The ABC of SA is proud to present seminars by internationally renowned canine behaviour specialists,

Dr. Ian Dunbar and Kelly Gorman.

 These seminars will not only explore the intricacies and science behind dog training and behaviour, but will also teach the practicalities and application of these techniques.

This is an invaluable opportunity to learn practical hands-on skills and would be of excellent value to all dog trainers, behaviourists and behaviour enthusiasts.

Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to learn from one of the world's best!

Click on the links below to view specific information:

• Seminar Contents & Topics - Cape Town

• Seminar Contents & Topics - Johannesburg

• About Ian & Kelly

• Seminar Details

• Booking Details

Seminar Contents & Topics - Cape Town

BEHAVIOUR & TEMPERAMENT PROBLEMS (Day 1)

Behaviour Problems: Learn simple and effective solutions for common behaviour problems, including:

• House soiling
• Destructive chewing
• Excessive barking
• Digging
• Escaping
• Separation anxiety
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders

Socialization & Dog-Dog Aggression

• Socialisation, classical conditioning and confidence building exercises to teach dogs to thoroughly enjoy the company and actions of other dogs and people, especially children, strangers and men
• Causes of dogfights
• Assessment of the severity of fighting problems based on Fight/Bite ratios
• Dog-friendly training techniques for the prevention, treatment and control of dog-dog aggression

Dog-Human Aggression

• Causes of dog bites
• Assessment of the severity of biting problems based on an objective evaluation of the severity of the wound pathology
• Four stages of bite inhibition during early development and puppy play
• Dog-friendly training techniques for the prevention, treatment and control of dog-human aggression
• Progressive desensitising techniques for human approach, proximity, staring, handling and gentling
• “Ouch tests” (particularly for collar, ears, paws, and jaws) and possessiveness around valued objects (e.g., food bowl, bones and toys)

DOG FRIENDLY DOG TRAINING DONE RIGHT (Day 2)

Learning Theory In Practice: All the learning theory that you, or your clients, need to know for:

• Increasing or decreasing the frequency of behaviour

• Putting behaviour (or the absence of behaviour) on cue

• Instructive reprimands sweet and soft, non-scary and non-painful, yet extremely effective punishment techniques

• Objectively assessing performance reliability

Pros, And Cons Of The Most Commonly Used Reward-Based Training Techniques:

• Lure/reward training
• All-or-none reward training
• Progressive reward training (shaping)
• Autoshaping via environmental management
• Physical prompting

Comprehensive Lure/Reward Training Program For Off-Leash Reliability

• Teaching the dog what we want him to do by completely phasing out food lures and replacing with requests (verbal lures)
• Teaching the dog to want to do what we want him to do by phasing out training rewards as they are first replaced by life rewards and then eventually by auto-reinforcement
• The lost force in dog training. Teaching the dog that he must always respond promptly and appropriately by enforcing compliance without fear or force.
• Refining performance reliability, precision and pizzazz
• Protecting performance reliability and precision
• The first three steps focus on establishing response reliability and are all-important in all fields of dog training
• The last two steps for refining precision and for protecting precision and reliability are primarily for obedience, working and demo dogs

Seminar Contents & Topics - Johannesburg

DOG AGGRESSION: BITING & FIGHTING (Day 1)

Dog Aggression Towards People: Biting

• Misleading breed biting statistics and unrepresentative and sensational media coverage

• Hypothetical and practical behavioural models for the causes of dog bites including instincts, drives, traits, interactive traits, situational behaviour, subliminal bite stimuli, superstitious bite stimuli and provocation
• Behaviour vs. Temperament
• Reasons why dogs bite
• Assessment of the severity of biting problems based on an objective evaluation of wound pathology
• The relative danger of four types of dog based on whether or not they are socialised and whether or not they have well-developed bite-inhibition
• Four stages of bite-inhibition training during early development
• Easy and effective methods for prevention and treatment

Dog-Dog Aggression: Fighting

• Development of social hierarchies, male/female and puppy/adult dyadic and group relationships
• Complexity of cooperative social structure, friendships, allegiances and sharing
• The physical “dominance” myth

• "Temperament" tests

• Reactivity vs. Danger

• Condemning occasional “bad” behaviour vs. objectively quantifying good behaviour

• Friendly quotient, absolute count of friendly/appeasing behaviours per minute

• Atmosphere cues
• The purpose of play
• The crucial importance of play-fighting and play-biting
• Good and bad play groups

TRAINING ADULT DOGS & CLASS GAMES (Day 2)

Seminar will be illustrated by video footage

Adult Dog Syllabus:

• Jazz-up and settle down

• Classical conditioning

• All-or-none reward train good behaviour

• All-or-none reward train attention

• All-or-none reward train sit-stay and walk on-leash

• All-or-none reward train “off” and “take it”

• Lure/reward position changes and distance commands

• Proofing Stays

• Lure/reward heel on-leash

• Woof/ shush

Class Games:

• Backwards-Sendout Races
• Rollover Races
• Following Races
• Teaching Steady and Hustle

Differential Reinforcement for quantitative and qualitative improvement of reliability, speed, precision, demeanour etc.

Teaching Discriminated Exercises using a variation on Terrace’s errorless discrimination learning and mega-differential reinforcement in an ongoing test-train-test format

OFF-LEASH PUPPY CLASSES & K9 GAMES (Day 3)

Seminar will be illustrated by video footage

• Protocols For Constructing A Class Syllabus

• Which dog behaviour and training problems are common and predictable

• Which dog behaviour and training issues are urgent

• Which dog behaviour and training problems are serious (dangerous)

• Which training techniques cause owners the greatest difficulty for owners

Cardinal Rules For Puppy Classes

• #1 priority - Bite inhibition
• #2 priority - Socialisation with people
• Off-leash for entire class, unless teaching on-leash walking/heeling
• Training must be integrated into play session, i.e., puppy play must be interrupted with a training exercise at least every 15 seconds

Top 20 Topics For Puppy Class (Ian Dunbar, Berkeley 1981, Rev 2006)

• Bite inhibition
• Socialization, handling and training by people (especially children and men)
• Housetraining, chew toy-training, settle-and-shush for home alone
• Following off-leash
• Lure/reward training: come, sit, down, stand, roll over, and stays
• Socialization and play with other dogs (for bite inhibition)
• Collar grabs and emergency distant sits (four levels)
• Proofing bombproof stays
• Jazz-up and settle down
• “Off”, “Take it” and “Thank you” (valued objects)

The walk: Integrated training and socialization in many environments.

• All-or-none reward training loose-leash walking and automatic sits
• All-or-none reward training, troubleshooting and polite greetings (sit)
• Alternating lure/reward heeling with walking on-leash
• “Woof” and “Shush” on cue
• All-or-none reward training: Time-sampling for good behaviours
• Interactive mental games
• Interactive physical games
• Just plain fun stuff: Tricks

• Vocabulary building exercises and discriminations

About Ian Dunbar & Kelly Gorman

Ian & Kelly maintain that puppy hood is the optimal time to save unwanted adult shelter dogs by teaching puppies of today the skills they need to thrive in our human world, so that they do not become shelter dogs of tomorrow. Their approach focuses on preventing behaviour problems by teaching dogs how we humans would like them to act, rather than simply punishing dogs for natural, yet undesirable, doggy behaviours such as destructive chewing, excessive barking, biting, etc.

They promote user- and dog-friendly training techniques because they strongly believe training should be fun at both ends of the leash. Their current project is the dynamic multimedia dog training and entertainment centre www.dogstardaily.com.

The Dunbar’s travel the world extensively lecturing to veterinarians, dog trainers, shelter workers and dog owners. They live in Berkeley, California with their three dogs and two hand-raised, species-confused cats.

Dr. Ian Dunbar is the Founder of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. He received his veterinary degree and a Special Honours degree in Physiology & Biochemistry from the Royal Veterinary College (London University) and a doctorate in animal behaviour from the Psychology Department at the University of California in Berkeley, where he spent ten years researching the development of social behaviour and aggression in domestic dogs. Dr. Dunbar has written numerous books and he has hosted eleven DVDs on puppy/dog behaviour and training.

In 1981, Dr. Dunbar developed the world’s very first off-leash puppy training classes “SIRIUS” Puppy Training. Certainly, SIRIUS has had a dramatic influence on living with dogs, completely changing the way dogs are trained worldwide. There are very few educated trainers who have not been strongly influenced by Dr. Dunbar's fun & games, from-the-animal's-point-of-view, dog friendly dog training. Dr. Dunbar is peerless in his field; there is simply no other person who has Dr. Dunbar's qualifications, experience, and expertise in the realm of modern psychological dog training and behaviour counselling fields which Dr. Dunbar has played a major role in developing over the past 35 years.

Kelly Gorman is a cofounder and the Executive Editor of the Dog Star Daily a free online, multi-media dog-training learning centre. Kelly is President of Open Paw, a non-profit organization devoted to addressing the unwanted animal problem in a whole new way, arming communities worldwide with valuable user- and animal-friendly training and behaviour information with the goal of keeping cats and dogs out of shelters, by keeping them in their original homes.

Kelly lectures internationally and consults for animal shelters regarding program implementation, layout, and staff and animal training protocols and procedures.

Kelly is a Director for both the Center for Applied Animal Behavior (a multi-faceted business that focuses on teaching people how to train their dogs to be the best canine citizens possible) and for K9 GAMES Corporation (a venture dedicated to bringing fun and games to the process of dog training in order to make it easy, entertaining and accessible for all people, especially including children).

Seminar Details

Notes:

1. The “Package Rate” discount is applicable if all the days are booked.

2. Payments received before 30^th August 2008 will benefit from an early bird discount.
3. Price includes refreshments and lunch.
4. Kelly’s talks will be in the evening and Ian’s talks will be during the day

Booking Details

Please contact Yolanda Beukes on 082 856-4030 or email events@animal-behaviour.org.za for seminar registration forms.

Spaces are limited and bookings will be handled on a “first-come, first-served” basis.

• The Animal Behaviour Consultants of SA © reserves the right to cancel any seminar in the case of unforeseen circumstances. In the case of such cancellation all fees will be refunded.
• In the event of cancellation by the delegate, seminar fees are not refundable.

Last updated: 2008/07/02 02:44:53 PM

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