HSVMA webinar: Peek Before You Pick: How to Select a Dog Trainer

Presented by: Dr. Melissa Bain, DVM, DACVB, MS, DACAW 
Wednesday April 17th, 2024 | 8 - 9:30 pm ET

Have you ever wondered about how to choose a dog trainer that you are comfortable sending your clients to? If so, you are not alone. In this talk, we will review learning theory and the responsibilities that veterinary professionals have when referring their clients for training and behavior modification for their dogs. With real-life examples we will go over how to best identify trainers that utilize humane and scientifically-sound methods, along with how to identify misleading verbiage that some trainers use in order to help you best support your patients.

Learning objectives:

• Understand what type of dog training or animal behavior professional to whom to refer dogs having varying needs.
• Be able to develop a strategy to preliminarily identify trainers' methodology from the internet and social media.
• Be able to identify common phrases, pictures, and links that are likely to indicate the use of aversive training methods and humane training methods.
• Understand basic concepts of operant and classical conditioning, including positive and negative reinforcement, positive and negative punishment, flooding, and desensitization and counterconditioning.