Dog Welfare Seminar
Dog Welfare Seminar
Saturday October 17th - 10.30 to 17.00 (CEST)
Online - Replay available for two weeks
Early bird registration in August: 85 euros
Regular registration from September onwards: 95 euros
'No certificate needed' discount: 3 euros
10.30 to 13.00- In the morning I, Pascalle Roulaux, will kick off the seminar with an introduction on dog welfare. What exactly is welfare? How can welfare be measured or assessed? The term 'welfare' is often used in practice, though its meaning is not always fully understood. This morning introduction will provide you with a solid knowledge basis for the afternoon.
13.00 to 14.00- Lunch break, with the option to join an online breakroom, to socialize as you would during an on-site seminar.
14.00 to 17.00- In the afternoon, Dr. Karen Griffin will discuss her research with us. She investigates how dogs adapt to home environments, how their quality of life can be measured, and what factors contribute to successful, lasting adoptions. Her work combines animal behavior, welfare science, and the social sciences to answer practical questions that matter to dogs, owners, shelters, and behavioral professionals alike.
Whether you are an interested dog owner, a behavioral trainer or therapist, shelter professional, or simply interested in canine science, this webinar offers an evidence-based look at how research is advancing our understanding of what dogs need to live healthy, fulfilling lives.
Practical information
As you might have guessed, the full seminar will be in English. It will be streamed on Webinargeek, with live AI captions in Dutch. It will be recorded and the recording will be available for replay for two weeks. It is not
possible to subscribe for only the afternoon or only the morning. The social lunch break will be in break-out rooms on Zoom. This is optional, at no additional cost.
Application for continuing education credits (nascholingspunten) is in progress.
About Dr. Karen Griffin
Dr. Karen Griffin, PhD is a canine welfare research scientist in the field of shelter dogs and dog rehoming. The scope of her research experience and interest within this field includes how a dog fits into a home environment, what qualifies a successful dog placement, and how to improve the likelihood that a placement will be successful. The aim of her current primary research is to investigate dogs’ quality of life pre- and post-adoption. Her work is based in both Europe and the US, and she is focused on the practical and real world applications of research findings. She also helps dog owners in her local community and farther afield accurately recognize and meet their dogs’ needs.
Topics of the afternoon in more detail
1. Why do we, as humans, struggle to accurately recognize dogs’ needs?
Though we may have the best intentions, we don’t always do the best job of realizing what our dogs need, including the nuances of each individual dog’s needs. Learning how and why we sometimes get things wrong will help us to improve though!
2. Introduction and overview of the Framework of Dogs’ Needs
The Framework of Dogs’ Needs is a model that explains dogs’ needs at a species, breed/breed type, and individual level. It can be used to help you thoroughly and thoughtfully understand and recognize dogs’ needs, which is necessary to ensuring dogs’ have a good quality of life. There are five need levels within the Framework. Each need level will be discussed in detail, and then practical ways to meet those needs will be provided.
- Physiological Needs
- Safety Needs
- Social Needs
- Integrity Needs
- Cognitive Needs
3. How to create safe and happy dog/child relationships
Many households have both children and dogs in them. However, this combination can cause challenges for two-legged and four-legged family members! In order to ensure that everybody is as happy and safe as possible, it is imperative that adults and children are well informed of and are practicing appropriate child-dog interactions. It is also important that children learn how to build positive and respectful relationships with dogs that are beneficial to both, while also mitigating risks that are associated with dogs and children in the home. This section will discuss the scientific evidence around why this is such an important topic, and then will provide loads of tips on how to foster positive dog-child relationships.