Those Pet Parents with Their Fur Babies Were Right All Along: Research on anthropomorphism has practical applications for pet pros with Janis Bradley

If we want to motivate people to treat their dogs more kindly, we must embrace science based anthropomorphism. A quiet revolution has taken place in the study of the cognitive and emotional similarities between humans and our best friends. The next question is what to do with that knowledge to enhance our relationships. In this session, we will explore some of the practical, everyday training and consultation techniques that can grow from what we now know about social learning and attachment in dogs.

We’ll take a quick look at how far we’ve come in the last quarter century of the applied behavior analysis revolution and then reveal how anthropomorphically based empathy can take us to the next step. This experience has taught us that in the right moment with the right message and the courage to proclaim it a very few people can set big changes in motion. Applied behavior analysis has brought pet dog training and behavior modification out of the shadows of folklore and into the light of science and provided a non-judgmental way to articulate how our best friends’ behavior can be influenced without resorting to force.
Still, behavior consultants are often discouraged by their clients’ frustration and impatience with their dogs’ behavior. Applying what we now know from attachment research about similarities between dogs and human children can often provide a non-confrontational way to help pet owners view their dogs’ behavior with a more empathetic eye. And what we now know about social learning in dogs can help us guide pet parents to teach their dogs in ways that seem much more intuitive to the average person, and without giving the impression that they must become master trainers themselves in order to have a satisfying bond.

Ethological research is now ready to help people take the next step in compassionate relationships.

Learning Objectives

• Understand two basic ethological findings regarding canine emotional and cognitive similarities to those of human infants and toddlers
• Apply these concepts to encourage empathetic responses to dogs’ behavior
• Learn concrete methods for using social learning in dog training to enhance canine/human communication.

Your Presenters-Janis Bradley

Janis Bradley is the author of Dogs Bite, but balloons and slippers are more dangerous, the complete guide to research on dog bites, along with Dog Bites: Problems and Solutions for The Animals and Society Institute now in its second edition, and The Relevance of Breed in Selecting a Companion Dog for the National Canine Research Council, both comprehensive policy papers reviewing the peer reviewed literature. She is an author on several published academic papers on dog behavior.

Between 2000 and 2009, Bradley trained more than 400 professional pet dog trainers at the San Francisco SPCA’s Academy for Dog Trainers, while maintaining an active behavior consultation practice, and in 2011 founded the Dog Training Internship Academy. Bradley is currently the Director of Communications and Publications at the National Canine Research Council, a think tank whose mission is to support, distribute and develop the best current science studying domestic dogs in the context of a human environment. She has spoken at numerous professional conferences. She lives in upstate New York with her fur babies, Ricky and Jakey, who her best friend claims have given him a profound understanding of the comedy of the 3 stooges.

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