It’s a dog’s life for Melissa

A school librarian from Impington Village College has won a prestigious fellowship to study canine behaviour in America.

Melissa Stanton has been awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust fellowship which will enable her to travel to the States for five weeks and meet some of the world experts in dog training and psychology.

Melissa, who lives in Haddenham, heard about the Trust from a friend some years ago but the category she was interested in, animal welfare, was not listed until last year when she applied. Applicants must state what project they intend to undertake and how they will use the information back in the UK.

“I want to go to the States because there are so many people at the cutting edge and I want to bring that knowledge back,” says Melissa, who has always been interested in dogs and their behaviour and owns two Jack Russells.  Her project is based on the canine equivalent of positive reinforcement, using operant conditioning techniques. “You can use the techniques to help lessen stress in dogs as well as for training,” she explains. “In animals fear is a stronger emotion than pain and people can unwittingly create problems by correcting an animal that is reacting from fear. The beauty of Clicker Training is that the animal chooses to learn or to do something, it is never forced and so doesn’t feel out of its depth or fearful.”

Melissa’s trip will take her from Indiana to Oregon, California, Michigan, Virginia and Massachusetts. She will meet, among others Karen Pryor, the founder of Clicker Training, Virginia Broitman, a practitioner of operant conditioning and Dr Ian Dunbar of the Puppy Training Academy. She will also attend a three day seminar at the Wolf Park, home to grey, red and timber wolves – the ancestor of the modern domestic dog. Melissa will also meet the owner of a number of New Guinea singing dogs – the only breed which can modulate its voice.

The fellowship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Melissa, who has been teaching herself dog training techniques and putting them into practice for the last ten years. “I am so grateful to the Trust for making it possible,” she says. “They have been wonderfully supportive, right from the start when I was interviewed by a panel of well-respected individuals including Sir Terence English, The Countess Peel, Lady Boyd and Major General Jamie Balfour. They have opened doors I could never have opened myself. I am also grateful to Impington Village College for letting me go – they have been very generous.”

Melissa leaves on July 17 and returns on August 25. To arrange an interview, please contact her on: melissa@streetwisedog.co.uk

 May 2008