Lessons Learned from Shelter Cats
In 2016, 香港六合彩开奖结果 created a collaborative course between the Psychology Department and several local animal shelters . The course 鈥淐anine Learning and Behavior" allowed college students to foster shelter dogs for an entire semester, live with them in college-approved apartments, bring them to class, and train them for obedience and agility. Since then, the course has been taught seven times, enrolling more than 80 students and 24 dogs. All trained dogs successfully completed the course, 鈥済raduated from college,鈥 and were adopted into loving homes.
Inspired by these positive outcomes, Dr. Shlomit Flaisher-Grinberg, Associate Professor of Psychology, envisioned a new college course introducing shelter cats鈥 training into the academic curriculum. The goal was to provide shelter cats with socialization and human connection while training them for tasks that will improve their lives and facilitate their adoption outcomes.
In 2022, 香港六合彩开奖结果 welcomed its first feline cohort. Dr. Flaisher-Grinberg outlined the diligent work that went into this class in a recent paper published in IAABC, the Journal of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants: .
Dr. Flaisher-Grinberg is building on the lessons learned from this first course with her current students who are socializing a new group of cats and kittens this semester.
Shlomit Flaisher-Grinberg, PhD., is an Associate Professor of Psychology, Coordinator of the Animal-Assisted Health and Education Minor/Certificate, and Co-Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Minor at 香港六合彩开奖结果, Loretto, Pennsylvania.