Animal Training Academy

* 1:40 - Ryan introduces Nancy Tucker * 3:15 – Nancy’s journey into positive reinforcement training * 8:19 – How a background in public relations helps Nancy as a trainer * 15:13 - Find Nancy online at nancytucker.com to find out more about her work * 17:53 –Nancy offers - Five tips for happier clients * 55:50 – Preventing compassion fatigue and burnout by listening to clients to find solutions and by adjusting our expectations * 57:32 – Behavior change takes time and requires patience * 1:05 – What Nancy would like to see happen in the next 5-10 years in the animal training world * 1:08 - Ryan thanks Nancy for coming on the show * 1:09 - Ryan directs people to www.animaltrainingacademy.com to find out more about ATA - including membership

* 1:40 - Ryan introduces Eduardo. * 4:00 – About where Eduardo's Behavioural odyssey * 13:48 – A definition of Behavior Analysis * 29:25 – Three basic tools to help you use data collection in your animal training. * 1:06 - What Eduardo would like to see happen in the next 5-10 years in the data collection, behavior analyst, animal training world. * 1:10 – Various events Eduardo has coming & information about the Behavioural Enrichment Animal Research Group and Animal Reinforcement Forum groups  on Facebook.

Kathy Sdao, an expert in positive reinforcement animal training, shares her journey from training dolphins to working with dogs. Topics discussed include the difference between cues and commands, phrases from non-violent communication, and dealing with compassion fatigue. She also provides five tips for non-violent communication and discusses her hopes for the future of positive reinforcement animal training.

Petra Edwards Bio Petra is a dog trainer in Adelaide, South Australia and has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) with a specialisation in Animal Behaviour. She also holds the professional canine trainer accreditation through the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. Petra is currently studying her PhD investigating how dogs experience their veterinary visits. She hopes her research will not only shed light on the veterinary experience, but offer practical and achievable solutions for improving welfare in the veterinary context. Petra has been involved in the dog training industry from a young age and has worked extensively over the years as an assistant and instructor of pet dog training classes and puppy pre-schools. She is fascinated by all things behaviour and especially loves helping owners and dogs live happily and companionably through positive reinforcement.

Eva Bertilsson - Bio Eva Bertilsson has a master’s degree in behavior analysis and a passion for all things related to behavior, learning and animal welfare. Together with business partner Emelie Johnson Vegh, Eva runs their collaboration Carpe Momentum, teaching seminars on the general principles of behavior and learning, and coaching trainers in the art of structuring great training sessions regardless of the venue or the species. Eva is a board member of the Swedish Association for Behavior Analysis, a faculty member of Clicker Expo, and an enthusiastic disseminator of ethical practices based in behavioral science. In addition to her own teaching, she has also been instrumental in introducing TAGteach ™ and Fear Free™, as well as numerous renown speakers (for example Susan Friedman, Susan Schneider and Clive Wynne), to the Scandinavian audience.

Dr. Robert Hewings, retired police dog handler and head of learning and development for the UK College of Scent Detection, discusses the evolution of scent dog training in the British police force, the importance of positive reinforcement, and the use of food rewards and storytelling in training. He also explores his research on recognizing the scent of nightmares and the value of reflection and storytelling in learning and transferring knowledge.

Michelle Skurski Bio Michelle is going on almost 30 years now training animals in a zoological setting.  She began her career at a facility called marine World Africa USA, training predominantly tigers.  She joined Disney in 1998 and in 2001 became a Zoological Manager of Behavioural Husbandry.  In this role she supports the animal care teams at Disney’s Animal Kingdom with maintaining training and enrichment programs for all species under their care.  Along with her special interest in tigers Michelle has a passion for training reptiles large and small.  Currently she sits on the AZA (American Zoological Association) Professional Development Committee and is co-course administrator and instructor for the AZA Professional Course: Environmental Enrichment in Zoo and Aquarium Settings.

Agnieszka Janarek Bio Behavior nerd, advocate of choice in animal training, nosework addict, obedience and concept training geek, trainer with passion and knowledge. Founder of Polish Nosework Association. Owner of three rescued mixed breeds with whom take part in various canine sports. Agnieszka relies on international education (courses and seminars in the USA, UK, Netherlands, Germany) and experience. Her priorities are combining learning science and practice, dog-handler relationship and balance between maintaining precision and fun.

Lindsay Wood Brown Bio Lindsay Wood Brown is a board-certified Associate Applied Animal Behaviourist (ACAAB) with a master’s degree in Animal Behavior.  She specializes in finding solutions for behavioural challenges and consults for animal shelters on the design and implementation of behavior programs, effective behavior modification methods, and the development of robust operational strategies to achieve behavioral health for animals within the shelter environment. Lindsay teaches seminars and workshops around the country and serves as a faculty member for Karen Pryor Academy and Clicker Expo.  She offers coaching and 1:1 mentorship opportunity for behavior consultants. Lindsay has a long history of leadership and building high functioning teams within animal shelters.  She served as the Director of Operations for Lynchburg Humane Society (LHS), an open-admission animal shelter located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  Her role at Lynchburg Humane included the oversight of all shelter operations, with a strong focus on behavior and behavior modification to increase the number of animal lives saved and successfully rehomed. Lindsay served for 8 years as the Director of Animal Training and Behavior for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley in Boulder, Colorado.  She developed Boulder Humane’s Training and Behavior Department, including their comprehensive behavior modification program, which focuses on rehabilitating dogs with specific behavior conditions, including resource-guarding, fearful behavior, body-handling sensitivities, separation anxiety, and dog-dog aggression.  Lindsay also developed the Humane Society of Boulder Valley’s curricula for a wide array of positive reinforcement, clicker training classes for community members.

Jean is the founder and principal instructor of The Academy for Dog Trainers.  The Academy is celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2019.  She is a four-time winner of The Dog Writers' Association of America's Maxwell Award.  In 2017, Jean was recruited to create Dog Training 101 for The Great Courses. Born in Montreal, Canada, Jean founded the Montreal Flyball Association, and Renaissance Dog Training, the first positive reinforcement-based school, and counseling service in the province.  Her own dogs and dogs she has trained have earned numerous titles and wins in a variety of dog sports, including OTCh, TDX, HIT and FDCh.  While a student, she worked as an adoption counselor at the Montreal SPCA and later served on its Board of Directors.  Before founding The Academy, Jean did exclusively referral aggression cases for six years.  She lives in Oakland, California, with her dog, Brian, adopted in 2015.