Peer Reviewed Research
Does your dog trainer contribute to their field through peer reviewed research? A Pleasant Dog was recently honored to be invited to present our research at the annual American College of Veterinary Behaviorists Veterinary Behavior Symposium (“VBS”!) in Minneapolis, Minnesota!
This year we presented two studies at VBS. The first is a case study demonstrating successful implementation of our fearless leader Jenn Gavin’s separation anxiety method entitled “Use Of Classical Conditioning And Differential Reinforcement Via A Treat Dispenser In Combination With Behavior Medication To Treat Separation Anxiety Study.” In this study, Jenn’s separation anxiety method was implemented and successfully resolved separation anxiety in a little Frenchie named Princess Charlotte, who had not been successfully left alone in over two years despite diligent work by her terrific guardian working with multiple certified separation anxiety trainers, as well as medical treatment with veterinary behaviorists. After just three weeks, at our first recheck in this case, Sweet Princess Charlotte was able to be alone in a room for an hour! Now, one year after training with us, Princess Charlotte can successfully stay home alone for five hours!
In addition to our separation anxiety case study, Dr. Jill Sackman of Animal Behavior Consultants of Michigan also presented our joint research on the safety and efficacy of behavior medication in young dogs this year at VBS! It was quite a year!
A Pleasant Dog is honored to have had our research consistently selected for presentation at VBS for the last three years. In 2022, we presented our study entitled “Prevalence Of Problematic Behaviors In Dogs Presenting For Group Basic Training Since The Covid-19 Pandemic “ with Dr. Sackman Dr. Laura Dodge at the ACVB Veterinary Behavior Symposium in Austin, Texas. And in 2023, Dr. Sackman presented our research on hyperarousal with a study entitled Use Of Clonidine And Ssri’s In Treatment Of Hyperarousal Disorder In Dogs at VBS in Philadelphia!
Our mission statement is to improve the lives of people and their dogs through positive reinforcement training, education, and research. We are thrilled to be honored by the ACVB with selection for presentation these past three years, and we look forward to publishing our research in the future.
If you have questions about our research, please feel free to reach out to our study team at study@apleasantdog.com
