sherry woodard, cpdt-ka
TRANSCRIPT
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 1
Increasing Dog Adoptability:
Quick and Creative Canine
Enrichment Tips
Sherry Woodard, CPDT-KA
What does it mean?
Physical Needs
Emotional Needs Instinctual Needs
*Graph above borrowed from avianenrichment.com
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 2
Physical needs
• Diet and nutrition • Exercise • Environment • Health • Hygiene • Safety
Emotional needs
• Social interaction
• Mental stimulation Training Sports Problem-solving
• Independence, agency
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 3
Instinctual needs
• Safety
• Security, comfort
• Crepuscular schedule Mid-day naps Morning and afternoon activity
• Sensory stimulation
• Foraging
Setting dogs up for success
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 4
Latest research on adoptability
• Interested or move on: 20-70 seconds
• Interaction: 8 minutes
• Key factor: Dog engagement and interaction
• Increase desirability: Simple enrichment techniques
• Common beliefs may be myths
Sasha Protopopova, Ph.D., Texas Tech University
Latest research on adoptability
Adopters who stop in front of a kennel to look at a dog decide whether or not to move on within 20-70 seconds.
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 5
Latest research on adoptability
Once out of the kennel, adopters give dogs an average of 8 minutes.
Latest research on adoptability
Aside from physical attributes, the most important thing to adopters is dog engagement and interaction.
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 6
Latest research on adoptability
Simple enrichment techniques, including training some easy behaviors, can increase a dog’s desirability to adopters.
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 7
Overcome perceived barriers
• Do I have to be a trainer? • Do I have to hire a trainer?
• Do I need to spend extra money to fund training?
• Do I have to pay for extra staff?
All of these techniques can be done by volunteers with minimal instruction for little or no extra cost.
Build your volunteer team. Build your item donation list.
The good news!
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 8
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 9
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 10
Latest research on adoptability
A lot of common beliefs about what drives adoptions turn out to be myths.
Some behaviors that had no effect: • Jumping up • Mouthing • Licking • Obeying cues (or not) • Taking food (or not)
Environmental management
Tools for working smarter, not harder.
• Choose a space that isn’t distracting.
• Choose a space that is smaller.
• Allow the dog to eliminate before meeting the potential adopters.
• Use volunteer help with enrichment for adoptability.
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 11
Realistic expectations
• There are many ways to achieve the same goal.
• Choose the approach that works best for that individual dog and your environment.
Meet-and-greet room
Provide a clean mat
Outdoor area
Get to know dogs as individuals
• Learn how to listen to each individual dog.
• Hone your skill at reading body language and teach others.
• Use various strategies to motivate individual dogs. Luring Capturing Shaping
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 12
Enrichment for greeting skills
Name recognition
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 13
Recall
• Teach recall games
– The name game
• Reward all recalls and check-ins
• Hide from your pet
• Run from your pet
• Teach “come”
• Never punish your pet for not coming or for coming slowly.
• Practice calling your pet when you can let him go again.
• If recall is only used to end fun, the animal will stop coming.
Playing games
Toy-type test 1. Lay out five toys with different characteristics, such as a plush toy, rope toy, soft ball,
hard ball and squeaky toy.
2. Let the dog into the area and observe how he interacts with each type of toy.
3. Record which one he continues to play with.
4. Use this type of toy only for special interaction with potential adopters.
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 14
Recommendation
Start teaching “trade and retrieve”
• Use two of whichever type of toy the dog prefers.
• When the dog retrieves or retains one of the toys, show the other toy to initiate a trade, without your hands near the dog’s mouth.
• When the dog releases one toy, throw the other to continue the retrieve game.
Treat games
Remember: Only the individual animal decides what is reinforcing!
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 15
Treat games
How to identify effective reinforcers
Observe what the dog enjoys most.
Remove that item from daily life. Use it only during practice and when meeting potential adopters.
Find the middle ground between too intense and little interest: eager interest.
Observe the dog’s reaction to the reinforcer.
Don’t overuse: Identify multiple reinforcers and alternate among them.
Enrichment for settling near people
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 16
Mat work
• Easy to train
• Everything good happens on the mat
• Powerful forms of calming enrichment – Frozen Kongs
– Lickable treats
– Chewable treats
Teach dogs to love a mat
1. Get a mat, blanket, dog bed or towel.
2. Ideally, each dog should have his/her own.
3. Place the mat on the floor and show interest in it yourself.
4. Have the dog on a loose lead or long line.
5. When the dog approaches and shows interest, verbally mark or click, and treat.
6. Keep rewarding for more body contact with the mat. Any behavior offered with more of the dog’s body on the mat is rewarded. Play this as a game.
7. Begin to lure the dog into “sit” and “down.”
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 17
8. Use at least two types of treats. The higher-value treat is used only for “down.” The lesser-value treat is used for any other behavior if the dog is on the mat.
9. Once the dog is offering the desired behavior on the mat, reward in position and then give your “release” cue — such as the word “release” or “free” — and encourage him to come off the mat.
10. Encourage him off the mat by tossing a treat and walking him to the treat.
11. The second the dog steps off the mat, all rewarding ends.
12. Stand quietly by the mat and wait.
13. Each time the dog returns and is on the mat, verbally mark
or click, and treat.
14. Remember, the highest-value treat is used for “down.” The dog may still need to be lured.
15. Be sure that the dog understands that he is being rewarded for returning to the mat.
16. When the dog is committed to being on the mat, start to increase the time between rewards.
17. Your goal is a dog who is happy to spend time on the mat with potential adopters nearby, offering treats, praise and gentle touch.
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 18
Tethering or leashing
• To help any dog to settle
• Needs to be a good experience
• May offer licking or chewing treats during practice
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 19
Look at me: Click for eye contact
Head on lap or leaning
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 20
Proofing
Practice in multiple locations so dogs can do this with anyone, anywhere.
Calming enrichment
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 21
Spend time reading to dogs near their run or in another calm environment.
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 22
Volunteers can do even more
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 23
Sounds
Scents
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 24
Mid-day naps
Licking and chewing
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 25
Licking and chewing
Massage, T-Touch, Jin Shin Jyutsu
Jin Shin Jyutsu jsjforyouranimal.com T-Touch ttouch.com
Increasing Dog Adoptability: Quick and
Creative Canine Enrichment Tips – Sherry
Woodard
Best Friends National Conference
July 14 – 17, 2016 26