"Modern behavior modification protocols for use in fearful, undersocialized cats have traditionally had a respondent conditioning focus aimed at pairing the presence of humans, their proximity, and contact with appetitive stimuli. If the learner demonstrates friendly behaviors towards humans as the result of a respondent conditioning based approach, it is as part of a change in emotional response. Alternatively, the goal of constructional approaches to socialization is primarily to shape friendly behaviors directly and any change in emotional response is secondary. For example, instead of pairing petting with treats, a constructional approach may have the learner trained to approach, target, and then rub up against humans for food rewards. There are several advantages to this approach: it allows the cat more control over exposures to fear stimuli, it helps exposures to remain at a moderate level of intensity, and it shapes desired behaviors directly. This presentation outlines an approach to building friendly behaviors in fearful shelter cats using the training of simple, repetitive motions, inspired by Movement Puzzles, a training concept created by Christina Young intended to build confidence in dogs. This method has successfully been applied in a shelter setting as part of a socialization program for extremely fearful cats and has been used to help fearful cats engage with their surroundings and humans. Learning goals: Differentiate constructional approaches to socialization of fearful cats from respondent learning-centered methods Conceptualize movement training as a method for getting animals to interact with their environment Apply movement to a training plan that builds interaction and contact with humans in a shelter or home environment "

Sponsor:IAABC Foundation
Speaker(s):Melissa Taylor

Contact:
 Email: questions@iaabcfoundation.org
 Web: https://iaabcfoundation.org/animal-behavior-conference