes and books will be available for sale.

BOOKS & TOYS, ETC. FOR SALE
A selection of books, videos and toys will be available for sale.

PARKING
There should be ample parking at the seminar location.

SEATS
The lecture hall provides metal folding chairs. If you prefer, you September bring another chair or cushion for your comfort.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE
VA: Thursday September 8

REFUND POLICY
All deposits fully refunded, at any time, in case a person needs to cancel a reservation for any reason. There is never a cancellation fee.

Local drive times: 10 min. from Fairfax; 35 min. from Arlington, DC & Silver Spring, 1 hr. from Baltimore.

Just a short distance from Exit 54 of the Capital Beltway. Take Braddock Rd /Rte. 620 Exit (Exit 54 A or B) about 1/4 mile to Port Royal Rd. Woodruff Ct. is the 2nd left off of Port Royal.

For registration inquiries, contact:
email: events@puppyworks.com