FREE ONLINE COURSE – Help spread the word about our complimentary program that helps shelter dogs get adopted! By using a simple clicker and a bag of treats, the human volunteers will click every time eye contact is made. This will help dogs to “offer” eye contact more, and can potentially impact adoptability (even though this has not been shown scientifically). Takefumi Kikusui, an animal behaviorist at Azabu University in Japan found that the “loving gaze” we share with our pets is rooted in oxytocin-mediated eye-gaze bonding. But guess what?
- Eye contact is something dogs naturally avoid
- Shelter dogs who are scared will avoid eye contact even more than dogs normally do
So how can you help? In short, by using a simple clicker and a bag of treats, volunteers will click every time eye contact is made. This will help dogs become more comfortable with making eye contact and thus help more dogs get adopted. Sign up here to get the entire course and course assets for free.
Eye contact is one of the first behaviors you can clicker train for. The other mentioned in this course is “touch,” a targeting behavior. We plan to expand on this course to incorporate more ways to help dogs get adopted.
(1) Lay down behavior, as it was shown that if a dog lays down next to a potential adopter, adoptability increases.
(2) General training videos, demonstrating training plans in line with these recommendations for shelter dogs.
The v1 of the course is up and ready for you! Click here to get the entire course and course assets for free. We will keep adding to this! (And it will always be free for you to use!)
