Shelter Behavior Integrations, LLC

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Shelter Behavior Integrations, LLC

More adoptions. Less burnout. Operationalizing behavior strategies for animal shelters.

10/30/2026

What an amazing week working alongside John Peaveler of Humane Innovations | Animal Services Solutions with the teams at Portsmouth Humane Society and Virginia Beach Animal Care and Adoption Center. This week we covered everything from reducing stress in dogs, especially during handling from field to in-care, dog intros, expanding playgroups, stress impacts on dog behavior in shelters, and so much more. Emma of Emma Starkweather | Certified Professional Dog Trainer, CPDT-KA always coming in clutch to help keep my brain intact and control the chaos that is me while on-site. Emma's coaching skills have surpassed anything I could have imagined and I am so dang proud of her. ❤️

This is how the magic happens though. Shelters coming together, teams collaborating colleagues blending skills and styles, and truly forming relationships that keep us talking about solutions to save more animals with ethics, skills, and professionalism.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to continue helping shelters integrate animal behavior into their overarching operations and to work with a colleague like John who has lived it, gets it, and shares my passion to give the people working the animals the tools, tips, tricks, AND knowledge and confidence to be more successful and impactful with their work.

10/27/2026

What do elephants have to do with court-case dogs? More than you’d think 🐘🐾

I spent week learning alongside elephant trainers, writing training plans and watching their handlers run the sessions.

And honestly, I didn’t realize how much I needed this. It’s been almost two years since I’ve had real time to get CEUs, be around other trainers, and let my brain stretch in a different direction.

But here’s the thing I keep coming back to:

Evidence dogs (the ones tied up in cruelty cases, waiting on court outcomes) are some of the most forgotten animals in the shelter system.

Many aren’t safe to handle. Some can only be walked on a catch pole or double slip leads. Some have one or two handlers who’ve built trust with them, and that’s it. No one going in the yard or casual interactions with weeks or months of life on hold.

And the whole time I’m watching these elephant trainers work through protected contact, I’m thinking: this is the same science that could keep those dogs’ brains and relationships alive.

Operant conditioning doesn’t care about the species. The principles that let a trainer teach an elephant to participate in her own foot care are the same principles that let a court-case dog keep learning, keep engaging, and keep connecting with people safely through a kennel door.

Working with court-case dogs was one of the parts of my old job I loved most. And standing here, watching, I’m reminded why I do this work in the first place 💜

10/22/2026

Y’all, I just had the COOLEST experience of my career learning from elephants 🐘

I spent the last few days working alongside other dog trainers to create shaping plans for the elephant trainers. Our group focused on teaching an elephant to discriminate between two different behaviors using signs, all to support cooperative care and cognitive enrichment. No force and no coercion, just operant and classical conditioning doing what they do best: giving an animal the skills to participate in their own care.

And the whole time I kept thinking about shelter dogs.

Because the same science that lets an elephant choose to present a foot for a nail trim is the science that lets a long-stay dog with a bite history keep learning, keep thinking, and keep connecting with people safely through protected contact.

When I worked cruelty cases, I used protected contact training with dogs who weren’t safe to handle. Dogs who were tied up in court, waiting months (sometimes longer) for their outcome. Dogs who, without something to engage their brain, would have deteriorated in their kennel.

Instead, they got to work. They got to learn. They got to maintain relationships with staff and volunteers outside of the two or three people cleared to take them out. That's welfare, through and through.

Protected contact isn’t just a safety tool. It’s a way to keep an animal’s brain and their social world alive during the hardest, longest stays. Whether it’s an elephant choosing to participate in her own nail trim or a court-case dog learning behaviors through a kennel door, the principle is the same:

Animals learn without force. We just have to give them the chance 🐾💜

10/15/2026

Every long-stay dog has a story that's not finished yet.

The teams who get these dogs out, consistently, humanely, without burning out, aren't working harder. They're working with better frames, better data, and better systems for sharing the load.

Save this for the next tough case. Send it to the teammate carrying one right now.

10/09/2026

Having a blast at the CANIS Conference! Come visit us at the booth!

10/06/2026

Live from the CANIS Conference!! Setting up with John Humane Innovations!!

Come visit us! I am offering my July cohort of the SBI Online Shelter Playgroup Mentorship at a 30% discount for those online and attending!

Address

South Hero, VT
05486

Website

http://ShelterBehaviorIntegrations.com/

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