Description: Choice and agency are more than just the latest catchwords in the world of animal welfare. Giving animals a sense of control in situations where they are exposed to potential triggers can have significant and desirable effects: it can reduce the stress associated with those triggers, inhibit future fear conditioning, and facilitate the extinction of fear-related behaviors. Given these benefits, it makes sense for shelter teams to have animal care practices that prioritize building agency. Best practice recommendations for shelter animal care include both “choice of environment” and “choice of interaction” as ways to promote shelter animal welfare. Environmental choice is commonly obtained by providing larger enclosures with multiple compartments, resting surfaces, perches, hiding spots, and other amenities. Choice of interaction typically refers to an animal’s choice of whether or not to interact with a human caregiver or shelter visitor, although specific recommendations on how shelter residents can exercise this choice are limited. This Dem-OH! introduces games designed to empower shelter animals to demonstrate control over day-to-day interactions with humans. These activities are accessible to beginner trainers, resource-friendly, and offer fascinating insights into the preferences of individual learners. At the end of this Dem-OH!, participants will be able to: -Identify the benefits of adopting a choice-based approach to interactions with humans. -Incorporate several agency-promoting training games into enrichment and behavior modification plans for animals, whether in shelter or elsewhere.

Prerequisite Session: Games of Choice: Remarkable and Reachable Ways to Improve the Welfare of Shelter Residents

Spotlight Spot Prerequisites: We will have approximately four (4) Animal/Handler Spotlight Teams. Animal/Handler Teams should have a basic understanding of mark and reward training. Animal/handler teams can include non-dog species (handler must be human). Teams will ideally be comfortable working together in a remote training environment. Teams should have several relatively quick, non-taxing behaviors that can be offered automatically as reinforcers are available (minimum 3 behaviors). It’s helpful, but not necessary if teams have practiced targeting objects with nose/paw/beak. Teams will need to have handy a variety of possible reinforcers: multiple food reward types, and multiple non-food rewards.  Attendees who are not part of an Animal/Handler Spotlight Team can still participate from home with their own animals, alongside the teams but without Faculty feedback. Prefer to sit back and observe? That's fine, too!  To participate in this Learning Lab, you are expected to attend the prerequisite session (Games of Choice: Remarkable and Reachable Ways to Improve the Welfare of Shelter Residents).

Description: There are numerous benefits related to giving animals a sense of agency over a wide variety of situations in their lives, even ones that seem relatively minor to us humans. For example, increasing agency can facilitate skill-building, boost reinforcer value, and reduce stress in circumstances where stressors are less predictable and controllable.

This Learning Lab is a hands-on follow up to the Dem-OH! exploring simple training games designed to build more opportunities for choice in the lives of animals. Instead of relying on their handlers to be able to anticipate their preferences by reading their body language, Learning Lab participants can directly bring about their preferred consequences with their actions. Originally intended for use in shelter residents, these games have a wider application for use with a variety of species in different learning environments.

Animal-handler teams will watch step-by-step demonstrations of the games presented in the Dem-OH! and will have a chance to practice at home, with live, one-on-one feedback. The group will learn together creative strategies to increase opportunities for empowerment in our animal partners.