People working in the animal care industry are subject to burnout. While providing enrichment to animals in a science-based way can be a joy for animal care workers, tending to self is also a necessary pleasure. We hope to kickstart a wellness program for animal care workers to avoid burnout and continue to enrich their non-human animals' lives in the best ways possible for many years to come. We will also provide the best framework for designing, implementing and evaluating enrichment provision, an essential part of any behavior program for any animal. In the beginning and end of each of our three sessions, we will feature breathing techniques, gentle yoga and meditation guided by Sara Matters, who completed a yoga teacher training program prior to becoming a dog trainer. Lindsay Mehrkam will provide information and resources on ABA-based treatment approaches for burnout. Additionally, Lindsay will cover science and behavior-based design, implementation and evaluation of enrichment for the non-human animals in folks’ care. Dr. Mehrkam, assistant professor at Monmouth University in New Jersey, is an applied animal behaviorist, animal welfare scientist, and Board-Certified Behavior Analyst. Her research, which focuses on human-animal interaction, enrichment, and training to improve the welfare of both people and animals, has been published widely in peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as presented at conferences nationally and internationally.

Sponsor:Training Matters LLC
Speaker(s):Lindsay Mehrkam, Ph.D., BCBA-D and Sara Matters, M.A., ABCDT

Contact: Sara Matters
 Email: sematters@gmail.com
 Phone: 802-689-0707
 Web: http://www.mattersdogtraining.com/