Animal Behaviour Seminars, Workshops and a bit of Parrot Behaviour Consulting

Wow! It's been a long time since my last blog post! Since returning home from the Animal Training Workshop at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, work has been incredibly busy. Here's a run down of what I've been up to during the last two months...

Upon my return I got busy working on a professional development seminar for animal care staff at Melbourne Aquarium. Months ago I'd been approached by the organisation to develop and run several workshops on animal behaviour and training for their staff who car for numerous species of fish and King and Gentoo penguins. I ran two workshops in mid September, with the help of my brilliant colleague and helper, Mia Cobb. What fun! The Melbourne Aquarium staff were fabulous and the feedback from the workshops was amazing. 

I found Nemo!!!

Here's a testimonial I received from the Manager of the Bird Department: 

"Kate provided staff at Melbourne Aquarium with a great understanding of theoretical and practical applications to animal training. Our seminar was both fun and educational. Kate presented the information in a way that was suitable for beginner as well as experienced animal trainers. With fun activities, videos and observing in-house practices, the staff enjoyed an educational seminar on animal behaviour and training".

Staff training workshop (in the PARTY room) at Melbourne Aquarium

The workshops, designed in consultation with management and specific to the needs of the organisation, included theory (PowerPoint presentation), observational learning (watching animals) and practical skill building (applying the theory in training) components.

Meeting the beautiful King penguins

In addition to the professional workshops, I ran a Parrot Health & Behaviour seminar along with Specialist Avian Veterinarian Dr Patricia Macwhirter, for parrot care-givers in Melbourne. The event was a great success with twenty-five attendants including parrot owners, breeders and bird trainers. Several attendees provided fantastic feedback on the day and one called me the following day to say how educational and worthwhile he'd found the seminar. He and his friend had travelled from rural N.S.W. to attend. Amazing!

Presenting about companion parrot behaviour at my seminar

I will be running another seminar; 'The Science of Dog Behaviour & Training' at the end of November in Melbourne. I'm really looking forward to helping attendees better understand their dog's behaviour and how to get the best behaviour from their canine companions. We have support for the event from some great companies including Kong, Love'em and Dog Diggity.

In addition to organising and running seminars and workshops on animal training and behaviour I've recently partnered with an Avian vet clinic in Melbourne to deliver in-clinic bird behaviour consultations. I've had the opportunity to meet some very dedicated and caring parrot owners who want the best for their birds. This work is incredibly rewarding!

Well, that's it for now. My next blog post will provide an overview of some ongoing education I've completed recently including attending the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) Australia conference and completing Dr Susan Friedman's Living and Learning with Animals for Professionals course. Bye for now :)