Have you struggled to locate a professional dog trainer nearby with great credentials, experience, skills, and education? Did you know that PAW-Positive Animal Wellness offers online dog training using Skype or Zoom. From the comfort of your own home and on your schedule, you have access to world class animal training education and behavior from Terrie Hayward.

PAW works frequently via online training and behavioral modification lessons. As at least half of the training is for the people, using technology to talk and observe and guide makes perfect sense. We can teach you where to place hands or treats or what body language to look for or project from across the town or across the globe.

Schedule lessons in the comfort of your home with a laptop or mobile device! Have a certified, professional trainer join you in your own house to assess, educate, and advise on ways to modify behaviors via modern, science based methods.

Is your dog reactive with other people or animals? Is your schedule very full? Is commuting a problem? Bring the dog trainer to you! Contact us today for more information/pricing! http://positiveanimalwellness.com/contact/.

Would you like to improve your communication and animal training skills? How about doing that at an incredible location in the Caribbean?

WHO: Join Dr. Susan Friedman, Lori Stevens, and host, Terrie Hayward for a weekend filled with informative talks, interactive learning, and professional networking.

WHAT: Join industry leading animal behavior and training experts for an intimate three day event to strengthen your understanding of the science of behavior, animal training, and effective communication.

Space is limited! Early bird pricing for registration prior to January 7, 2017 is $349. Starting January 7, 2017 the price will increase to $365. Local pricing is available for Puerto Rico residents—please enquire directly.

REGISTER NOW: https://www.picatic.com/event14815565697441

Rate includes three full days of workshop talks, morning snack and coffee, and welcome gathering (Saturday evening).

Informative topics including the following:

• Learning from the Science POV: presented by Susan Friedman

• WTF? What’s the Function!: presented by Susan Friedman

• Strengthening Behavior Without Steroids: presented by Susan Friedman

• Solving Problem Behavior Situations: A Double Bullseye Approach: presented by Susan Friedman

• Provide to Thrive: presented by Lori Stevens

• De-stress that Pup: Giving Animals Choices & Voices: presented by Lori Stevens

• Foundation Behaviors that are Useful in Everyday Life: presented by Lori Stevens

• The Joy of Movement & Sharpening our Observation Skills: presented by Lori Stevens

• Alternatives for Communication/Working with Dogs with Unique Gifts: presented by Terrie Hayward

• Party or Panic? (Separation Anxiety): presented by Terrie Hayward

WHEN: November 10, 11, & 12, 2017

WHERE: Rincon, Puerto Rico. (Americans-no passport needed!)

Come to learn and expand your knowledge and deeper understanding of behavioral science and training. Then stay for a few days of holiday. Rincon is known for its incredible sunsets, remarkable beaches, and vibrant snorkeling. It is a quiet town on the West coast of Puerto Rico (US Territory).

Rincon is a short 2 hour flight from Florida or a quick 4 hour direct plane ride from New York. Puerto Rico is the hub of the Caribbean.

WHY: Expand your animal behavior knowledge and training skills. Learn to train better by acquiring new skills! Learn to train smarter via a more in depth understanding of the science of behavior! Learn to communicate more effectively by considering choices and responses in your repertoire!

Come to learn, stay to play! Enjoy the diverse culture of the island, wonderful food, and great temperatures.

REGISTER NOW: https://www.picatic.com/event14815565697441

Event Specifics:

AIRPORT: San Juan International (SJU) is 2.5 hours by car or a 30 minute flight to Rincon. Connecting flights run via Cape Air (https://www.capeair.com/) from SJU to Mayaguez. Then a taxi, Uber, or rental car to Rincon (15 minutes). A rental car is recommended to get around Rincon.

Aguadilla airport (BQN) is located on the west side of the island and is a 30 (approximate depending on time of day/night) ride to Rincon. Taxi or rental car to Rincon from Aguadilla Airport. United & JetBlue service this airport. Note often flights are overnight, so *double check* arrival/departure dates.

WEATHER: November is warm and sunny. Puerto Rico is located in the tropics, so expect humidity. The event venue is air conditioned, so you may want a light sweater for this space (only). Temperatures for November range from 75-90’ F, so accommodation with air conditioning is suggested. As Rincon is in the tropics, mosquito repellent for dusk/dark may be handy.

VENUE: The behavior and training event is located at our local community activity center (“salon de actividades”). Bring a pen and notebook and/or your tablet or laptop. Still photos are fine, however please refrain from videoing the event. Rincon is a very relaxed, beach-side community, so casual wear is perfect.

ACCOMMODATIONS: As a thriving town with a diverse tourism market, Rincon boasts many options for accommodation. From vacation rentals, to small guesthouses, to some larger (no chain) hotels there are many choices for various budgets.

The following link provides a good cross section of options: http://www.rincon.org/hotels/

Please email with any questions you may have about local accommodations.

AREA INFO: “Rincon” translates to “corner” in Spanish, a nod to the town’s location at the corner of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Rincon is famous for its picturesque sunsets and miles of beaches, and is a haven for surfers of all ages and skill levels. The relaxed coastal town hosts an array of annual festivals and events, and although a small and intimate town by nature, Rincon boasts a medley of divergent atmospheres and venues, from the charm of secluded beaches to the active triathlon and surfing communities.

Some helpful websites: http://www.rincon.org/, http://www.rincon-pr.com/

CANCELLATION POLICY: For cancellations made more than 60 days prior to the event, a refund (less a $50 dollar processing fee) will be given. Because of the financial commitment necessary as the event date approaches we cannot offer refunds within 60 days of the event.

PAW Positive Animal Wellness reserves the right to cancel the event, if necessary, because of circumstances beyond our control or in the rare circumstance when enrollment is deemed insufficient. In this case, ALL deposits, tuition and processing fees will be fully refunded. Participants are encouraged to consider flight and hotel insurance.

REGISTER NOW: https://www.picatic.com/event14815565697441

Wolf Park Journey

My recent visit to Wolf Park in Battle Ground, Indiana for an advanced animal training seminar was most certainly a “right place at the right time” experience of a lifetime.

It all began last November at the Pet Professional Guild’s first Educational Summit. I happened to be sitting next to Ken McCort who mentioned that he was hoping to start a program at Wolf Park that had been five years in the works.

He’d finally gained approval to move forward and would soon be accepting applications (a thorough, comprehensive application) for professional animal trainers to join in an “Advanced Professional Trainer Workshop” at Wolf Park. This was a new concept as they hadn’t had individuals other than long standing staff work directly on behavior with the animals.

Animals are keen observers and learners and one risk was the possibility of accidentally training unwanted behaviors or behavior chains with the wolves. For example, teaching the animals that jumping on people was reinforcing or that stealing treats was worthwhile, could potentially undo all of the important behavioral training they have been working on for over forty years at the Park.

For this reason the application was created to be very selective of professionals with science based behavior and training experience, knowledge, and skills.

As such, Ken managed to bring together an amazing group of individuals. One of the bonus benefits being that we all worked alongside and collaboratively with each other providing feedback, coming up with training plans, and observing behavior.

There was also a pervasive pressure to not bungle this opportunity for the future so everyone was very much aware of the need to be vigilant about body language (ours AND the animals’) and communication.

The weekend was a gathering of fantastically skilled trainers and behavior consultants who each were able to contribute to understanding, planning, and fine tuning interactions.

Wolf Park Training Component

On the first day, we met in the morning for a safety briefing where we discussed use of space, what a “rally” (excited wolf greeting) entailed, tail carriage and other unique body language, which included the directive to “face the wolf as turning your back may make you into a squeak toy”– a task easily planned, but more tricky to execute when literally faced with a wolf.

Ken McCort also gave us some great background on the animals that we’d be working with including foxes as solitary hunters vs. wolves who hunt cooperatively. We also discussed social relationships, hazard avoidance, and training tips to include arousal awareness as arousal could produce predation.

Later on we prepped for our animal “meet & greets” where we worked on establishing a reinforcement history via carefully planned introductions. We broke off into smaller groups to visit the bison and wolves. On the truck with the bison our initial ideal behavior was to work on target training from the back whilst other trainers occupied the rest of the herd.

However, this materialized into working individually with all of the animals except the young calf via targeting, marking and reinforcing from both sides of the truck and the front cab eventually, too!

Over the course of the three days we continued to feel more comfortable about our encounters whilst always remembering not to become complacent. During breaks we watched videos of groups training and worked on training plans.

Within enclosures with the animals we practiced target stick training and shaping eye contact with bison, desensitization and proximity to novel humans with foxes and wolves, attention and recall with coyotes via protected contact, and shaping behaviors to include a down, harness cooperation, and a fox-on-shoulder behavior.

All of the behaviors were in an effort to interact as part of a socialization program working to reduce the animals’ innate fear of humans in order to improve upon their communication and voluntary interactions in their environment for physical and mental welfare and well being.

Wolf Park Final Thoughts

Many of the folks who attended the professional training workshop have expressed that upon returning home it was akin to experiencing a bit of “culture shock” as we got back to the day to day work of returning emails, interacting with clients, and everyday life.

The Wolf Park Advance Professional Trainers Workshop was no less than a “big hit” with the remarkable group in attendance, staff, and the animals.

A special thank you to Ken McCort and the staff at Wolf Park for organizing and orchestrating this wonderful learning experience.

Too, being able to share this weekend with such remarkable people was super! Thanks to all for sharing this incredible learning adventure – Susan Friedman, Jennifer Ackley, Douglas Duncan, Marie-Elisabeth Gagnon, Ruth Larocque, Jean Lessard, Peggy McCarty, Michelle Mullins, Chirag Patel, Mary Penny, Tess Starr, Nancy Tucker, and Mara Velez.

(Note: If you would like to take your training skills to the next level and become a professional animal trainer or just train like one, then come and learn with me in Miami June 26-30, 2017 (application deadline: December 20, 2016, https://www.karenpryoracademy.com/dog-trainer-professional/national/miami-fl).)