Shelter Enrichment and Playgroups - Featuring Mara Velez (MA, CPDT-KA)

Tails from a Vet Tech

This week, Mara Velez of Shelter Playgroup Alliance joins Tabitha to discuss enrichment for shelter dogs.

Enrichment is a need for all shelter animals. Animals have natural behaviors and needs, and they must have opportunities to express those behaviors. Enrichment provides needed mental and physical stimulation, improves quality of life, decreases stress, decreases unwanted behaviors, and length of stay. It helps to increase adoptions, provide choices, can manage, and prevent behavior problems, and keeps animals in their new homes.
Mara and I discuss the importance of enrichment, the struggles we have seen due to animals having inappropriate or no enrichment, what appropriate enrichment is, and more!

About our guest:
Mara Velez, MA, CPDT-KA, is the Executive Director of two non-profits: the Shelter Playgroup Alliance and Humane Dog Training Advocates. She is also a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. Mara has been working in the shelter setting for almost 15 years. Mara was a behavior and training consultant at Contra Costa Animal Services where she collaboratively designed, developed, and implemented behavior program structures, including a robust volunteer training program, revised behavior evaluation, canine enrichment and playgroup guidelines. It was these guidelines that served as the basis for the Shelter Playgroup Alliance guidelines. Mara holds both a bachelors and master’s degree in psychology and completed all of the course work for a doctorate in education.

In addition to completing several animal behavior and training-related programs, Mara continually develops her skills and knowledge of canines by attending seminars and reading science-based canine literature. To date, she has completed over 3,000 hours of continuing education. Mara also enjoys training other species because it expands her training and observation skills. She has worked with: cats, bunnies, wolves, foxes, guinea pigs, coyotes, buffalo, donkeys, goats, alpacas, chickens, birds, and fish.

Related Show Links:

• Shelter Playgroup Alliance
• SPA Shelter Behavior and Enrichment Conference
• Humane Dog Training Advocates

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