Our Commitment to Standards of Practice
In order to accomplish our mission — to inspire, develop, and provide quality, evidence-based education, research, and other charitable activities in animal training and behavior — IAABC Foundation programs follow a shared set of guiding principles. At the heart of this work is a commitment to putting animal wellbeing first and ensuring that our educational and community initiatives reflect current, humane, and effective practices.
IAABC Foundation is proud to serve on the Steering Committee of the Joint Standards of Practice Coalition (JSOP), a collaborative group of organizations dedicated to establishing and maintaining science-based, ethical standards for animal training and behavior professionals. Below, you can explore the full Joint Standards of Practice and Professional Code of Ethics, which has been adopted by all signatory organizations and guides professional conduct, ethical decision-making, and best practices in the field.
JOINT STANDARDS OF PRACTICE AND PROFESSIONAL CODE OF ETHICS
Mission: To promote excellence in the animal training and behavior profession through science-based, humane practices, guided by industry collaboration and a commitment to animal well-being.
Developed By: This document was created by the steering committee of the Joint Standards of Practice Coalition, a group of animal training and behavior organizations committed to the above mission. These organizations include:
● Association for Professional Dog Training International (APDTI)
● International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC)
● IAABC Foundation (IAABC-F)
● Karen Pryor Academy (KPA)
Developed For: All signatories of the Joint Standards of Practice (JSOP) and those professionals who seek membership and/or credentialing within those organizations.
These Standards of Practice and Professional Code of Ethics have been adopted by all signatory organizations of the JSOP Coalition. These organizations are responsible for ensuring their members and certificants uphold both in their conduct and the delivery of professional services, and that all educational programs they offer are developed in
alignment with these standards.
Joint Standards of Practice
Standards of Practice provide a shared foundation for how professionals conduct themselves. The purpose is to establish clear expectations for ethical practices and professional conduct. These Joint Standards are put forward to provide all organizations with minimum standards, such that each organization can have higher and individual standards. This document is designed to guide animal behavior and training professionals in maintaining high levels of care, competency, and professionalism.
Professionals adhering to these Joint Standards are expected to:
● Maintain professional development through study of relevant texts and participation in educational opportunities such as conferences, courses, and workshops.
● Abstain from representing training and behavioral information as scientific, unless the information is derived from peer-reviewed and published research.
● Refrain from offering guarantees regarding the outcome of training and behavior work.
● Always maintain professionalism through:
● Providing services honestly
● Treating animals, colleagues and clients with respect
● Preserving client privacy and confidentiality
Joint Professional Code of Ethics
The Professional Code of Ethics sets forth the standards of conduct that professionals associated with the signatory organizations must adhere to in their professional capacity. These standards outline both best practices and required behaviors. Any professional who fails to abide by this code, or who does not cooperate with investigations, reviews, or ethics proceedings, is subject to revocation of membership or credentials, removal from roles, or other appropriate measures.
Principle I: Responsibility to Clients
Professionals:
1.1 Shall not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, gender, health status, religion, political beliefs, national origin, immigration status, or sexual orientation.
1.2 Shall respect the right of clients to make decisions regarding their pet’s management, training and care. Professionals are responsible for helping clients understand the potential consequences of those decisions.
1.3 Shall obtain informed consent from clients before videotaping, audio recording, or permitting third-party observation.
1.4 Shall obtain signed waivers, contracts or agreements prior to the start of services.
1.5 Shall ensure and oversee the safety of clients, animals and the public in implementing training and behavior programs.
Principle II: Confidentiality
Professionals:
2.1 Shall not share, in any forum, information that could reasonably lead to the identification of a client, prospective client, research participant, or other person with whom they have a confidential relationship, without prior written consent.
2.2 Shall keep accurate and complete records of all clients, their animals, services provided, and the conclusion of the services provided.
2.3 Shall obtain consent from the client prior to sharing information with any outside parties, the only exceptions being in cases when physical safety and/or financial liability concern a potential client or other professional relationship.
Principle III: Professional Competence and Practice
3.1 Well-Being and the Five Domains: Behavior plans must support both immediate behavioral goals and the animal’s overall well-being and long-term success. Professionals must adhere to the Five Domains Model (Mellor et al., 2020; Littlewood et al., 2023), which lists the five components of animal welfare as nutrition, health,
physical environment, behavioral interactions, and mental state.
A. Nutrition: If the animal appears to be an unhealthy weight, or if there is other reason to suspect a nutritional concern, professionals must recommend veterinary evaluation to the animal’s guardian and, with the guardian’s consent, collaborate with the veterinary professional as appropriate. Professionals must remain within their scope of practice when making recommendations or offering nutritional advice.
B. Health: Professionals must consider any underlying health issues that may influence behavior.
i. For all new cases, verify that the animal has had a veterinary examination within the past 12 months. If not, recommend that the caregivers schedule an appointment to rule out possible medical concerns.
ii. Refer to a veterinary professional if behavior concerns are severe, sudden in onset, multi-faceted, not easily explained by environmental or developmental factors, or if progress is limited despite appropriate
intervention.
iii. Modify training plans as necessary to accommodate the animal’s health status and life stage while continuing to work toward established goals.
C. Physical Environment: Professionals must assess whether the animal’s environment meets their behavioral, emotional, and biological needs. This includes, but is not limited to (Mellor et al., 2020):
● Adequate space
● Appropriate bedding/substrate
● Clean air and appropriate air quality (e.g., species-appropriate humidity levels)
● Absence of aversive or noxious sounds or scents
● Appropriate temperature
● Conditions conducive to adequate sleep
● Reasonable balance of predictability and variability
● No prolonged exposure to fear-inducing stimuli
i. Provide recommendations and assistance to the client to improve the environment as needed, while taking into account the client’s abilities and resources.
ii. Behavior plans must be adjusted to minimize prolonged exposure to environmental factors that cause toxic stress, fear, or discomfort, and the professional should identify and mitigate factors that fail to meet the animal’s needs.
D. Behavioral Interactions: A critical component of all behavior and training plans is consideration of the animal’s interactions with the environment, humans, and other animals (Littlewood et al., 2023). Practitioners must evaluate these interactions and, when necessary, implement comprehensive behavior plans. For example, if an animal displays fearful or aggressive behavior during social interactions, a plan may include avoiding or minimizing distressing situations, educating caregivers to observe and respond appropriately to body language, increasing enrichment and confidence-building exercises, and implementing desensitization and counter conditioning.
i. Practitioners must use thoughtful antecedent arrangements that meet the animal’s needs, ensuring the environment is managed to prevent rehearsal of undesired behaviors and to support behavior change.
ii. Agency is critical to well-being (Englund and Cronin, 2023; Littlewood et al., 2023; Špinka and Wemelsfelder, 2016). Therefore, behavior plans must offer the animal control, choice, and agency whenever it is safe and reasonable to do so. In all interventions, animals must be offered multiple
appetitive choices, such as whether to engage in the training session, which reinforcers to use, and how to interact socially. Behavior plans must be adjusted based on the animal’s feedback.
iii. Professionals must treat each individual, regardless of species, with respect and consideration for their unique nature, preferences, abilities, and needs. This includes actively working to understand the animal’s preferences. The professional’s goal is to create a partnership that values the animal’s comfort
and well-being.
E. Mental state: Behavior plans must prioritize the animal’s emotional well-being in addition to achieving behavioral goals. Professionals must consider the animal’s subjective experiences, as well as objective measures of behavior, to ensure interventions are ethically sound and lead to sustainable outcomes.
3.2 Procedure Selection: Professionals shall utilize non-aversive and/or positive reinforcement-based training, and support the animal’s emotional well-being and comfort. The focus should be on the learner’s freedom to engage in behaviors that result in favorable outcomes for the learner.
A. Professionals shall not use training, management, or behavior modification techniques that rely on fear, pain, distress, or harm. This includes, but is not limited to:
● Positive-punishment-based strategies
● Management practices that significantly restrict the animal’s movement, choice, or ability to perform normal behaviors
● Intentional deprivation of food, water, or social interaction
● Tools or equipment designed to cause, or that functionally result in causing, fear, pain, or startle
B. Professionals must do their best to recognize their own inherent biases when considering procedure selection and working with animals and people. The professional must aim to consider the perspective of the learner’s experience (both
human and animal). In addition, professionals must recognize that internal states—such as pain, fear, stress, or fatigue—may serve as antecedents that contraindicate training and require that the learner’s immediate well-being take priority over any intervention.
C. Professionals understand that only the learner can determine what is appetitive or aversive and must recognize and apply this principle for the benefit and well-being of the learner. Professionals will develop training or behavior interventions based on the animal’s breed, age, health, home environment, past experiences, and the owner or caretaker’s knowledge, skills, and abilities. The professional must continually assess handling, petting, interactions, food, tools, equipment, and the
environment from the animal’s perspective.
D. In addition to the approaches listed in 3.1, professionals will focus on teaching and reinforcing desired behaviors to replace undesired behavior(s), while ensuring the new behavior serves a similar function for the animal.
E. When applying new safety and management tools, a comprehensive conditioning process must be completed to ensure tools are not causing fear, anxiety, or pain or are otherwise aversive to the animal. This does not justify the use of tools that
would otherwise not be permitted under 3.2.A. Guardians or handlers should be taught how to use training equipment safely, effectively, and in ways that protect the animal’s physical and emotional well-being.
F. The behavior plan must minimize risk to the animal, the caretaker, and the community and shall address foreseeable risks to the animal and the public.
G. Professionals may work with clients who are already using aversive techniques or tools, provided they do not introduce, recommend, or implement these methods themselves. In such cases, the professional must do their best to educate and
support the client in transitioning to humane, science-based alternatives that prioritize the animal’s well-being. This approach is grounded in harm reduction and relationship preservation, recognizing that maintaining trust with the client increases the likelihood of lasting positive change. During the transition process, the professional must also do all they can to mitigate the negative impacts on the animal. The goal is to replace pre-existing aversive interventions with effective, non-aversive or positive-reinforcement-based strategies that ensure long-term behavioral success and well-being.
3.4 Professionals shall maintain competence in training and behavior through qualified and approved continuing education.
3.5 Professionals shall maintain a functional knowledge of, and adhere to, applicable laws, ethics, and professional standards.
3.6 Professionals shall provide truthful advertising and representation concerning their qualifications, certifications, experience, performance, and pricing of services.
3.7 Professionals shall refrain from providing guarantees regarding the specific outcome of training and behavior plans.
3.8 Professionals shall provide full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest to clients and other professionals.
3.9 Professionals shall work within their professional education and recognized expertise and shall seek additional guidance or education when confronted with complex or difficult cases. Professionals shall refrain from taking cases beyond their experience.
3.10 Professionals shall maintain their own scope of practice by not advising on problems outside their recognized professional education and certifications, and shall not provide advice or recommendations in areas of veterinary medicine or family counseling unless licensed and qualified to do so.
3.11 Professionals shall not permit employees, subcontractors, or supervisees to perform, or represent themselves as competent to perform, professional services beyond their training, experience, and certification. Professionals are responsible for holding employees, subcontractors, or supervisees accountable for following the Joint Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics during service delivery.
3.12 Professionals shall ensure that recommendations and opinions are accurate, evidence-based, and within the bounds of their expertise. When making public statements, professionals have an additional responsibility to present these views clearly and responsibly, recognizing their potential impact on the public.
Principle IV: Professional Conduct and Regulatory Compliance
Professionals:
4.1 Shall be respectful of colleagues and other professionals, and shall not condemn the character of their professional actions, nor engage in public commentary that is disrespectful, derisive, or inflammatory. This includes the use of electronic media for
deliberate, repeated, and/or hostile behavior against colleagues and other professionals.
4.2 Shall maintain adequate professional liability insurance coverage, in accordance with local ordinances.
4.3 Shall comply with applicable laws regarding the reporting of animal bites and suspected abuse or neglect.
Principle V: Financial Arrangements & Truthful Representation of Services
Professionals:
5.1 Shall clearly disclose and explain to clients all financial arrangements and fees related to professional services prior to entering into a professional relationship.
5.2 Shall accurately and truthfully represent the nature, scope, limitations, and potential outcomes of services provided to clients, third-party payors, and students, ensuring that all information communicated is clear, complete, and not misleading.
Principle VI: Advertising
Professionals:
6.1 Shall accurately represent their competencies, education, skills and experience relevant to their practice of training and/or behavior modification.
6.2 Shall only use titles, degrees, certifications and designations that the person or organization has earned. The practitioner will not mislead the public when using such identifiers.
6.3 Shall correct, wherever possible, false, misleading, or inaccurate information and representations made by others concerning their qualifications, services, or products.
6.4 Shall not represent themselves as providing specialized services unless they have the appropriate education, training, or experience.
6.5 Shall refrain from making misrepresentations regarding marketing and logos for which they are no longer eligible, and remove logos and claims of certification when no longer maintained.
6.6 Shall agree to use the most current logos and follow recommended usage of said marketing materials.
6.7 Shall not commit business fraud, plagiarism, copyright infringement, misuse or misappropriation of logos or trademarks, theft of intellectual property, slander, or libel or other unethical activities.
Principle VII: Illegal Behavior
Professionals:
7.1 Shall not be convicted of cruelty, abuse, or neglect of animals or humans, crimes against humanity, or violence against animals or humans.
7.2 Shall not engage in cruelty, abuse, or neglect of animals or humans, crimes against humanity, or violence against animals or humans.
7.3 Shall not be convicted of crimes directly related to the responsible party’s professional qualifications.
7.4 Shall not engage in gross misconduct directly related to the responsible party’s professional qualifications.
Principle VIII: Cooperation in Matters Related to Ethical Complaints
Professionals:
8.1 Shall cooperate with ethics procedures from the inception of an ethical complaint through the completion of all proceedings regarding that complaint. Non-cooperation may result in disciplinary actions up to removal of membership and/or revocation of
credentials.
8.2 Shall not threaten or pursue retaliatory actions of any kind against any parties or witnesses to an ethics complaint. Both during the course of the complaint and after the completion of all proceedings.
Principle IX: Appeals
9.1 Any respondent to a complaint who wishes to appeal a sanction may do so in accordance with the complaint process.
Appendix A: Glossary of Terms
Definitions
1. Antecedent Arrangements: Arranging the environment to change the behavior of an animal.
2. Appetitive: A stimulus the animal seeks to interact with or acquire, or something pleasant to the learner.
3. Aversive: Any stimulus – technique, tool, or method – the animal seeks to avoid, or that is designed or used with the intention of causing fear, pain, or distress.
4. Desensitization: The structured process of gradually reducing emotional reactions to previously distressing situations.
5. Behavioral interactions: Interactions with the environment, humans, conspecifics and/or other species. (Littlewood et al., 2023)
6. Behavior Plan: For the purposes of this document, this term includes the meanings behavior plan, training plan, and/or curriculum for group classes (including safety and risk mitigation procedures).
7. Counter Conditioning: Technique used to change an animal’s emotional response to a stimulus by associating it with something positive or rewarding. This method is often used to replace a negative or fearful response with a more desirable or relaxed one by pairing the feared stimulus with a pleasant experience.
8. Humane: Showing concern for the well-being of living beings.
9. Improving Welfare: eliminating or minimizing pain and suffering.
10. Improving Well-being: Promoting positive emotional states.
11. Reinforcement: The act of adding or removing stimuli to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated in the future.
12. Subjective Experiences: an individual’s unique, personal perceptions, feelings, and interpretations of consciousness, shaped by their own thoughts, emotions, and sensory inputs.
13. This document uses the following definitions of choice, control, and agency, from Englund and Cronin (2023):
a. Choice is the “act of choosing or selecting from more than one alternative.”
b. Control is the “ability to predictably and effectively produce desired results in a given situation.”
c. Agency is the “ability to exert control and overcome challenges in one’s environment to gather knowledge and enhance skills for future use.”
14. Toxic stress: Distressing environment(s) and/or experience(s) that exceed the animal’s ability to effectively cope, resulting in long-term negative impacts on emotional, behavioral, and/or physical health. (paraphrased from McEwan, 2017)
Works Cited
Englund, M. D., & Cronin, K. A. (2023). Choice, control, and animal welfare: Definitions and essential inquiries to advance animal welfare science. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10, 1250251. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1250251
Littlewood, K. E., Heslop, M. V., & Cobb, M. L. (2023). The agency domain and behavioral interactions: Assessing positive animal welfare using the Five Domains Model. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10, 1284869. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1284869
McEwen, B. S. (2017). Neurobiological and systemic effects of chronic stress. Chronic stress, 1, 2470547017692328.
Mellor, D. J., Beausoleil, N. J., Littlewood, K. E., McLean, A. N., McGreevy, P. D., Jones, B., & Wilkins, C. (2020). The 2020 Five Domains Model: Including Human–Animal Interactions in Assessments of Animal Welfare. Animals : An Open Access Journal from MDPI, 10(10), 1870. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101870
Špinka, M., & Wemelsfelder, F. (2011). Environmental Challenge and Animal Agency. Sentience Collection. https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/acwp_asie/108
Dr. Wailani Sung is a Board-Certified Veterinary Behaviorist dedicated to improving the wellbeing of animals and strengthening the human–animal bond. Dr. Sung currently serves as Senior Director of Animal Admissions and Wellbeing at Joybound People and Pets in Walnut Creek, California. In this role, she oversees three key areas: the transfer of pets from municipal shelters, the assessment and management of the shelter’s behavior population, and the training classes and consultations provided to privately owned pets. She also advises animal shelters nationwide on individual case evaluations and the development of effective behavior programs.
Valli Parthasarathy, DVM, DACVB, is the owner of Synergy Veterinary Behavior, a veterinary behavior specialty practice in Portland, Oregon. She works with families whose dogs, cats, birds, horses, and other species display behavior concerns, focusing on strengthening the human–animal bond through improved understanding and evidence-based treatment.
A passion for animal welfare, canine behaviour, has been the cornerstone of Tom’s (he/him) career, spanning over 15 years in shelter and rescue. This experience, alongside a drive to better support shelter animals, led Tom to found Simplifying Shelter Behaviour.
Tabitha Kucera is an Elite Fear Free and Low-Stress Handling Certified Registered Veterinary Technician, a Veterinary Technician Specialist in Behavior, a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant, and a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner.
Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D. is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University and the owner of Behavior Works Consulting, LLC. Susan has co-authored chapters on behavior change in five veterinary texts, and her popular articles have been translated into 17 languages. Susan teaches seminars and courses on animal learning online (How Behavior Works: Living & Learning with Animals), which has been attended by students from 64 countries so far. Susan consults with zoos and animal organizations around the world and teaches yearly for the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) Animal Trainer Accreditation program. She was appointed to the Fish & Wildlife Service’s California Condor Recovery Team from 2002 – 2010, after which the team was retired due to the success of the birds in the wild. Currently, she is the Chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Committee of American Humane Association (AHA) Film and TV Unit. In 2022, Susan was honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.
Mindy is a clinical assistant professor in the Animal Behavior Program at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI and instructor at Virginia Tech. She is a board-Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB). 
Melissa, a lifelong equestrian and student of the horse, is a Certified Connection Training Coach, a Shawna Karrasch R+ Mastery Course – Santa Fe graduate, a Recognized Compassionate Equestrian member and facility owner, founder of Compassionate Horse Click and has been certified by American Riding Instructor’s Association in Dressage, Hunt Seat and Western Equitation for 25+ years.
Lindsay Palmer is a social and behavioral scientist with a PhD in Psychology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. In her research program, she examines psychological mechanisms that impact human and animal relationships in her work. In particular, she is interested in the complexity of human behavior and social cognition in relationships with animals to inform interventions geared toward improving these relationships.
Laurie Lawless, CDBC is a nationally recognized expert in shelter dog behavior, with over 16 years of in behavior, sheltering, leadership, consulting, and animal cruelty response. Her career was sparked in 2008 when she rescued an 85‑lb Boxer named Charlie – his behavioral challenges launched her into the world of professional dog behavior work, and she’s been “blaming Charlie” ever since.
Dr. Kristyn Vitale is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) and an internationally recognized expert in cat behavior. She is a researcher and educator in animal behavior, companion animal welfare, and human-animal interaction. Vitale received a Master of Environmental Science from Miami University (USA), where she studied free-ranging cat social behavior, and a Ph.D. in Animal Science from Oregon State University (USA), where she researched cat social cognition and human-animal interactions. She also served as a Visiting Research Fellow at Kyoto University (Japan) where she studied cross-cultural differences in the human-cat relationship. Vitale’s main area of expertise is focused on human-cat interactions, cat social behavior, and the impact of life experiences, such as cat training and socialization classes, on cat cognition. Her research has been internationally featured in media outlets such as Science and National Geographic, and in documentaries such as How the Cat Conquered the World (ARTE France) and Inside the Mind of a Cat (Netflix). She is the founder of Maueyes Cat Science and Education, an organization dedicated to enhancing cat welfare and strengthening the cat-human relationship through education, behavior consulting, and science outreach.
Dr. Spaulding has a PhD in biopsychology—the study of the biological basis of behavior—and is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist. She is the author of The Stress Factor in Dogs: Unlocking Resiliency and Enhancing Well-Being. Dr. Spaulding teaches a variety of online courses and webinars on the science of behavior through her website, www.sciencemattersllc.com. She also co-teaches the Carefree Companion Certification with Irith Bloom and serves as Vice President for the IAABC Foundation.
Katenna Jones accidentally discovered her career as a shelter volunteer in the late 90s and soon went on to earn a master’s from Brown University where she studied animal behavior, learning and cognition. Since then, Katenna has provided cat and dog behavior support to pet owners as well as educational services to various pet organizations around the World. Katenna is a published author and contributes regularly to publications, podcasts, and more. She is an Associated Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, Certified Cat and Dog Behavior Consultant, and Certified Fear Free Trainer. Katenna recently relocated to northern NY with her two cats and four chickens.
Dr. Julie Churchill is a Professor at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine–Nutrition. She completed dual residencies; internal medicine and clinical nutrition, and her PhD, at the UMN before joining the faculty.
Dr. JoAnna Platzer is an animal trainer and Zoos, Exotics, and Companion Animals lecturer in the department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Vermont. She earned her PhD in the Applied Animal Behavior and Welfare lab at Virginia Tech under Dr. Erica Feuerbacher. Her research interests spanned several facets of behavioral and welfare and included studies with pet dogs, shelter animals, horses, and dairy cattle. Before that, she attended the University of Florida where she majored in Zoology with an emphasis on animal behavior. After graduation, she participated in research on site fidelity of Mockingbirds with the University of Florida, social behavior of Fairy-wrens with Cornell University, and comparative cognition of canines with Yale University. She has worked as a professional dog trainer for pet and shelter dogs and has trained various domestic and exotic animal species for enrichment and low-stress husbandry in zoos, conservancies, and sanctuaries.
Jessica Wheatcraft is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and professional dog trainer who has worked with thousands of dogs for over 18 years. She specializes in dog to dog leash reactivity cases, with an emphasis on understanding each dog as an individual and thinking outside of the box to implement the most effective and humane training solutions. She mentors other trainers via her Leash Reactivity Mentorship for Professionals and works with pet parents virtually from all over the world. She is the founder and host of the Rethinking Reactivity Podcast and is passionate about helping reactive dogs and their humans live better lives together.
Irith Bloom helps people create choice-rich environments that enable companion animals to live in greater harmony with humans and make the entire household happier. She is faculty at both Victoria Stilwell Dog Training Academy and Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, on the Board of Directors of the IAABC Foundation, a member of the Advisory Board for Pets for Vets, Chair Emeritus of the Education Committee of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT), and a former CCPDT Board Member. She is a sought-after presenter, and her writing has been published many times, including in her book “Your Puppy and You: A step-by-step guide to raising a freak’n awesome dog.”
Dr. Gabriel Lencioni is a veterinarian and PhD student in Animal Welfare at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (FMVZ) of the University of São Paulo (USP). His passion for the study of animal behavior and welfare ignited during his college years, prompting him to actively engage in organizing seminars, symposiums, courses, and other educational activities on the topic. Under the guidance of Professor Adroaldo José Zanella, Gabriel had the privilege to develop scientific projects and interact with esteemed professionals in the field. His research focuses on various aspects of animal welfare, with a particular emphasis on assessing affective states in horses using artificial intelligence, learning theory, ethical training for solving unwanted behaviors, and fear-free methodologies for veterinary interventions.
Since 2014, Dr. Berger has been a licensed and Board Certified Behavior Analyst providing a variety of behavior change services to human clients. In 2020, she completed her Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis, and in 2021 published research on combined therapy interventions for health and behavior. Dr. Berger has worked in the field of psychology as a clinician for over a decade, and has served as a psychology professor for many years. Dr. Berger additionally completed her study of positive reinforcement training strategies at the Victoria Stilwell Academy and became a VSA certified and Fear Free certified dog trainer. She currently runs a training private practice and serves as Director of Research for the IAABC Foundation.
Erin Jones, PhD, is a scholar-practitioner in canine behaviour and ethics based in Aotearoa New Zealand. As founder of the Merit Dog Project, Erin helps organisations and practitioners design agency-centred approaches to education and care. She is a Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant (IAABC ADT, CDBC; CANZ-ABC) and is an international speaker.
Emily Lewis has 24 years of professional experience as a dog trainer, shelter behavior consultant and vet tech. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant with the IAABC and operates Vermont Dog Behavior, LLC. She specializes in a wide variety of behavior issues, including human directed aggression. Due to the nature of the cases that she sees, Emily is often faced with families who have experienced trauma due to their dog’s behavior. She loves working with these clients to repair and improve their relationship with their dog, with an emphasis on meeting the needs at both ends of the leash. 
Dr. Courtney L. Sexton is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and member of the Dog Aging Project research consortium. With a background in evolutionary biology and the human-dog relationship, her current canine science research centers One Health and One Welfare principles. As a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB), Courtney focuses on guiding people toward intentional living and bond forming with dogs. Courtney is a member of AAAS, the Animal Behavior Society, and the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ). She also serves as a member of the Communications and Community Building committee for ManyDogs Project. An accomplished writer, Courtney is passionate about scientific outreach and journalism, and often ropes her hound, Sonder, into helping out. As both a researcher and a communicator, she works with a diverse cadre of humans, animals, institutions, agencies, and organizations. She is a Virginia Tech Research & Innovation Scholar (2024), Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute Fellow (2022), AAAS Mass Media Fellow (2020), and DCCAH Arts & Humanities Fellow (2018; 2023; 2025; 2026).
Catja lives with a retired older cocker spaniel, who still loves to work, and a younger Australian Koolie, who is starting his first competitions. Since 2009, where she finished her instructors’ course via Canis academy, Catja has been working full-time with teaching on the topic of training, both online and at in-person workshops and at conferences. She is always on the path of continued education and curious to learn.
Amy Learn, VMD, DACVB is a board-certified specialist through American College of Veterinary Behaviorists.
Lawrence was born and raised in Washington, D.C. before relocating to NC to earn his bachelor’s degree in business management at North Carolina A&T State University. Upon graduating he was commissioned as an Army officer, where he served in duty stations in Arizona, Germany, and Iraq. While at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to recover from an illness during deployment, Lawrence became one of the first Servicemembers to complete the inaugural Dog Tags Program under the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA; then-called the Washington Humane Society).
Michelle Mullins CDBC, KPA CTP is the owner of Honest To Dog, LLC in Richmond, Virginia, USA and currently serves as the President of the IAABC Foundation Board of Directors. Michelle has been training dogs for 20 years and all of her work has the same objective – developing long, enriching relationships between pets and their people. In addition to her work in the pet product industry, she has worked with private clients for basic manners, puppy socialization, cooperative care training and through aggression issues. Michelle is passionate about a team approach, working closely with other trainers, certified behavior consultants and veterinary professionals.
Catja Pedersen lives with 2 Australian Koolies that develop her skills every day. Since 2009, when she finished her instructors’ course via Canis clicker training academy, Catja has been working full-time with teaching on the topic of training, both online and at in-person workshops and at conferences. She is always on the path of continued education and curious to learn. 
Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and Certified Cat Behavior Consultant who has been working with cats professionally for almost 25 years. She worked as a cat behavior specialist at the San Francisco SPCA for eight years before co-founding Feline Minds, where she offers assistance for cat owners, animal shelters, and corporations.
Dilara Göksel Parry was raised in Istanbul, Turkey and holds degrees in Psychology and in Comparative Literature from Oberlin College. She has worked in the animal welfare field for the majority of her professional life, including 12 years as the Cat Behavior Coordinator at the San Francisco SPCA. In 2008, she co-founded Feline Minds with Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado, where they focus on private consultations to help cat guardians live harmoniously with their cats and consult with animal welfare organizations with an emphasis on improving cat sheltering practices. In addition to staying busy with Feline Minds, Dilara works part-time at Cat Town Oakland, an innovative, cage-free rescue for cats deemed unadoptable in traditional shelter settings.
Dr. Kristina Spaulding has been in the dog training and behavior profession for over 20 years. She has a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology and a PhD in Biopsychology—the study of the biological basis of behavior—and is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist. She is particularly interested in stress, neurobiology, cognition, emotion, and well-being and how to apply these concepts to the prevention, early intervention, and treatment of behavior problems in dogs. She is an adjunct professor for Virginia Tech’s graduate program in Animal Behavior and Welfare. In addition, Dr. Spaulding teaches a variety of online courses and webinars on the science of behavior through her website and for the IAABC Foundation. She is the author of The Stress Factor in Dogs: Unlocking Resiliency and Enhancing Well-Being and regularly presents on canine behavior science at conferences and other events.