Past events

PAST EVENTS

April 2006: Rabbit behaviour morning with Dr Anne McBride

Renowned rabbit expert and behavioural scientist Dr Anne McBride discussed how rabbits have evolved to live and how we can use this information to enrich the lives of pet rabbits. This was followed by a presentation by Lorna from Greenfields Rabbit Rescue about the reasons why there are so many rabbits in rescue centres and what is being done about it.

The speaker: Dr Anne McBride has written ‘Rabbits and Hares’ and ‘Why Does My Rabbit….?’. Although the rabbit is the third most popular mammalian pet, Anne believes that it is poorly understood. Anne has been a practising pet behaviourist since 1986 and a member of the APBC since 1990. She is now the non-veterinary behaviourist at the Animal Behaviour Clinic at the University of Southampton and co-founder of the Rabbit Behaviour Advisory Group. She has appeared on television and radio programmes related to animal behaviour.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------May 2006: An evening with The Born Free Foundation
The Born Free Foundation explained the concept of wild animals in captivity including whether attitudes have changed and provided an insight into the abnormal behaviour of captive animals.

The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity working throughout the world to prevent wild animal suffering and protect threatened species in the wild. It is their belief that the long-term conservation of species can only successfully be achieved in the wild, combining the preservation and protection of natural habitats and thereby preserving dynamic evolving eco-systems as a whole. Born Free Foundation's mission to keep wildlife in the wild.
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June 2006: ‘The Myths of Human/Canine Dominance Exposed’ with Barry Eaton

Renowned dog trainer Barry Eaton’s lively presentation exposed the myths of human/canine dominance.

The speaker: Barry Eaton is affiliated with the Association of Companion Animal Behaviour and Training (COAPE) and has a Diploma in Companion Animal Behaviour and Training (Dip. CABT NOCN). He is a member of the APDT and only uses reward-based motivational techniques in training. He is the author of two books: How to train a deaf dog based on his experiences training his own deaf dog (“Hear, Hear!”) and reconsidering how a dog perceives its role in the human ‘pack’ (“Dominance: Fact or Fiction?”).

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July 2006: Thoughts on horsemanship with Ben Hart

Ben Hart of Hart’s horsemanship discussed how horsemanship has evolved and his thoughts about where we are today.

The speaker: Ben has a mission to “help people better understand horses, donkeys and mules, by improving knowledge of behaviour and developing an understanding of the true nature of the equine species.” Based on mutual trust between equine and human, using common sense and honesty to encourage people to follow their own path, he promotes no single method, relying instead on the balance of art and science to develop a long-term approach to equine training and behaviour.

All profit from this event was donated to the equine charity TAWS (www.taws.org). The aim of TAWS is to promote improved management, health and welfare of transport and draft animals; mostly equines. Much is known about animal health, welfare and management but it is poorly disseminated to communities in the third world: TAWS aims to change this.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------November 2006: What makes cats tick? Feline behaviour with Francesca Riccomini

Cats are now officially the UK’s number one pet choice. Multi-cat households abound, yet rescue centres are filled to bursting with unwanted felines, many relinquished because of problems relating to their behaviour - why?

What is it about our expectations and management of cats that leads to such difficulties as aggression and house soiling? And what role does the domestic cat’s natural behaviour play in the development of such problems? Even more importantly, what can we as professionals and owners do to prevent or overcome the commonest causes of problem behaviour?

The speaker: Francesca Riccomini is an experienced veterinary behaviourist, a member of the APBC, and writes for a number of feline publications.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------March 2007: Animal learning workshop with David Appleby

The focus of this workshop is how animals learn and how we can use this information to plan training.

The speaker: David Appleby has been in practice as a pet behaviour counsellor since 1986. He is active in research, a frequent lecturer at home and overseas, contributes to a number of journals and lectures on the postgraduate diploma/MSc course for pet behaviour counselling at Southampton University.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------May 2007: Animal communication: a morning with Dr Karen McComb

This talk was about how playback experiments can be used to gain insights into animal communication and animal minds. Dr McComb illustrated this concept with examples of her work with elephants, lions, domestic cats & dogs.

The speaker: Dr McComb is a reader of behavioural ecology at the University of Sussex. Her main research has involved using acoustic analysis and playback experiments to address questions about vocal communication and cognition in mammals.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------June 2007: Animals and Us: a morning with Cara Williams and Troy Bennett

This morning event consisted of two talks.

1) A discussion into why it is important to consider the ethology and behavioural needs of wild animal counterparts in their natural habitat if we are to ensure a greater understanding of the welfare of our domestic animals. The talk proposed why such a scientific approach is essential to achieving this, rather than relying on the more common anthropomorphic approach to domestic animals needs. The talk included references to dogs, cats, horses and small exotics such as rabbits and tortoises.

2) Reintroducing wolves to France: a talk by Troy Bennett from The Wolves and Humans Foundation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------August 2007: Rabbit behaviour workshop with Emma Magnus
This event will start with looking at wild rabbits and then we’ll apply this knowledge to pet rabbits. Emma will provide lots of ideas and information about how we can improve the environment in which we keep our pet rabbits and how we can deal with some of the problems that commonly occur when there is a rabbit in the family!

Emma is a Clinical Animal Behaviourist and a member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC). She has been practicing since 1995 when she qualified with a degree in Zoology and a Masters degree in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare. She has run a referral practice for veterinary surgeons within East Anglia since 1996 seeing owners of dogs, cats, and rabbits. Emma was a regular contributor to each of BBC1’s Barking Mad series and is Features Editor of the small livestock journal Fur & Feather. She also has a regular ‘Rabbits on the Couch’ column within Rabbiting On, the journal of the Rabbit Welfare Fund, and is a co-founder of the Rabbit Behaviour Advisory Group (www.rabbitbehaviour.co.uk).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------September 2007: Cat behaviour day

A whole day dedicated to cats! Francesca Riccomini and Inga MacKellar took us through the science of cat behaviour and how we can apply this knowledge to solving and understanding common issues that can arise between people and cats. The day provided an in-depth look into subjects such as how to introduce a new cat to a household and understanding house soiling.

It’s obvious to everyone that cats are not small dogs. Yet so often they are treated as such and their behaviour is generally misunderstood to the detriment of their emotional and physical well being and their welfare.
Speakers: Inga MacKellar and Francesca Riccomini.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------October 2007: Enrichment day
With the increasing number of products we can buy for our pets, this day will look at what pets really need and how we can best aim to meet those needs.
Speakers included Francesca Riccomini (cats), Inga MacKellar (dogs), Katherine Ewen (horses), Mark Fox (Marwell) and Suzanne Rogers (small animals).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------November 2007: Dog behaviour day with Peter Neville

The workshop discussed the behavioural processes and impacts of domestication on the dog and emotional development of the individual. And included an introduction into how to approach understanding behavioural problems, including some case histories.

The EMRA approach: emotion, mood and reinforcement assessment considers the individuality and emotionality of the animal and thus represents a new way of thinking in the field of pet behaviour.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------February 2008: Canine communication uncovered with Amber Batson

Did you know that there is more than one way your dog can wag his/her tail and each means something different? Amber Batson discussed this and many other aspects of canine communication to help us better understand what our dogs are telling us. This talk was packed with pictures and video clips to teach us all about canine communication and what we can do to be better listeners.

April 2008: Canine Communication Practical Workshop with Amber Batson.

Following Amber’s popular morning talk on this subject this day provided a more in-depth look at how our dogs communicate with each other and with us. There were practical sessions to practise what was learnt and Amber explained the role of habituation and training and how to recognise frustrations and fears in a training session. The event included watching a training session (with a real dog!) and analysing what was going on taking into account everything covered throughout the day.

May 2008: Equine behaviour workshop with Ben Hart.

This workshop discussed our relationships with our horses and discussed topics ranging from the cognitive abilities of horses, to their emotions, to learning theory all in the context of what this means for how we interact with them.

July 2008: Rabbit behaviour morning with Suzanne Rogers.
Although rabbits are the UK’s third most popular pet they are often misunderstood. This year’s Learning About Animals rabbit discussed how understanding rabbit behaviour can help us to better understand what pet rabbits need. The focus of this workshop, however, was building the relationship between rabbits and humans and to this end we explored how rabbits learn and how to tame skittish rabbits.