Issue 26 | February 2023 — General

SMARTER Goal Setting for Animal Professionals Part 2

Summary: SMARTER is a mnemonic used to define measurable goals. This article builds on the concept of SMARTER goals introduced in part 1 and gives examples of how trainers and behavior consultants can give their clients goals that meet the last 4 criteria (Relevant,...

By Elisheba Fay, CDBC, CPDT-KA

Issue 25 | February 2023 — General

SMARTER Goal Setting for Animal Professionals Part 1

Summary: SMARTER is a mnemonic used to define measurable goals. This article introduces the concept of SMARTER goals and gives examples of how trainers and behavior consultants can give their clients goals that meet the first 3 criteria (Specific, Measurable,...

By Elisheba Fay, CDBC, CPDT-KA

Make the Most of Your Lane: Why to Stay Involved in Medical Cases

Summary: When veterinarians and behavior professionals work together, everyone can benefit. Clients and their animals can develop deeper relationships through continuity of support, behavior professionals get the chance to network and expand their business, and...

By Dr. Denise Johnson, DVM, CCBC

Issue 23 | October 2022 — General

Ask the Ethics Committee

The IAABC Ethics Committee is a team of volunteers that adjudicate on ethical matters for the IAABC. Their role is to evaluate complaints about violations of our Professional Code of Ethics, as well as offer original thought and guidance for the future of our...

By IAABC Ethics Committee

Issue 22 | February 2022 — General

A Message From IAABC’s New Executive Director, Kathrine Christ

I am deeply honored to have been offered the role of Executive Director of the IAABC. Thanks to the dedicated service of our prior directors, the IAABC has grown into an organization that has global influence in the animal behavior community. I can’t express how...

By Kathrine Christ MIA CTC CDBC

Issue 21 | December 2021 — General

Issue 20 | September 2021 — General

What is The IAABC Foundation? How is it Different From IAABC?

The IAABC Foundation is a new, non-profit charity with the mission of bringing education, events, and community science to both IAABC members and the public alike.The IAABC and the Foundation both support and advance the field of animal behavior consulting, but how...

Why a Multidisciplinary Approach to Animal Behavior Research Is Critical

Summary:  Using the knowledge and expertise of a multitude of disciplines makes animal behavior consultants better at what we do. Mixed methods are adaptable to many research designs with numerous method pairings that elucidate more information than can be obtained...

By Erin Jones, MS, IAABC-ADT, CPDT-KA, CDBC

Issue 17 | May 2021 — General

Documentation Made Easy!

I am sure you did not become an animal behavior consultant to spend hours writing behavior plans and other reports.  However, for most of us, it is part of what we do and, I think, a necessary part of our work. It helps us stay focused and track progress. What if I...

By Beth Friedman

Five Ways to Protect Your Behavior Consulting Business

Are you thinking of opening your own business as a behavior consultant? Maybe you already have, or you are working as an independent contractor? Being your own boss has a lot of advantages, but there is heavy responsibility as well. As many have learned from the...

By Christina Schenk-Hargrove, Esq., CPDT-KA

Separation-Related Problems: Anxiety Is Not the Only Cause

Separation anxiety (SA) is the term commonly used to describe the collection of behaviors exhibited by a dog who is significantly distressed when left alone. It is one of the most well-studied behavioral disorders in dogs, and yet there is still no consensus of...

By Sharon Carroll CDBC, CHBC

Issue 16 | July 2020 — General

Reinforce This!

As trainers, one of the key skills we have to learn is reinforcement delivery. It looks like the easiest part of training but, in fact, it’s one of the parts that can cause the most frustration for teacher and learner! Errors in delivery can reinforce the wrong...

By Tiro Miller, PhD and the IAABC Editing Team

Boo! Training a Bear 2019

Readers were introduced to Boo, a male grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horriblis), in the Winter 2018 and Winter 2019 issues of the IAABC Foundation Journal. Born in 2002, Boo weighs around 550-600 pounds in the spring, and up to 750-850 pounds in the winter before...

By Cindy Peacock, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP

Experiences from CICA 2020

With great enthusiasm, I traveled to Mexico City to participate in CICA 2020. I arrived two days earlier to meet my IAABC Mexico colleagues and to finally get to know some members of our volunteer team in person. Along with Sandy Guevara, Paola Morali, and Hugo Bravo,...

By Uli Grodeke

Chronic Pain, the Brain, and Behavior

What is pain? Pain, simply defined, is an aversive sensory experience. In general, it can be broadly categorized as either nociceptive or neuropathic. Nociceptive pain is caused by a noxious stimulus, associated with actual, or in response to potential, tissue damage,...

By Nicole Ribeiro

Issue 15 | April 2020 — General

How to talk about….

Everyone has different strengths in how they communicate with clients, and one way to approach a situation won’t work for everyone. In our “How to Talk About…” series, IAABC members talk about the strategies they use to approach tricky situations in their behavior...

Looking Back on Research Experiences

CHBCs Catherine Bell, Suzanne Rogers, and Debbie Busby recently published an equine welfare paper in the journal Animals. Titled “Improving the Recognition of Equine Affective States,” it represents a few years’ worth of work, completed independently of our...

By Catherine Bell, CHBC, Suzanne Rogers, CHBC, and Debbie Busby, CHBC

Issue 14 | February 2020 — General

How to Talk About…

In this regular column, we ask animal behavior consultants how they approach some of the most common challenges in working with clients. This issue, we’re covering two subjects. Lisa Ackerman discusses her approach to working with a family where one or more members...

Puzzle Feeding for Snakes

Environmental enrichment and focus on animal welfare are now common practice for many pets. Some companies have started producing toys specifically designed for foraging. It’s even becoming standard in zoological facilities to provide such opportunities for many of...

By Peter Amelia

Issue 13 | October 2019 — General

Ask the Ethics Committee

The world of animal behavior consulting is always changing—we’re seeing new clients in unique situations, working with individual animals, learning about innovative techniques and cutting-edge research, and trying to navigate business, marketing, and social media....

By IAABC Ethics Committee

Issue 12 | July 2019 — General

From Skinner Box to Show Biz and Beyond

When Marian Kruse entered the University of Minnesota in 1938, her ambition was to major in Latin and minor in Greek. Marian later wrote of “harboring the strange notion of becoming a Latin teacher in Alaska.” Before matriculating and heading to Alaska, however, even...

By William Van Nostran

Rebecca Park Scholarship Winning Essay

Twice a year, IAABC holds a contest for a Rebecca Park Scholarship, which grants the winner a free place on the IAABC Animal Behavior Consulting: Principles & Practice online course. The following essay was the winning entry for Spring’s scholarship, and was...

By Allison Hunter-Frederick

Issue 10 | April 2019 — General

Your Questions about the Joint Standards of Practice 

On September 11th, 2018, IAABC, APDT, and CCPDT announced an agreement called the Joint Standards of Practice. This document, adopted by all three organizations, lays out the principles we believe should govern competent, ethical animal trainers and behavior...

By The IAABC Foundation Editing Team

Pig behavior in videos on social media: Cute, but concerning

I’ve been working with companion pigs for years, and I find them endlessly fascinating. Pigs are still increasing in popularity as household pets after the “mini pig” craze started up about 30 years ago, in part because they make captivating video stars that people...

By Laura Bourhenne

Tort Reform: On Training a Tortoise in Nose Work

I began training dogs as a teenager almost 40 years ago, and my interest in other species has been expanding as I continue to learn and grow as a professional. I have also worked with cats, goats, pigs, horses, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, chickens, ferrets, and...

By Linda Brodzik

What is Cooperative Care?

Cooperative care involves training an animal to not only tolerate handling and husbandry procedures, but to be an active, willing participant in these experiences. Cooperative care is quite common in zoos, where large or potentially dangerous animals cannot otherwise...

By Sarah Dixon, CDBC, Lauren Fraser, CHBC, and Stephanie Edlund, CPBC

Issue 9 | October 2018 — General

Career Paths: Jessica Fritschi

One of the most common questions IAABC gets is about how to get started working with pets and their people. The truth is, there’s no set career path, and no single qualification that prepares you for this uniquely challenging, endlessly fascinating work.  In this...

By IAABC Editing Team

Spotlight on Research: Dr. Tammie King

Dr. Tammie King works at the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition  in the U.K., the fundamental science centre for Mars Petcare that is engaged in a variety of behavior-related projects, in addition to conducting research on pet health and nutrition. Tammie  has published...

By IAABC Editing Team

Issue 8 | July 2018 — General

Issue 7 | April 2018 — General

Boo! Training a Bear

Boo is a male grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), born in 2002. He weighs 550 to 600 pounds in the spring, and up to 750 to 850 pounds in the winter before hibernation. We came to take care of Boo after he and his brother Cari were orphaned at approximately 5 months of age,...

By Cindy Peacock, CPDT-KA, KPA-CTP

Perspective: IAABC’s Aggression in Dogs Seminar in Chile

So, this is huge. When the APDT Chile announced its intention to become part of the IAABC and to host a congress on aggressive dog handling techniques with Trish McMillan Loehr and Michael Shikashio in Santiago de Chile, I pricked my ears: the IAABC’s presence here in...

By Uli Grodeke, CDBC

Career Paths: Katenna Jones

Animal behavior consultants come from all walks of life. One of the most common questions IAABC gets is about how to get started working with pets and their people. The truth is, there’s no set career path, and no single qualification that prepares you for this...

By IAABC Editing Team