Dr. Simon Gadbois will discuss a neuroethological perspective on basic and applied scent processing in dogs. The approach emphasizes taking advantage of the natural behaviour patterns of dogs while the olfactory system is activated. It is also heavily focused on motivational parameters, making it a motivational perspective as opposed to a cognitive perspective. The approach put forward here differs on two levels from the mainstream: It diverges from strict behaviour analysis methods by highlighting the need to adapt to the dog, as opposed to forcing the dog to adapt to strict protocols (which will be called affordance training), and the realization that cognitive performance is superseded by motivational factors. In other words, a dog that wants to work in an appropriate setting (during and after training) may perform beyond and above what selection by breed or by nose assessment would suggest. This approach does not minimize the importance of breeds (in fact, it puts breed at the forefront, but suggests non-traditional breed choices) or of the nose (on the contrary, but it emphasizes "software" over "hardware"). Relevance to academic research, R&D, and direct applications will be discussed. A session and answer session will follow moderated by Dr. Monique Udell

Sponsor:E-training for Dogs
Speaker(s):Dr. Simon Gadbois, PhD (Moderated by Dr. Monique Udell)

Contact: Cheryl Aguiar
 Email: cheryl@e-trainingfordogs.com
 Phone: 970-231-9965
 Web: http://e-trainingfordogs.com/2011/03/the-library/