Kiwi Vet Behaviour Conference 2023:
THE POWER OF POSITIVE

Building Better Relationships

Thank you to everyone who joined us!

Keep an eye on this page for more events with us in the future.

4th-7th August, 2023
Kiwi Vet Behaviour Centre
584 Great South Road, Ellerslie

Join us for our inaugural Kiwi Vet Behaviour Conference where we welcome veterinary professionals and trainers alike.

We believe by working and developing our skills together we can provide the best possible outcome for animals in our care.

Dr Sarah Heath

Keynote Speaker

Sarah qualified from Bristol University and spent four years in mixed general practice before setting up Behavioural Referrals Veterinary Practice in 1992. In 2018 she was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for meritorious contributions to the profession in recognition of her work in establishing Behavioural Medicine as a veterinary discipline. She is an RCVS and European Veterinary Specialist in Behavioural Medicine and an External Lecturer in small animal behavioural medicine on the veterinary undergraduate courses at Liverpool University and the University of Surrey. She is a Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist under the ASAB accreditation scheme and a Veterinary Behaviourist with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council. She sees clinical cases across North West England.

Sarah has a special interest in the interplay between emotional and physical illness in dogs and cats and particularly in the role of pain. She promotes the recognition of emotional health issues in companion animals and the role of the veterinary profession in safeguarding the welfare of animals in this context. Sarah lectures extensively on behavioural medicine and is an author, co-author and editor of several books including Behavioural Medicine for Small Animals and Feline Behavioural Health and Welfare.

Dr Jess Beer

Host, Director of Kiwi Vet Behaviour

A qualified Veterinary Behaviourist with over 20 years experience in the animal and veterinary industry in New Zealand and overseas,
Dr Jess Beer is the Founder & Director of Kiwi Vet Behaviour.

Passionate about supporting pet guardians with empathy and science-based care, Jess is thrilled to be creating new spaces for veterinary professionals, trainers and animals to communicate, and to be helping build new connections in the animal industry.

International Speakers

Joining us virtually from all over the world, in real time.

Grisha Stewart M.A., CPDT-KA, KPACTP

Grisha is a Dog Trainer, Author and International Public Speaker best known for developing Behavior Adjustment Training, a humane technique for addressing dog aggression, frustration, and fear. Through her international dog seminars, DVDs, books, and in-person and online training academy, she’s helped hundreds of thousands of dogs and their people thrive. Grisha uses positive reinforcement mindfully in ways that directly benefit the animal, like teaching cooperative care and consent which forms the foundation of her online school, the Grisha Stewart Academy.

Karishma Warr

Karishma (they/them) is a dog trainer based in London UK specializing in virtual consults. They work as Head of Training at Calm Canine Academy, where they lead a group of bad ass queer, neurodivergent dog trainers.

With over 3000 virtual sessions with dogs in over 15 countries to their name, they are proud to spread non violent communication skills with their growing global community.

Debbie Jacobs CPDT-KA, RBT

Certified Professional Dog Trainer and Registered Behavior Technician, Debbie uses the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis to assess problem behaviors and formulate management and training plans to increase appropriate behaviors and decrease unwanted ones. Debbie has also worked with children with learning challenges including those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She is recognized internationally for her commitment to helping animals struggling with fear-based behavior challenges, and educating on best practices in training. She avoids doing anything that scares or hurts animals in order to train them. Her specialty includes working with animals requiring rehabilitation due to trauma, and transitioning to new homes and environments.

New Zealand Speakers

The following experts will be joining us in-person from all over the country.

Ryan Cartlidge

Ryan Cartlidge appreciates that each day in a trainer's life can bring unique training challenges and rough patches based on the animals one is working with, often leading to us feeling stuck, frustrated and even overwhelmed! Therefore in 2015, he created the Animal Training Academy to help trainers grow their confidence, knowledge and skills to better enjoy their work while making their biggest possible positive impact on the lives of their animal and human learners.

He has worked internationally as a professional trainer since 2007, including in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the US - & is a certified professional dog trainer through the internationally recognised Karen Pryor Academy. Ryan has also spent his whole career working in and for zoological organisations where he works with and trains entire teams of zookeepers to improve their animal training skills, knowledge and confidence.

Kelly Daniel

Kelly Daniel is currently a secondary science teacher, who studied Zoology and anatomy and physiology at Otago University. After working in various jobs including as a veterinary nurse, she decided to study Secondary teaching. Kelly is proud to be the first Certified Canine Fitness Trainer, through the University of Tennessee and FitPAWS in New Zealand. More recently she has become certified as a Fear Free Trainer, which means that she is certified to assist clients in veterinary-related, and animal husbandry training to create animals that love vets, and things like nails! Kelly has more recently gained her Fenzi Dog Sports Foundation Trainer certification, in another area of huge interest - sports dog foundation training. She also loves, trains, and competes with her bunch of dogs and has successfully won and titled in a huge range of dog sports including obedience, rally-o, agility, flygility, nosework, disc, tricks, and pretty much anything she can do!

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Dr Erin Jones
PhD, MSc, CPDT-KA, IAABC-ADT, CDBC, CANZ-ABC

Erin is a dog behaviour consultant and researcher with a focus on the dog-human connection and animal ethics through a critical animal studies lens. She has a PhD in Human Animal Studies from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand Centre for Human Animal Studies, a MSc in Anthrozoology from Canisius University in Buffalo, NY, a BSc in Psychology and a PGDip. in Animal Welfare. She is a certified dog trainer (with the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers and the IAABC-Accredited Dog Trainer) and certified dog behaviour consultant (with the IAABC and Companion Animals New Zealand) and runs Merit Dog Project, a global educational project aimed at bringing the science of animal behaviour to everyone and helping dogs live successfully in a human-centric environment. Her applied practice is focused on helping industry professionals work with clients and their dogs. This connects with her research focus on decentring humans within research, the ethics of dog-human interactions, and focusing on a more dog-centred approach that includes topics around a canine consent, part of which includes cooperative care. She also works at the IAABC Foundation Journal as the content editor and teaching/creating some of their online instructed courses, such as Animal Behaviour Consultant: Principles & Practice. Erin currently lives in Christchurch New Zealand with her dog, Juno and husband, Mike.

Dr Christina Rock

Christina Rock BVSC, CCRT is Southland and Otago’s only full-time dedicated rehabilitation veterinarian. She is passionate about pain identification, multimodal pain management, and equipping owners with the tools they need to improve their dog’s quality of life and treat or reduce the risk of injury. Her work emphasizes a team approach to care with networking throughout veterinary and allied service providers in her regions to help patients achieve their best outcomes. She has a particularly soft spot for working dogs and sighthounds. While originally hailing from the hills of southeast Kentucky, New Zealand has had her heart from the time she started vet school at Massey and she has spent the better part of two decades making it her home. Christina and her husband enjoy looking after their family lifestyle block in Southland and spoiling their 2 ex-racing seniors and one junior pet Greyhound who participates in scent work and dryland dog powered sports.

SUPPORTING SPEAKERS

Shivaun Statham

Lead Trainer, KVB
BAAT, CAM-CBT, NZCAW, NZCVN, APDTNZ-ET, IAABC-ADT

Angela Fletcher

Trainer, KVB
NZCVN, Elite FFCP
APDTNZ Member

Abbie
Douglas

Trainer, KVB
Certified FDM,
co-creator of Canineology
APDTNZ Member

Rebekah Watkin-Ward

Trainer, KVB
DipSciTech, APDTNZ Member

Conference Programme

For our conference schedule and speaker topics, download our programme below:

More details to come in the following weeks

Download

Tickets

Full Conference

$800 to join us for all 4 days.

Single Day

Can't make the whole conference?
Single days for $220 each.

Discounts

Available for full time students

Enquire for more information.

Location

This conference will be held at the Kiwi Vet Behaviour Training Centre, 584 Great South Rd, Ellerslie, Auckland.

Off street parking is readily available on weekends. Limited off street parking on weekdays, with nearby on-street parking also available.

The Centre is within walking distance of train and bus stops, and is less than half an hour drive from Auckland Airport.

Ellerslie has many accommodation options available, several within walking distance of the Training Centre.

Minimum Viable Diversity Pledge

As an event, Kiwi Vet Behaviour Conference 2023 has signed the Minimum Viable Diversity Pledge. You can find out more about it by following the link below:

MVD Pledge Information

Kiwi Vet Behaviour Conference 2023: THE POWER OF POSITIVE