SATURDAY, MARCH 16th, 2024
7:30 – 8:30	Conference Check
8:30 – 10:00	Ready, Set, Emotion!	Mike Shikashio will highlight the emotions that influence dog aggression, what they look like, and why they matter. This session will include videos of dogs displaying body language, behavior, and physiological signs that are indicative of certain underlying emotions, and what we can do as practitioners to help our clients and their dogs in aggression cases.
10:00 – 10:15	Break
10:15 – 11:45	The Good, the Bad and the Growly	Complex aggression cases with complex emotions. Mike Shikashio will showcase some of his most difficult cases and will unpack useful strategies to sift through even the most complicated scenarios!
11:45 – 1:15	Lunch
1:15 – 2:45	Utilizing the Five Domains Model for a Comprehensive Needs Assessment	Dr. Ballantyne explores how the 5 Domains Model of Animal Welfare can be used to assess welfare in dogs. Using a comprehensive overview of these domains, this presentation aims to equip learners with the knowledge to make informed quality of life and needs assessments of the dogs in their care. Validated tools for assessing quality of life in dogs will also be reviewed.
2:45 – 3:00	Break
3:00 – 4:00	Meeting Animals’ Needs	In order to live with humans, animals often need to make compromises. How can we best balance the lives we are asking them to live with the lives they evolved to have, in order to avoid or improve behavioral issues? Using real-life examples from multiple species, Trish McMillan will discuss the importance of meeting our dogs where they are, to best help them with any issues they have, and to avoid stress and promote the behaviors we desire. In order to stay safe, we need to know our dogs well, understand their individual needs, and ensure these needs are met to the best of our abilities.
4:00 – 4:15	Break
4:15 – 5:15	The Social Relationship between Dogs and People	We spend a lot of time improving our communication in training, but do we spend enough time improving our social communication? Too often we have the dogs doing the “heavy lifting” in the conversation, where we focus on teaching them how to respond to us, and so often miss their subtle signals and preferences about our social relationship! We’d be so much more effective as partners if our daily social interactions with dogs were in line with how they communicate, and demonstrated respect for their answers. In this presentation, Dr. Cook will discuss how to be a good, sensitive listener, how to leave room for a dog’s opinions, and to avoid the common human mistakes of repetition, pressure, too much touch, and monologuing!
SUNDAY, MARCH 17th, 2024
7:30 – 8:30	Conference Check in
8:30 – 10:00	The Play Way Approach	Dr. Amy Cook discusses The Play Way is a method of helping shy and fearful dogs overcome these issues to live a happier, less-stressed life. Rather than focusing on food, as many do when working with these dogs, Dr. Cook has established a more nuanced rehabilitation process that revolves around personal, social play.
10:00 – 10:15	Break
10:15 – 11:45	Prognosis & Realistic Goal Setting	One of the most crucial aspects of working an aggression case is to help clients and adopters understand the potential outcome for their situation. Mike Shikashio explains why the prognosis is an essential tool for providing a framework for realistic expectations, and for avoiding burnout and compassion fatigue in our industry.
11:45 – 1:15	Lunch
1:15 – 2:00	Caregiver Burden: Exploring the impact of living with pets with behavioral challenges	Dr Ballantyne highlights the often overlooked challenges and stresses related with pet ownership and how caregiver burden particularly affects owners of pets with behavioral challenges. In addition to reviewing how caregiver burden may impact your clients, she’ll review how it can impact you and your treatment plan. Methods to assess caregiver burden and burden transfer will also be covered.
2:00-2:45	You Can’t Talk About That!	If you are in the rescue, veterinary, or training world for long enough, one day you may have to have the hardest conversation in the industry – whether or not a dog is a candidate for behavioral euthanasia. In this session, Trish McMillan will explore the issues that surround behavioral euthanasia, how and when to bring up this sensitive topic, and how best to support the human end of the leash throughout the process.
2:45 – 3:00	Break
3:00 – 4:00	It’s Not Always in Their Heads: Identifying Red Flags for Physical Disease	Dr. Ballantyne will review common red flags for physical disease that show up in the behavior history, common behavioral signs of physical illnesses, and the importance of developing a comprehensive differential diagnosis list during a veterinary evaluation. She will also cover the importance of recognizing signs of chronic pain and the use of therapeutic trials as diagnostic tools.
4:00 – 4:15	Break
4:15 – 5:15	The Panel Discussion	The speakers will gather to answer audience questions.
6:30 – 7:30	FWACC Shelter Tour	We will tour the largest open access shelter in NE Indiana, Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control.