Ensuring the welfare of assistance dogs and dogs working in AAI

This webinar will discuss the activities that are supporting dog welfare in the assistance dogs sector, review their applicability to animal welfare in AAI and discuss a framework for measuring and ensuring high standards of welfare both during the dog training process and the lifetime of the dog.

Join our three expert panelists for presentations and Q&As:

• Peter Gorbing, Dogs for Good
• Jen Rodgers, PAALS USA
• Tim Stafford, Guide Dogs UK

[addthis tool=”addthis_inline_share_toolbox_tnfs”]

About our presenters:

Peter Gorbing, Dogs for Good

Peter Gorbing is the Chief Executive of Dogs for Good and has worked with the charity for over 25 years. Peter has led Dogs for Good to be one of the most innovative organisations in the world working in the field of the human-animal bond. The charity, which employs 65 people and has over 700 volunteers, provides three core services – assistance dogs, family dogs and community dogs.

Peter has given lectures and presentations on all aspects of the charity’s work in the UK and abroad. He has also presented on the wider aspects of dog welfare and wellbeing and the role that dogs can play in the health of humans – most recently a keynote speaker at the Hill’s Global Symposium in Lisbon, the CEVA Global Forum in Berlin, the Royal Canin Conference in Paris and the 2020 virtual ISAAZ Conference.

Peter was President of Assistance Dogs International (ADI) from 2007-2012, is currently a member of the ADI Board and Vice Chair. Peter is the Chair of the ADI Standards Committee and Chairs several sub-committees reviewing specific standards. Peter is also a member of the Conference Committee and has helped to organise many conferences during the past 20 years. Peter is also part of a joint ADI/IGDF working group looking at standards integration. ADI is the body responsible for setting standards and accrediting the international assistance dog industry which currently has over 180 member and candidate programmes worldwide.

Peter was President of Assistance Dogs Europe from 2001 to 2007 and is currently a member of the board.

Peter is Chair of Assistance Dogs (UK).

Peter was a founder Director of Animal Assisted Intervention International (AAII) in 2014 and is a member of the Board. AAII is an international umbrella organisation for practitioners in the field of AAI. AAII is working on AAI standards and will, by 2021, create an international accreditation process.

Peter was Chair of the UK British Standards Institute (BSI) Shadow Committee on CEN TC 452 (Assistance Dog Standards) from 2017-2021 and is Convenor of CEN TC 452 Working Group 4 – Training and Assessment.

Peter was a member of the UK DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) Working Group on Assistance Dogs and a founder trustee of the Assistance Dog Assessment Association (ADAA) which offers independent assessments to assistance dog partnerships that operate outside the ADI/IGDF sector.

Peter has an BA(Hons) in Government from the University of Central England and an MBA (Masters in Business Administration) from Cranfield School of Management.

Jen Rogers, PAALS USA

Jen has over twenty-eight years of combined professional experience with marine mammal, zoo, equine, assistance dogs training and therapeutic programs. She is the Founding Director of PAALS, the only Assistance Dog International (ADI) accredited based program in the state of South Carolina. She has a BS in Biology from Rutgers University and is a graduate of the National Education of Assistance Dog programs and AZA Management of Enrichment and Training programs. During her time working with exotic animals she was part of a team who developed internationally recognized standards for training and implemented facility wide enrichment programs. She also worked along researchers for projects on social behavior, field population studies, and physiology of marine mammals. Jen was certified in Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, EAGALA, as an equine specialist. Jen is also a founding board member of Animal Assisted Intervention International(AAII), that evolved from her work on ADI’s committee for animal assisted interventions. She has created and implemented animal assisted intervention programs for children in summer camps, afterschool programs, at-risk youth, soldiers with PTSD, and incarcerated individuals and has presented internationally on standards for these programs. She has served as a mentor for trainers at the Animal Behavioral College and a recipient of the South Carolina Veterinary Association’s Humanitarian Award of the year for her work in serving people with disabilities through her work with service dogs and community programs. Jen is also served on the ADI North American board of directors, working on the international education committee as chair for the forums subcommittee, co-chairing the Airlines Accessibility Campaign for NA, chair of a Trainer’s Standards Subcommittee for the International Standards Committee, founding the Diversity/Equity/Inclusion committee, International Conference Planning Committee, and ADI liaison to the International Guide Dog Special Interest Group. Jen is also a Paws and Breathe practitioner with her canine partner Harley working to help reduce stress through breathing techniques with dogs.

On a personal note, Jen lives in Murrells Inlet, SC with her husband and three of their children. Harley, a black lab who partners with Jen as an animal assisted intervention specialist and his younger brother, Jessy, a golden retriever, and his older sister, Essie, a Labrador retriever golden retriever mix and retired PAALS dog. They also share their home with two cats, Jinja and Joventa. She loves her volunteer work as equine assisted activities program for first responders with PTSD using Natural Lifemanship principles, as a Love on a Leash team, and as a marine mammal standing network responder and is in training to become crisis intervention responder with Harley.

Tim Stafford, Guide Dogs UK

Tim has worked for Guide Dogs (UK) since 1985, qualifying as a guide dog mobility instructor in 1989 working in the UK and New Zealand. Tim holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Animal Behaviour awarded by the University of Portsmouth and has completed a master’s degree in Anthrozoology with the University of Exeter. Tim has progressed through a succession of management roles, being appointed as Director of Canine Assisted Services in 2014 to lead the re-design and development of the canine system of breeding, puppy development, dog training, behaviour, welfare, and partnership services. Tim moved into his present role as Director of Canine Affairs in 2020 where he leads on strengthening engagement and collaboration with national and international partners and global leadership. Tim is a Director/Trustee of the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) where he co-chairs the Education Committee and a Director/Trustee of Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK). He represents Guide Dogs on the governmental advisory body The Canine and Feline Sector Group (CFSG) and on the British Standards Institute as part of the European Consortium on European Standards for Assistance Dogs (CEN/TC 452) where he is also the co-convenor of the working group for Lifetime Welfare. Tim supports the One Welfare Project that focuses on the interconnections between animals, humans, and their physical and social environment. He is a member of the working group considering working animals.