This seminar is accredited by the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers for 19.5 CPDT Continuing Education Units
Dr. Raymond Coppinger, author of DOGS,
A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution, will
be doing a three day long seminar at Wolf Park, in Battle Ground, Indiana. He
will be talking about the evolution and history of dogs, as well as behavior,
cognition and emotions in dogs. During the three days Dr. Coppinger speaks for
5-6 hours each day, and the Wolf Park staff fills out the day with visits with
their resident wolves, and some talks on wolf behavior. Participants also get
to attend Howl Nights, and see the unique Wolf and Bison Demonstration up close
on Sunday. (go to www.wolfpark.org for more info on Wolf
Park)
This seminar runs from
Friday morning at 8:30 until Sunday afternoon at 5 pm.
The fee includes approximately 12 hours of lecture from Dr. Coppinger
as well as a chance to meet the socialized wolves at least twice, and to
participate in Howl Night and the Wolf and Bison demonstration.
Three
lunches and two light breakfasts are also included in the fee, as well
as some beverages and snacks, and a souvenir Wolf Park ceramic mug.
The
fee does not include accommodations, or transportation. Go to our main
web site for more information on you options for local motels, etc.
DR. COPPINGER'S DOG STUDIES:
Dogs exist in amazing numbers around the world. Most of them are
classified by the World Health Organization as Neighborhood Dogs. These
are dogs that are loosely attached to people and are in continuous
contact within the greater population of dogs. Exploring the behavior of
these village dogs gives us not only the dynamics of how dogs earn a
living, but also suggests how they evolved and adapted to civilization.
It also provides an insight into dog behavior.
Behavioral ecologists look at the results of an animal’s motions. The
animal hunts for food. Hunting for food has a cost, which can be
measured in many ways, including the expenditures of time and energy.
The big question for the behavioral ecologist is, how do animals
capture enough energy to accomplish all of their biological
requirements? Natural selection favors those with the most efficiently
shaped motor patterns for feeding or for avoiding hazards, or the ones
that can successfully attract a mate and provide for offspring. Yet
behavioral ecologists don’t really care whether these behaviors are
genetic or learned. They just ask the question: ‘How does the animal
earn a living, how does it forage, reproduce and stay out of trouble
while going about its survival business?’
Dr. Coppinger will review and expand on these concepts (and much
more) to help us understand how our dogs came into being and how they
operate in their environment. He will concentrate on his recent studies
of village dogs typified by the dogs in the Mexico City dump and try to
compare them with the rest of the dog world. This population gave Dr.
Coppinger new insights into the natural history of dogs, into their
behavioral ecology, and the continuing evolution of dogs and their
people friends.
A weekend with Dr. Coppinger will certainly be full of great stories,
fascinating observations, and ideas that may challenge how you look at
dogs in the world. Dr. Coppinger is a retired professor from Hampshire
College and author of DOGS: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution.
SHORT BIOGRAPHY of RAYMOND COPPINGER
Raymond Coppinger
majored in literature and philosophy as an undergraduate at Boston University.
His Ph.D. thesis in biology (at the University of Massachusetts) is on the
effect of experience and novelty on avian feeding behavior. He joined the
founding faculty at Hampshire College in 1969, where he is professor of biology.
He teaches and does research on animal behavior, especially the behavior of
canines.
Ray's first professional studies of dogs occurred on the runners of
a dog sled. During a twelve- year mushing career, he progressed from a five-dog
to a sixteen-dog team, won many races on the northeast (USA) circuits, and
developed a new strain of fast, responsive sled dogs. Several of these were sold
to drivers bound for the Alaskan championship races. His research projects with
sled dogs include responses of racing dogs to the stress of heat retention, and
the amount of energy required to pull a sled and driver.
In 1976, Ray and his
wife Lorna founded the Livestock Guarding Dog Project at Hampshire College. This
long-term investigation into the behavior of a new kind of dog for farmers and
ranchers in the United States has resulted in greater understanding about early
developmental
behavior of dogs, and how early experience (or lack of it) can
affect their adult behavior.
Recently, Ray has turned his attention to
assistance dogs. His first-hand knowledge of harnesses for dogs, the mechanics
and physiology of pulling, and the relationship between experience, training and
behavior give him a unique insight into the lives of the dogs which are being
asked to enhance the lives of people with special needs. Ray (and his colleagues
and students) have published over fifty papers on his dog research. His favorite
publication, however, is the book Fishing Dogs, a humorous and iconoclastic look
at dogs, fishermen and professors. His latest book, co-authored with Lorna
Coppinger, is DOGS: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and
Evolution (Scribner, NY, 2001; Univ. Chicago Press, 2002). His lecture trips
around the world to talk about dogs are always supplemented by a day or two
searching local waters for the perfect fish.
There will be hands-on experience with the Wolf Park wolves involved in this seminar.
Participants must be over 18 years of age in order to enter the enclosure with the wolves.
Call the Wolf Park office at (765) 567-2265 between 9-5 Mon-Fri for more information.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Wolf Park reserves the right to cancel a
seminar if there are fewer than 5 participants registered as of 30 days
before the start of the seminar. In the case of cancellation, we
will refund registration fees in full, or the participant can choose to
transfer into a different seminar..
|
There is NO SHIPPING CHARGE for
this item.
|
|
Order Status