SEMINAR OVERVIEW
DAY 1
Assessing your Assessment

Join us for an inspirational and practical approach to sheltering.
You’ve tested the dog, now what?

Shelters commonly use behaviour assessments to gain insight into the behaviour of the animals in their care. But after the test the crucial questions remain.  The time involved in and conflicts that arise from these questions slow shelter operations and erode staff morale. To address these issues Gina and Shannon will walk you through:

• Refining your adoptability guidelines and testing procedures to create concise tools that improve efficiency and reduce rancor.
• Reading canine body language and more clearly defining aggression and behaviour issues.
• An in-depth look at current tools and popular tests, record keeping systems, and testing protocols.
• Building a behaviour program designed to better reach save rate goals.

 DAY 2

Private Training That Works  

With an eye both to shelter work and private training businesses, Gina discusses key elements of training success:

• Know when to teach your clients and when to train the dog.
• Build an effective training plan—learn which pieces to juggle and how, review the key factors involved in fear, aggression, and anxiety cases, and get better compliance by building on your clients’ strengths.
• Be a good coach—learn how to shape client behavior through effective reinforcement.
• Successfully navigate all phases of the training process—from phone screening through initial consult and continuing on through subsequent sessions.
• Keep clients “in the game”—replace unfinished cases with cases seen all the way through to completion.

 OUR SPEAKERS:

 About Gina Phairas
Gina Phairas, B.S. Communications, CTC, is a former instructor at the San Francisco SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers where she designed class curricula, and instructed Academy students in training and behavior modification techniques. Prior to that, as the SF SPCA Rehabilitation Coordinator, she assessed and developed treatment plans for shelter dogs with behavioral issues. Gina has consulted for shelters and rescue groups in the U.S. and Canada and has lectured on topics such as Developing Behavior Modification Plans and Conducting Safe Behavior Assessments in the Shelter. As Special Programs Coordinator, Gina is currently developing a Behaviour and Training Program for the Asheville Humane Society. She also provides training and business consulting to trainers across the country through dogTEC.
 
Gina began working with dogs professionally in 1999 in Los Angeles, CA, where she conducted therapy dog assessments for the Delta Society and did adoption counseling at SPCA-LA shelters.  She attended the San Francisco SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers and, after graduating with honors, joined the staff of the SF-SPCA.  As their Rehabilitation Coordinator, directing rehabilitation programs and adoption assessments for dogs with behavior problems.  Expanding her role at the SF-SPCA, Gina became an instructor at the Academy for Dog Trainers.  She taught Academy students basic training techniques and specialized in developing treatment plans for aggression.  Gina designed a curriculum for the Academy and designed and directed the SF-SPCA’s Internship Program, an advanced education program for dog trainers.  She also taught public dog training classes and was the architect and instructor of the SF-SPCA’s Puppy Manners Class, co-designed and taught the popular Growly Dog class for leash-reactive dogs, and co-designed and taught the successful Diaper & Dog class, a course to prepare pregnant couples and their dogs for new baby’s arrival.

     
Shannon Cummings

Shannon has been training dogs for over 10 years. She graduated with honours from the San Francisco SPCA Dog Trainers Academy and has studied with many leaders in the animal training field.

She has been a staff trainer at the SF SPCA and Shelter Director of the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society. She tours the country with her non-profit ShelterWorks giving presentations on animal behaviour and reading canine body language.

She teaches classes and does private behaviour evaluations and training consultations.

In 2002, Shannon Cummings co-founded ShelterWorks, a nonprofit company dedicated to improving the lives of homeless animals and the professionals who work with them. She has helped to guide animal care agencies, humane organizations, and private rescue groups through the process of creating intake guidelines, behaviour assessments, adoption protocols, and safe handling practices. She was part of the team that created the SF/SPCA Lifelinks intake program, designed to increase the shelter’s adoptable population, and served as the shelter manager for the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society.

As part of ShelterWorks, she has worked with individual agencies and communities in the U.S. and Canada. She has done presentations to students at the SPCA training academy and the vet school at the University of California, Davis. Her interest in this field has led her to do continuing research on behaviour assessments, aggression, and return rates.

She is owned by a pit bull with whom she has done flyball and agility demonstrations. This is not her goat.