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9:05 a.m.
Plenary Session:
Recognizing and Reducing Fear and Imminent Aggression in Dogs and Cats
Have you ever worked with a dog that was perfectly fine greeting one person but later, suddenly lunges at another person? Or a dog that seems friendly in one situation but barks ballistically in just a slightly different situation? In this session, you’ll learn the common body language indicators of fear and imminent aggression as well as less noticeable, fleeting expressions that, when missed, can result in people getting bitten. You’ll learn how and why fear manifests in different ways, with different people, and in different contexts. You’ll see video of people engaged in behaviors that inadvertently make the dogs’ fear worse.
And you’ll learn strategies for addressing fear and aggression when handling pets in your classes, in a kennel, at a groomer, in a shelter, and in a veterinary setting even when time is limited and the dog is not food motivated. This presentation includes videos of a variety of dogs in different contexts and situations as well as case studies.
10:15 a.m.
Handling Difficult Dogs and Cats in the Hospital and Shelter Setting
Think you don’t have time to teach an old dog (or cat) new tricks? Think again! You influence an animal’s behavior every time you interact with him, so you might as well make it a positive experience for both of you. In this presentation, Dr. Yin shows how to modify each interaction—from the initial greeting to restraint for blood draws—to have maximum positive impact on the pet. You’ll learn how to do this quickly and safely, too. Examples include toweling techniques for dogs and cats, non-scruff holds for venipuncture, and using food motivators without further arousing an already hyperactive animal. This session focuses on how to quickly and easily modify handling and restraint techniques, based on the behavioral response of the dog and includes narrated video clips so you can see it being done. Ensure your patients love their visits to your hospital!
11:40 a.m.
Sanitation to Save Lives
We all know the importance of cleaning and sanitation in an animal care facility. In an animal shelter, where many animals come to us with an uncertain health history, a successful sanitation program can be literally life saving. On the other hand, an unsuccessful program wastes time, uses un-necessary chemicals and can even transmit more disease than it prevents. In this lecture we will review research that shows surprising information about the success and hazards of various products and methods of sanitation commonly used in small animal facilities. We will discuss sanitation for hands, feet, laundry and equipment as well as animal housing.
2:00 p.m.
Horrible Headaches to Broken Backs: Assessment and Treatment of Neurological Patients
Overview of basic neuroanatomy and the neurological exam followed by a brief description of the most common neurological diseases in dogs and cats.
3:25 p.m.
Efforts to Decrease Length of Stay by Satisfying the Behavior Needs of Young Shelter Cats - Experience from the SF SPCA
Increased number of bite cases involving young cats with a high play drive in the shelter are a big challenge. Feline aggression is a very common behavior problem. All young cats have the need to play, explore and “hunt”, however some cats have a stronger need to perform these types of behaviors than others. To offer such opportunities in a shelter type situation can pose a challenge due to limited resources, space and time. The size of housing is obviously restricted in addition to limited mental and physical enrichment options. More often then not a visitor or handler is the only moving object and can easily become the target of the aggression. Play–related aggression sounds benign, but can result in severe injuries. Aggression can involve unsolicited attacks towards people or other animals. The injuries can range from mild scratches with claws to strong inhibited bites that break the skin. Bites to handlers pose big problem in the shelter, as these animals will then have to be quarantined, which not increases their length of stay, but further decreased their positive interactions with humans, which then can lead to a rebound effect of aggression (quarantine = no visits). In this presentation we discuss a different approach to play aggression, which starts with assessing young cats to determine play motivation and the initiation of a behavior plan specifically tailored to the needs of these young cats.
10:15 a.m.
Alternative Adoptions Options for Dogs
Most shelters and rescue organizations place pets into traditional homes but exciting possibilities await those with special skills who start new careers with service organizations. Hear from a panel from National Disaster Search Dog Foundation and Dogs for the Deaf about how to create similar opportunities.
11:40 a.m.
Leveraging Social Media to Improve Results
Join Len Devanna for a provocative and practical discussion around the opportunities to leverage emerging social channels such as Twitter, Facebook and others to better engage with your audience.
2:00 p.m.
Combating Compassion Fatigue for Animal Welfare Professionals
Everyone in the animal welfare field is vulnerable to compassion fatigue - whether they work directly with the animals or in administrative, board, or other positions. This session will provide an overview of compassion fatigue in the animal welfare field and tools for maintaining the resilience necessary to prevent it. Topics will include what makes animal welfare professionals vulnerable to compassion fatigue, how compassion fatigue develops, warning signs and what you can do about it.
3:25 p.m.
Create the Board You Want….By Fixing Yourself
Passive boards. Micro-managing boards. Disruptive board members. Boards that won’t raise money or follow-through on their commitments. Boards that simply frustrate the heck out of us and defy all understanding. We point our fingers and roll our eyes at THEM. But what if you discovered that the solution is not to change THEM? What if you could change the dynamics by making a few changes to the system or the structure or your approach? We will look at the many ways we unintentionally create unsupportive boards and how, with some intention and clarity, we can create the boards we want.
4:50 p.m.
Plenary Session: Closing Comments and Reception featuring Rich Avanzino
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