About
The Full Story
Hello, my name is Sean. I graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 2015, then worked under the Title XIX Waiver of West Virginia as a behavioral support professional helping adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, then worked as a crisis therapist providing group and individual therapies for those in mental health crises and detoxification from opiates, benzodiazipines, and alcohol. I am currently in a graduate program at Virginia Tech which meets certification standards to be an Associate Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (ACAAB), I will be the only one in the state of West Virginia.
After working in mental health (for humans) I decided to branch into animal behavior to help animals and their families. I blend aspects of therapy with evidence-backed behavioral modification to help animals and their families have the best life and relationship possible.
My guiding philosophy is very simple: Animals are only parts of our lives, but we are their entire life.
What is an Animal Behaviorist?
From the Animal Behavior Society: "...A professional applied animal behaviorist has demonstrated expertise in the principles of animal behavior, in the research methods of animal behavior, in the application of animal behavior principles to applied behavior problems and in the dissemination of knowledge about animal behavior through teaching and research."
Dog trainers know how to train, but are not educated in the underlying mechanisms guiding behaviors, thus they are not as able to engage in behavior modification. Behavior modification is the replacing of negative behavior with a positive behavior. Instead of your dog jumping on every visitor that comes to your house, the behavior can be replaced to have the dog sitting and waiting patiently for the visitor to greet them.
Animal Behaviorist are also trained in welfare assessment, or assessing if the animals' needs are being met. Farms, breeders, veterinarians, and even dog owners can benefit from welfare assessments. Does a farm have enough room for cattle to graze? Does a dog breeder allow for enough socialization to young puppies? Do horses have enough room to meet their needs? All of this can be determined from a welfare assessment.
I view behavior as a form of communication, the question is what is being communicated? Is an aggressive dog growling for no reason? What is a dog destroying furniture communicating? Once you understand what is being communicated and provide for those needs, the "negative" behavior tends to go away.