Working Dog Division
From the 2021 Animal Behaviour Twitter Conference came this interesting presentation from the Working Dog World, presented by Maeve McCreary.
As a result, the CAPDT highlights that it is open to build connections with Working Dog Handlers across Canada! Our organization has a member’s portal where information and videos of training are readily accessible, while our newsletter includes short summaries of dog-related research and articles on training topics. Our private members-only Facebook group provides access to a network of professional dog trainers across Canada.
Our Working Dog Committee has created a document that defines what a Working Dog in Canada is. You can find the complete document here.
Here are some summer safety tips to keep you and your working dog safe during the summer months.
From the presentation: Research on canine cognition is growing at a seemingly exponential rate, with most papers appearing post-2000. With notable exceptions (e.g. using cognition tasks to determine good working dogs), there is a disconnect between research and practice.
In a 32-item survey, 443 professional dog handlers/trainers indicated which research topics in canine behaviour/cognition would be relevant to their work, how open their field is to scientific findings, and where they are likely to look for findings.
The group rated having a keen interest in topics related to scent detection, associative learning, and attention to human behavioural cues. Topics related to early development, though not maternal care, also scored high. 86% said it would be very or extremely important to have discussion between trainers and researchers. 70% agreed that training is open to new ideas. Respondents noted limited access to research, though indicated effective venues for communication.
Below are two slides from the presentation highlighting the findings:
Learn more about the CAPDT and the Working Dog Committee by connecting on LinkedIn