IAABC works to promote evidence-based best practice in behavior consulting for all species of companion animals, in homes or shelters. We provide certification and education for consultants all over the world, with the goal of helping clients prevent, manage and modify challenging behaviors in their pets and working animals.

This Summer we’ve been focusing on developing high quality educational resources for animal behavior consultants, animal trainers, and the general public.

New formats for online learning 

We’ve been working with Board members, subject experts and promotions team to diversify the types of courses we offer. Now there’s something to suit every style of learning, time commitment, and schedule.

Our Mentorships program is a completely new style of online course. Mentorships are small class groups where mentees can communicate with expert mentors through an online discussion group and a weekly group video chat session. The mentors will lead discussions and offer help and guidance with mentees’ individual cases. There’s also an option to audit the course for a reduced price and limited access to materials.

We’re also in the process of expanding our range of self-paced courses, so everyone can study in a way that suits their schedule. Parts one and two of Genetics for the Behavior Consultant with Dr. Jessica Hekman are available right now, as well as our popular Defensive Handling for Aggressive Dogs webinar with Michael Shikashio and Trish McMillan Loehr. Our courses team will be developing more self-paced materials in the next few months.

Principles & Practice scholarship essay contest

Twice a year, we offer a scholarship to our Animal Behavior Consulting: Principles & Practice course in honor of Rebecca Park. Principles & Practice is our 12-week, modular, online intensive course, covering every aspect of behavior consulting in all species. It has recently been approved for 43 RACE credits, as well as 36 IAABC, KPA and CCPDT CEUs.

The scholarship is awarded through an essay contest, with a place on our course starting January 9th for the winner. The deadline is November 1st, and all the information you need is on our website. The contest is open to everyone—you don’t have to be an IAABC member to enter. If you need some inspiration, we published Heddie Leger’s winning essay in the last issue of the journal.

Poster projects for cats and horses

We’ve teamed up with illustrator Lili Chin once again to create two new educational poster series aimed at horse and cat owners.

How a cat’s environment is set up can go a long way towards preventing inappropriate scratching and elimination. These posters give tips on how to choose and situate the perfect scratching post and litterbox for maximum catisfaction.

[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”2″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_slideshow” gallery_width=”600″ gallery_height=”400″ cycle_effect=”shuffle” cycle_interval=”10″ show_thumbnail_link=”0″ thumbnail_link_text=”[Show thumbnails]” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”20″]Our poster for horse owners highlights the need to properly fit a noseband so as not to cause discomfort.

[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”1″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_slideshow” gallery_width=”600″ gallery_height=”400″ cycle_effect=”toss” cycle_interval=”10″ show_thumbnail_link=”0″ thumbnail_link_text=”[Show thumbnails]” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]We encourage everyone to share these on social media: IAABC members can also access the print-resolution versions, which can be found in their member accounts under “Resources.”

Position statement gets attention

Recently, there has been significant attention surrounding a new e-collar device from Garmin, which interfaces with a smartphone app. IAABC released an official position statement highlighting the specific, technological issues this device has, which we believe makes it an especially risky tool. Our information was picked up by a number of online magazines, including Dogster, The Bark, Gadgets and Wearables, Care2 and the Animal Rescue Site blog.

Conferences

APDT 2016

 Come and say hello at the Association of Professional Dog Trainers’ annual conference and trade show in Las Vegas on 12th-15th October. IAABC will have a booth where you can learn about who we are and what we do from Executive Director Marjie Alonso, Project Manager Mychelle Blake, and Board Members Ruth Crisler and Renee Hall.

IAABC is also sponsoring a full-day track at APDT. “Aggression Cases: Safety, Defensive Handling, and Case Resolutions” will be an all-day session presented by Trish McMillan Loehr, MSc, CPDT-KA, CDBC and Michael Shikashio, CDBC. Attendees will learn how to safely work with dogs with a history of aggressive behavior using proactive planning, defensive handling techniques, and leash handling skills. Case studies demonstrating application of various behavior modification approaches and safety protocols will be included.

IAABC 2017

The venue is booked, the speakers are being confirmed, and registration is open: Join us for the IAABC Conference on the 4th-6th April 2017. We’re taking over the Los Angeles Hilton DoubleTree Westside for two days of multi-species, multi-track learning and networking opportunities.

Tracks include Parrot, Horse, Dog and Cat, as well as a full-day track on building and promoting your behavior consulting business. The latest details will be on our LinkedIn Showcase page and our Twitter page.