Issue 4 | May 2017
The Cognitive Revolution and Everyday Dog Training: The Case of “Look at That”
If you love dogs and haven’t yet heard about the canine “cognitive revolution,” you’ve been living in a bubble. Sara Shettleworth broadly defines cognition as “an array of mechanisms by...
Counter-Conditioning a Parrot: Kokoda’s Video Diary
Kokoda is a 16 month old female Eclectus Parrot. She was purchased from an Eclectus Specialist breeder in New South Wales and flew to me in Western Australia at around...
Communicating with Clients: “Why do People Pay me for my Advice and Then Tell me I’m Wrong?”
A veterinary behaviorist friend of mine once asked me, “Why do people pay me for my advice and then either ignore it or tell me I'm wrong?” I don't think...
IAABC News for Spring 2017
Stand by for #IAABC2018! More than 200 people attended our 2017 conference in Los Angeles last month, and we were overwhelmed by the energy and friendship that developed between people...
Toward Greater Awareness of Welfare in Animal Assisted Interventions: The Animal Assisted Play Therapy™ Model
The broad field of animal-assisted interventions (AAI) has grown in popularity and publicity in the past decade. One hears more and more reports in the media about the value of...
Training Bite Inhibition in the Dark
The idea that, through certain socialization protocols, we can train a dog as a youngster to inhibit its bite as an adult is the foundation for many aspects of living...
Simple Solutions for Common Behavior Issues in Shelters
Since 1990 I have been volunteering in or working with a variety of shelters and rescue groups, until 2013 when I accepted a full-time position at Best Friends Animal Society...
Identity Crisis (It’s a Good Thing to Have One): Discovering the Heart of Your Behavior Business for Sustainable Success
In our first article in this series, we tackled some of our collective industry assumptions about financial obstacles. We talked about the important reasons why we need to start to...
K9 Nose Work® in Shelters
The winter months are cold and damp in Kansas. During this time, a lot of our dogs do not get out for enough exercise. At the Lawrence Humane Society, we...
Evaluating Research
Every behavior consultant knows not to rely on a client’s description of a pet’s behavior—you have to see that behavior yourself. Trained eyes see differently. This is just as true...
Pawsimony: Pitch Please
This video pops up every so often on social media as new groups find it and, um, chime in. The claim is, this is a demonstration that dogs have “perfect...
Enrichment Involving Human Interaction Saves Lives
As I walked through the intake room of a large county animal shelter in Dayton, Ohio, evaluating dogs to enroll in the Behavior Modification and Enrichment Program (BMP), I stopped...
Cat Social Lives: Current Knowledge and Future Directions
Although cats are stereotypically thought to be aloof and unsocial, domestic cats display great flexibility in their social behavior. Cats have the ability to live solitarily, to live in extremely...
Why Is My Dog This Way, Does It Matter If We Know, and What Can We Do?
As we all know, clients almost always want to know why their dogs are having problems. Many hasten to blame themselves (often citing certain TV shows and their failure to...
Shelter Canine Behavior Evaluations: Why The Animal Rescue League of Boston Uses MATCH-UP II
Over the past 15 to 20 years, behavior evaluations have become the standard of care in shelters for identifying dangerous and potentially aggressive dogs that may not do well in...
Helping an Overachieving Horse Relax
One of the benefits of training with positive reinforcement is eagerness in training. Getting an experienced animal to come to you or stay with you is not usually a problem....
Birds Need to Fly
One of the benefits of training with positive reinforcement is eagerness in training. Getting an experienced animal to come to you or stay with you is not usually a problem....
Equine Video Ethogram
Understanding body language is one of the core skills anyone living with animals needs in order to make the best decisions about their care. If you can see that what...
Spotlight on Research: Parrot Enrichment
This issue, we caught up with Joanna Berger, who recently graduated with Distinction from the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Medicine. As part of her Master’s project,...
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Mike is an emerging animal behaviorist sitting in Minnesota in the US. He carries an MSc in social science research methods (U. of Kentucky) and brings a passion for understanding how the methods we favor shape the knowledge we privilege. Coming from careers in teaching and non-profit program evaluation, he found companion animal behavior by accident helping anxious feline friends in a unique shelter in Ohio. It is a privilege and a joy to combine these and advance the journal in this exciting time of growth.
Alexandra is a certified dog behavior consultant and holds a PhD in neuroscience. She has spent over a decade in academic research and is author of numerous scientific articles on different aspects of brain development, including olfaction, neurogenesis, and memory formation. Her work as a behavior consultant focuses on creating trusting relationships between humans and their dogs through communication, respect, and science-based knowledge. Alexandra is very dedicated to promoting more science within the dog training world. She supports dog guardians and professionals to build a solid understanding of scientific principles and provides guidance on how to apply these to life with dogs. She runs Canine Mindscape in Alicante, Spain.
I’m an Argentinean-Italian dog trainer and CSAT who spent eight amazing years in Brazil learning and working with dogs. Now based in Europe, I volunteer with the IAABC as a translator and, in my free time, help rehomed dogs settle into their new families. I love bridging languages—and hearts—between people and their dogs.
I’m a translator, editor and journalist, as well as canine educator for children and families, specialized in canine body language. I am part of the IAABC Family since 2019, as Language Director at the IAABC and Translators Team Lead at the IAABC Foundation, at the moment. I volunteer at local shelters and promote bite prevention and animal welfare at schools and events all over my country, Uruguay.
I’m a Chilean veterinarian and certified dog trainer, based in Madrid and working at a veterinary clinic. I’ve been volunteering with the IAABC and the IAABC Foundation for over seven years. In my free time, I help dogs and their guardians strengthen their bond, and I love spending quality time with my own dogs.
Master’s Degree in Natural Sciences, with a strong interest in environmental sustainability and the protection of natural ecosystems. Passionate about writing and science communication, she collaborates with multidisciplinary teams on research projects, such as Equine International, and with non-profit initiatives in the environmental and cultural fields. She is writing for different magazines, including IAABC Foundation. Her major goal is to improve horse’s welfare through behaviour research and empirical practice.
Adrienne Hovey is the copy editor for the IAABC Foundation journal and the owner of 
I believe that knowledge from a wide range of disciplines fosters a more empathetic, curious, and engaging world. I am passionate about social, environmental, and minority rights issues (both human and non-human), and this has invariably led me down the road of multi-species anthropology. Perpetually curious about the world we live in, I hope to contribute towards making the world a kinder place for all of us earthlings to live on!
Beckie Wheldon is based in England, UK, and has been supporting the IAABC Foundation Journal team as a volunteer journal content editor since early 2025. She has a BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare, and has recently completed a MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour. With a passion for both practical and theory, Beckie is proud to be a part of the journal submission journey and support the process of applied animal behaviour information and research getting from our writers to the readers. As her full-time career, Beckie is currently part of the UK veterinary charity, PDSA, as a Learning and Development Business Partner for Veterinary, where she supports the professional development of people in their Veterinary Hospitals. Her last position was with the rescue charity, Dogs Trust, as a Canine Behavioural Welfare Manager, where she worked on embedding evidence-based behavioural welfare best practices throughout policy and practices, with both internal and external professional stakeholders, such as the police and military. With a varied background in kennels, caregiver education, and charity dog training classes, Beckie is also an accredited Animal Training Instructor (APDT UK) and an Associate Clinical Animal Behaviourist (APBC).
Erin Jones, PhD, IAABC-ADT, CDBC, CPDT-KA, CANZ-ATI, CANZ-ABC, is the Journal Director of the IAABC Foundation Journal. She holds a PhD in Human–Animal Studies, an MSc in Anthrozoology, a PG Dip in Animal Welfare, and a BSc (Hons) in Anthropology and Psychology. An international presenter, editor, writer and mentor, Erin’s writing bridges research and practice with a focus on the intersection of philosophy, ethics and dog-centered behaviour practice. She is the author of Constructing Canine Consent and co-editor of Topics in Non/Human Coexistence and numerous academic and trade journal publications.