VMLL 2352 - Owning a Behaviorally Healthy Animal: Becoming Best Friends

Becoming best friends with your dog or cat requires an understanding of what your animal needs to be behaviorally healthy. During this 2-hour course you will learn about:

• How the domestication of dogs and cats compare and contrast and how that relates to their social niche with humans,
• The social needs of dogs and cats in a home environment,
• The importance of play including three examples for each species,
• Visually identifying examples of appropriate and inappropriate play through videos,
• The importance of environmental enrichment for dogs and cats including several examples of each, and
• The effects of nutrition on behavior, including examples.

Noncredit courses do not produce academic credit nor appear on a Colorado State University academic transcript.

Instructors

Jennie Willis Jamtgaard
(970) 481-4252
DogBehaviorist@aol.com

Jennie Willis Jamtgaard has a Ph.D. in Zoology, with an emphasis in animal behavior. Her doctoral research was on learning and cognition in the domestic dog. She received her M.S. degree also in Zoology , but with an emphasis in genetics. Jennie has been teaching at CSU as an instructor in many varied behavior and genetics courses, as well as introductory biology. Jennie is affiliated with the Department of Clinical Sciences, where she is instructor for a course in professional veterinary medicine.

Jennie owns a private consulting business, Animal Behavior Insights, and has been a professional consultant in companion animal behavior problems since 2000. During graduate school, she worked at Rocky Mountain National Park as an interpretive park ranger, educating the public on the biology of wild canines. Jennie is a board member of Colorado Greyhound Companions, a local greyhound rescue group, where she volunteers her services to decrease the relinquishment rate of animals due to behavior problems.