Course Details
Is your dog having big feelings? Being in a heightened emotional place can interfere with training, because it’s hard to learn new things when you can’t concentrate. Helping a dog be in an optimal learning state is a big part of your success!
Big feelings can also come up when dogs have behavior issues, and indeed most behavior issues are about feelings getting in the way! Teaching a dog that they’re safe, helping them be able to process what’s happening without overreacting to it is a mainstay of behavior change!
But how can you tell if their feelings are “too big?” Do you have a way to assess that? And are all feelings the same, or to some interfere more than others? And do you need to identify those feelings in order to address your issues?
In this presentation I’ll go over all that and more! Whether it’s alert barking indoors, lunging and barking at strangers, fear of sudden changes, or a dog hyped up by training, knowing when big feelings are in the way can point you toward the right solution!
About the Instructor:
Dr. Amy Cook (she/her) is an Applied Animal Behaviorist, a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant with the IAABC, a longstanding professional member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT), and was one of the first trainers nationally to become a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through independent evaluation.
Dr. Cook received her Ph.D. in Psychology from UC Berkeley, with her research focusing on the dog-human relationship and the impact that social support can have on stress. Dr. Cook is the founder and creator of the Play Way, a therapeutic approach for resolving behavior issues in dogs through social interaction and dog empowerment, and she is a popular instructor for the online school The Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, where she also teaches a course in active management games for dogs, and in a play-based approach to resolving sound sensitivity.
She has been training dogs for more than 30 years, and has specialized in the rehabilitation of shy and fearful dogs for over 20 years. Amy has worked for the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society, the San Francisco Animal Care and Control, has provided behavioral evaluations for shelters and rescues throughout the Bay Area of California, and was a member of the anti-cruelty team for the ASPCA, working in triage sheltering and rehabilitation for large rescue cases.
Amy gives seminars all over the country and is a frequent conference presenter. She also competes in sports with her dogs, and has titled in Competition Obedience, Rally, Agility, Barn Hunt, and Nosework.
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