Dog Trainers' Retreat on Aggression and Reactivity

This is a two-day event focusing on working with aggressive and reactive behavior in dogs. Day one is aimed at professional dog trainers and will feature case studies of challenging cases presented by Emily Lewis, a certified dog behavior consultant through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. Casey Matthews-Lomonaco will present on teaching relaxation skills with these dogs. Day two is aimed at trainers, owners, walkers and other animal care professionals and will focus on how to live with reactivity, including how to address dogs' behavioral needs while working through training with possibly restricted activities.

Day one with Emily Lewis: Changing Reactive and Aggressive Behaviors without Aversives:

• What are aversives and how do they work?
• How does the prior use of aversives complicate a behavior case?
• Workflow from intake to final lesson with client
• Safety procedures
• Behavior assessment and tracking tools
• Detailed presentation of several case studies including human directed and intrahousehold aggression

Day one with Casey Lomonaco: Teaching Relaxation Skills

• Implementing relaxation protocols to promote relaxed behavior in dogs and why they're helpful for dogs exhibiting aggressive behaviors.

Dogs struggling with aggressive behaviors may also struggle when triggers are absent. All dogs, but particularly those with behavior problems ranging from aggression to anxiety to arousal issues benefit from learning relaxation behaviors. In this half day session, we will explore the relaxation protocols that are currently available, how some of these exercises may be tailored to a family's lifestyle and their dog's particular behavioral needs, and the differences between and advantages of the various protocols available to pet owners and professionals. This curriculum will contain information included in Casey's popular online course for Behavior Vets, "From Stressed Out to Chilled Out."

Day two with Emily Lewis: Living with Reactivity:

• What is reactivity?
• What causes reactivity?
• What is threshold, and why is this concept important?
• Trigger stacking
• Safety equipment for walks
• Leash handling - demo and hands on
• Management strategies for improving quality of life
• Alternate behaviors
• Changing emotional responses
• Clicker games and training demos

Day two with Casey Lomonaco: Enrichment

• Everyday strategies to address behavioral needs while dogs and their people proceed through reactivity training.

This half day session will focus on the benefits of enrichment - providing creative and structured outlets for physical activity and mental stimulation - for dogs who exhibit challenging behaviors. We will review various types of enrichment and how they can tap into aspects of the predatory sequence. You will learn about Casey's "Fulfillment Funnel" which has helped thousands of shelter and client dogs (as well as more than a few human toddlers!) learn to better manage their arousal in stressful situations. We'll learn about how to tailor enrichment and exercise programs to dogs of various breeds and life stages, and how you can turn trash to treasure by making DIY enrichment for your dog (or other companion animals)!

Ceus:

IAABC: 6 per day

CCPDT: pending

Emily Lewis, CDBC, has 22 years of professional experience as a trainer, shelter behavior consultant and veterinary technician. Emily is a certified dog behavior consultant with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. Emily has ten years of experience working in shelters doing behavior evaluations, dog to dog testing, creating enrichment and training plans, and counseling adopters. She specializes in a wide variety of behavior issues, including human directed aggression, with aggression cases having become a significant portion of her client list in 2012. Emily was a guest instructor on dog behavior including aggression at the University of Vermont in 2023. She operates Vermont Dog Behavior in Bristol, Vermont. Emily loves working with pet guardians and their dogs to strengthen the human animal bond through positive training. Over the last 20+ years she has worked with a variety of breeds from terriers to mastiffs to mutts. She has experience with rescue dogs and the unique issues they face - and is the proud owner of three of her very own. She has also owned and trained deaf, blind, and physically impaired dogs, and this is an area close to her heart.

Casey Matthews-Lomonaco, KPA-CTP, FDM, FFCP, has been training dogs professionally for more than two decades. Casey has supported clients through her business Rewarding Behaviors Dog Training in Binghamton, New York, and has also served as the Director of Behavior and Training at both the Chemung County Humane Society and the Tompkins County SPCA. She has been a member of the faculty for Camp Unleashed and Glen Highland Farm, and has presented for numerous webinars, seminars, and conferences including Maddie's Fund Shelter Medicine Conference at Cornell University Veterinary College and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants conference. She is a past board member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. She has authored hundreds of articles on dog behavior for sources like clickertraining.com, dogster.com, dogstardaily.com, and the Huffington Post. Currently, Casey works at Behavior Vets NYC and lives in Central New York with her senior Chow mix, Austin Danger Chowers.