The Behavioral Ecology &
Evolution of Dogs
A workshop with
Ray Coppinger, Ph.D.
South
Puget Sound Community College
Building 26, Room 105
Olympia, WA 98503
Saturday,
October 16, 2010
9:00am-5:00pm
This workshop is co-hosted by Let's Talk Dogs owned and
operated by Dorothy Turley, CPDT-KA. The workshop will be held
in a large classroom at the South Puget Sound Community
College. The building is handicap
accessible.
This is a
non-working seminar. Please leave your dogs at home as they
are not allowed in the college buildings.
Bring something
hard to write on, and dress in layers.
 Dogs exist in amazing numbers around the
world. Most of them are classified by the World Health
Organization as Neighborhood Dogs. These are dogs that are
loosely attached to people and are in continuous contact
within the greater population of dogs. Exploring the behavior
of these village dogs gives us not only the dynamics of how
dogs earn a living, but also suggests how they evolved and
adapted to civilization. It also provides an insight into dog
behavior.
Behavioral ecologists look at the results of an animal’s
motions. The animal hunts for food. Hunting for food has a
cost, which can be measured in many ways, including the
expenditures of time and energy.
The
big question for the behavioral ecologist is, how do animals
capture enough energy to accomplish all of their biological
requirements? Natural selection favors those with the most
efficiently shaped motor patterns for feeding or for avoiding
hazards, or the ones that can successfully attract a mate and
provide for offspring. Yet, behavioral ecologists don’t really
care whether these behaviors are genetic or learned. They just
ask the question: ‘How does the animal earn a living, how does
it forage, reproduce and stay out of trouble while going about
its survival business?’
Dr. Coppinger will review and expand on
these concepts (and much more) to help us understand how our
dogs came into being and how they operate in their
environment. He will concentrate on his recent studies of
village dogs typified by the dogs in the Mexico City dump and
try to compare them with the rest of the dog world. This
population gave Dr. Coppinger new insights into the natural
history of dogs, into their behavioral ecology, and the
continuing evolution of dogs and their people friends.
A day with Dr. Coppinger will certainly
be full of great stories, fascinating observations, and ideas
that may challenge how you look at dogs in the world.
Continuing Education
Credits
6.5 CEUs for
Certified Professional Dog Trainers
CEUs from IAABC are pending approval
back to top
 Lunch, snacks and beverages will be served.
Registration ends 5 days prior to each seminar October 11, 2010
or when room limit is filled.
Discounts are available for early registration.
Cost:
-
$120 - with lunch, when you register and pay on or before
August 20, 2010
-
$145 - With lunch, when you register and pay after
August 20, 2010
-
Group discounts available for more than 3
participants from the same business/shelter. Contact
Dana Crevling to find out more.
Walk-in Registration:
You may pay for tuition by:
Personal or Bank Check
-
Paypal - using your account or opening a new account
-
Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover through PayPal's
secure system
Complete payment information will come up on the screen after you complete registration.
General Payment Information
If the seminar does not meet the minimum (40 participants) and must be cancelled, currently
registered participants will be refunded the full amount
without penalty.
Please familiarize yourself with the
Registration/ Refund Policy and the Waiver before signing up.
back to top
Ray Coppinger, Ph.D.
 Dr.
Raymond Coppinger majored in literature and philosophy as an
undergraduate at Boston University. His Ph.D. thesis in
biology (at the University of Massachusetts) is on the effect
of experience and novelty on avian feeding behavior. He joined
the founding faculty at Hampshire College in 1969, where he is
a professor of biology. He teaches and does research on animal
behavior, especially the behavior of canids.
Dr. Coppinger’s
first professional study of dogs was on the runners of a dog
sled. During a twelve-year mushing career, he progressed from
a five-dog to a sixteen-dog team, won many races on the
northeast (USA) circuits, and developed a new strain of fast,
responsive sled dogs. Several of these were sold to drivers
bound for the Alaskan championship races. His research
projects with sled dogs include responses of racing dogs to
the stress of heat retention, and the amount of energy
required to pull a sled and driver.
In 1976, Dr.
Coppinger
and his wife Lorna founded the Livestock Guarding Dog Project
at Hampshire College. This long-term investigation into the
behavior of a new kind of dog for farmers and ranchers in the
United States has resulted in greater understanding about
early developmental behavior of dogs, and how early experience
(or lack of it) can affect their adult behavior. This project
took him all over the world and gives him unique first hand
knowledge that few others have experienced.
Recently, Dr. Coppinger
has turned his attention to assistance dogs. His first-hand
knowledge of harnesses for dogs, the mechanics and physiology
of pulling, and the relationship between experience, training,
and behavior give him a unique insight into the lives of the
dogs which are being asked to enhance the lives of people with
special needs.
Dr. Coppinger
(and his colleagues and students) have published over fifty
papers on his dog research. His favorite publication, however,
is the book Fishing Dogs, a humorous and iconoclastic
look at dogs, fishermen, and professors. His latest book,
co-authored with Lorna Coppinger, is DOGS: A New
Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior, and Evolution
(Scribner, NY, 2001; Univ. Chicago Press, 2002). His trips
around the world to lecture about dogs are always supplemented
by a day or two searching local waters for the perfect fish.
back to top
No
audio or videotaping at the seminar is allowed.
This is a non-working seminar, so we ask that you leave
your dog home.
Hotel
Information:
If
you are attending a working seminar, CHECK PET
POLICIES BEFORE MAKING RESERVATIONS! Make sure
you understand ALL the fees and restrictions. Policies
and rates may change.
Hotels:
-
Extended Stay
America Olympia - Tumwater
1675 Mottman Rd. SW,
Tumwater,
WA
360-754-6063
0.2 miles away
-
Red Lion Hotel
Olympia
2300 Evergreen Park Drive,
Olympia,
WA
360-943-4000
0.56 miles away
-
Motel 6 Tumwater
- Olympia
400 Lee St SW,
Tumwater,
WA
360-754-7320
2.02 miles away
-
Best Western
Tumwater Inn
5188 Capitol Blvd SE,
Tumwater,
WA
360-956-1235
1.94 miles away
Driving
Directions:
2011 Mottman
Road SW, Olympia, WA 98512
http://www.spscc.ctc.edu/map-and-directions
From I-5 North or South
Take exit 104, onto Highway 101. Take the first exit
(Crosby Boulevard) to the right. From the exit ramp, make
a left turn onto Crosby Blvd.. You will cross over Highway
101, pass through one stoplight and come to the
intersection of Crosby Blvd. and Mottman Road. Make a
right turn onto Mottman Road and look for the next left
turn, the entrance to the college. Parking can be found
going either left or right at the entrance. A daily
parking meter at the entrance dispenses $2.00 all day
parking passes.
From Highway 101 from
Shelton, Aberdeen
Take the AutoMall, Crosby Blvd.exit off Highway 101. From
the exit ramp, make a left turn onto Crosby Blvd. Take a
right turn at the stoplight onto Mottman Road and look for
the next left turn, the entrance to the college. Parking
can be found going either left or right at the entrance. A
daily parking meter at the entrance dispenses $2.00 all
day parking passes.
Area
Airports:
-
Seattle/Tacoma
-
Portland Airport
back to top
|
| |
|
