IAABC Conferences

Featured Speaker: Trish McMillan Loehr

by

Trish McMillan Loehr, MS, is a certified professional dog trainer (through CCPDT) and certified dog behavior counselor (through IAABC) who holds a Master’s degree in Animal Behavior from the University of Exeter in England. She specializes in training and behavior modification work with dogs, cats, and horses.

During her seven years with the ASPCA, Trish gained a wide variety of experience in the field of animal behavior. For three years she was the director of the animal behavior department at the ASPCA’s New York City shelter, helping staff, volunteers, and adopters work with animals and make great matches. Trish has also helped assess and rehabilitate animals from cruelty, hoarding, and dogfighting cases, as well as pets rescued from natural disasters. In addition to writing for the ASPCA’s Virtual Pet Behaviorist and other publications, she helped create and present several very popular webinars on dog and cat behavior and handling for the ASPCA Pro website.

Prior to her work with the ASPCA, Trish managed dog daycares, volunteered in animal shelters, taught obedience classes, and worked with board-and-train dogs in her home. She has also trained and shown horses in various disciplines, and has begun incorporating clicker training in her equine work. Trish has also worked with cats with behavior problems, and enjoys helping our feline friends have more enriched lives through clicker training as well. (Yes, cats can be trained!)

Trish has also spoken nationally and internationally on animal behavior and sheltering topics.

Trish and her husband Barry live in Weaverville, NC (near Asheville) and currently share their lives with three amazing dogs, two sweet cats, and a genius horse.

She’ll be speaking at IAABC 2017 about clicker training for horses, and presenting some case studies in aggression along with Michael Shikashio.

Topic of the Week: Parrots in Multiple Homes

by

Topic of the Week: Parrots in Multiple Homes

Parrots are unique and challenging in many ways. Establishing and maintaining a positive relationship with a bird often pivots on understanding behavior, theirs and ours. Since most parrots will need a succession of homes, in part due to their long lifespans, education is key. When people obtain better information about parrot care, and behavior especially, this goes a long way towards insuring a bird’s health and well-being. Ann Nichols will be talking about how to prepare people for living with a parrot, from its first through last home, at this year’s IAABC Conference.

Featured Speaker: Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB

by

This week’s Featured Speaker: Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB received his veterinary degree from the University of MN in 2002 and worked as a general practitioner for two years in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area before the start of his residency program. He operated a house-call behavior practice in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area until 2010 and became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists in 2010.

He is currently the owner of the Animal Behavior Clinic in Portland, OR, regularly lectures throughout the US and Canada, and has taught courses in veterinary behavior at the University of MN and the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. He has published research on feline water consumption preferences, wrote a book chapter on Intercat Aggression for the May 2014 issue of Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, and is a co-author of a forthcoming book chapter on Pet Selection for Animal Assisted Therapy.

Cat Behavior with Dilara Goksel Parry and Mikel Delgado

by

Cat behavior and training is a hot topic lately, and we’ve developed a cat behavior track to meet the growing demand for high-quality resources for our feline friends. Dilara Göksel Parry and Mikel Delgado—two of the best cat behavior consultants in the business—will be sharing case studies from their cat behavior consulting practice at IAABC 2017. They’ll be talking us through how to set up successful consultations from start to finish, including history taking, assessment, recommendations, and follow-up.

A variety of behavior issues will be presented, with the goal of sharing complex cases and their resolutions to illustrate each part of the consulting process. These cases will represent common issues in cat behavior consulting (e.g., litterbox avoidance, aggression). Dilara and Mikel will also touch on how to modify recommendations based on the household and the humans, to achieve better outcomes for everyone in the family.