LAB: Ludar Animal Behavior & Consulting

LAB: Ludar Animal Behavior & Consulting

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Consulting services for all things animal welfare & social justice related. Decolonizing STEM daily! We firmly support LIMA and the Humane Hierarchy.

"LAB" (Ludar Animal Behavior) offers behavior modification, training, and wellness services for a wide variety of species. We use evidence-based science and focus on improving an animal’s quality of life. By using our knowledge from Ethology (Animal Behavior), Zoology, Psychology, and Neuroethology; we provide practical, long-term solutions for our clients. Whether you are experiencing issues with

Levar Burton and Stacey Abrams on Book Bans and the Right to Read 12/11/2024

Teach banned books!

Levar Burton and Stacey Abrams on Book Bans and the Right to Read In honor of Banned Books Week,Stacey is joined by two guests: Her mom and former librarian, Reverend Carolyn Abrams, and actor, director, and literacy advoca...

DEIJ Fund - Ludar Animal Behavior 09/11/2024

A lot of people that have never had to think about community action such as but not limited too...mutual aid...are finally now thinking about it because they have no other choice. We aren't going to rejoice in why you're getting radicalized but we are still glad you're getting there.

We will help anyone that aligns with our decolonial values get started with mutual aid for free. All you have to do is email us and you will go on our waitlist for free trainings, workshops, etc beginning in 2025.

If you're already involved in mutual aid networks that's amazing! Do you mind sharing ours please? We're one of the few within the animal care sector that has been doing mutual aid since 2019.

DEIJ Fund - Ludar Animal Behavior ”Mutual aid is a voluntary reciprocal exchange of resources and services for mutual benefit.” What does DEIJ stand for? The …

Photos from Better Homes and Gardens Australia's post 08/11/2024

This is an older post but we will always reshare to educate folks on the importance of clinic pets.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/158hkaEeF4/

#17 - Colonialism and Animal Welfare with Mel Trueblood-Stimpson - Dog At Heart 06/11/2024

We're resharing this oldie but goodie from one of our founder's Mel

#17 - Colonialism and Animal Welfare with Mel Trueblood-Stimpson - Dog At Heart On this episode, we chat with scientist Mel Trueblood-Stimpson about decolonising animal welfare and also their experience as person of various marginalised identities in this industry.

04/11/2024

Please try to avoid giving us bingo. Our self scheduler very clearly shows you what is our recommended consult rates.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17noQZXQty/

Before you reach out to your Native colleagues this month consider if you are giving them a square on this bingo card.

03/11/2024

This is one of the many reasons we are so passionate about making Ethology accessible to all

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15RMytUwkz/

Dominance theory was a terrible mistake, that even the scientist who cataloged it, regrets doing. The deep level of misunderstanding that happened based on inappropriate studies just spiraled out of control into a culturally accepted excuse to train and work with animals with force and punishment.

Dominance theory was the idea that animals, horses included, have a linear dominance and set roles within the herd. The idea that there is a set leader, a decision maker, who controls the other horses' behaviors through threats and the other horses love this horse as their leader. The idea that horses have a linear set hierarchy that determines who's in charge and only changes if overthrown by someone stronger. These deeply flawed ideas have lead people to believe that they can be the leader horse by mimicking equine behavior, they misunderstood, justifying their use of forceful physical control and punishment to train behavior. All under the idea of being a "good leader".

The thing is, science is constantly growing and self-correcting. As we spend more time actually studying horses in various scenarios and environments, and each species individually, their family units, their herds, packs, groups, etc... We have learned this concept of dominance is wildly inaccurate and deeply unhealthy, only seen in extreme, inappropriate environments (like old overpacked zoos with many unrelated animals, as the original studies were based on).

What's really going on then? What is Dominance really? Do we need to be dominant?

Horse herds really work in a much more fluid and dynamic manner, it's not a linear hierarchy. Horses make decisions based on need, if someone has a need, they satisfy that need, the other horses stay with them out of social bonds and safety in numbers. A secure, confident horse will be more likely to make decisions that lead away from the group, while insecure, nervous horses might be less likely to make decisions, sticking more closely to the center of the herd. This isn't leadership or dominance, just confidence, in themselves and their world. This changes constantly. A confident horse may be more clingy and insecure if they have a pain problem, if they're pregnant, or if they're sick. This dynamic is constantly flowing. Who makes the decision, is up to how much the individual wants something. Who stays or goes in the herd is based on social bonds, friendships, familial relationships, and resource needs.

What was frequently mistaken as "dominance" was actually determined roles of priority access to resources. If a resource is limited, the herd knows who has first access, usually the bully. This varies by resource, my sweet itch mare has priority access to the shelter, while she doesn't care about defending food resources. She may shove everyone out of her way for shelter from bugs, but someone else may shove her out of the way for food. A group of 2 might pair up to move off a single horse who would typically move either of them individually. This access to resources is determined with little squabbles, but usually is limited to just some body language threatening gestures. It would be unhealthy if the herd were to compromise each other in fights over resources, when they have the bigger threat of predators they need to remain safe for. We only see extreme linear resource guarding in domestic settings where resources are limited. If hay is fed in limited supply one horse may always get priority access. If there isn't enough shelter, one horse may not let the others in it. This isn't dominance, but resource guarding. This isn't leadership, but the opposite, a horse who is deeply insecure in their resources, in their safety, violently defending themselves. If one horse resource guards excessively, most of the other horses avoid them, ignore them, don't want to groom with them, and don't want to risk dealing with them. They're like a human child bully, so insecure in themselves they act out against everyone else to try to soothe their need.

Ethology has also shown that horses do not think humans are horses. Even if we mimic their body language, they do not equate us as horses. We don't have a place in their access to resources, because we aren't sharing their resources. We are their PROVIDERS. We are the ones giving them their resources, it's our job to understand herd dynamics and ensure our horses have adequate resources in appropriate ways so there is no need to fighting, insecurity, or herd stress. It's not our job to challenge our horses for access to the very resources we are giving them! We are their caretakers.

Dominance and access to resources has nothing to do with training, only knowing how to provide care and management without creating unhealthy or dangerous equine interactions.

Training should be done with a compassionate understanding of behavioral science and how to apply positive reinforcement. It has nothing to do with herd dynamics or dominance, or even strong leadership, but rather clear communication, compassionate care and gentle behavior training.

Additional resources
https://www.awla.org/uncategorized/alpha-dogs-dominance-theory-fact-or-fiction/

https://www.clickertraining.com/node/2297

https://www.veterinary-practice.com/article/dominance-when-an-outdated-theory-wont-go-away

https://news.asu.edu/20210805-discoveries-myth-alpha-dog

https://journal.iaabcfoundation.org/horse-dominance-1-28/

https://www.thewillingequine.com/post/dominance-leadership

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/debunking-the-alpha-dog-theory/

https://positively.com/dog-training/article/ethology-why-pack-theory-is-wrong

https://www.rover.com/blog/alpha-dog-meaning/?msockid=323ef8c5489068da23bbeaa549916988

https://www.veterinary-practice.com/article/dominance-when-an-outdated-theory-wont-go-away

29/10/2024

All of our lives would be a lot more harmonious if we could all accept the reality that behavior is for the most part, morally neutral. This applies to all life human or not. Accepting another's behavior cannot and oftentimes shouldn't be controlled would ease so much suffering.

Some could argue if you aren't doing anything decolonial maybe this is where you can begin implementing decolonial praxis even. To accept your pet's behavior and center changing the environment as well as your paradigms.

Obviously as with all philosophy...what this looks like and how reasonable it is can vary situation to situation but in general, we could all learn a lot from how many of us Indigenous and/or Nomadic Ethnicities welcome behavior as just is instead of something to punish. Relationships do not always have to be transactional. Yes this applies for fellow humans AND non-humans.

29/10/2024

When it comes to the animal care & well-being industry...you need to trust people when they show you who they are the first time. Because our field is full of opportunists.

Some say more regulation will help, some say it would make it worse. LAB does not have an official stance other than we're fighting for decolonization.

Real life example 1: if a dog trainer has built their entire persona off of being an "open minded" dog trainer but never tells you exactly what types of training techniques, strategies, tools, etc etc they utilize...red flag. 🚩

Real life example 2: If an animal care professional that has never discussed Palestinian liberation prior to 2023 is now using Palestine to market their business, organization, etc etc....they likely aren't giving that money to Palestinians.

Palestine will be free 🇵🇸 anti-zionist Jews unite in solidarity!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CspTWEPhb/

27/10/2024

There are better ways & folks like us can help show you how. Remember, we do a lot of "pay what you can/pay what you feel" labor!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/D8f3ueNggVBdZoPb/

I created this back in 2018-2019 after doing the Behavior Works "Living and Learning with Animals" (LLA) online course.
Effectiveness is not enough to justify the use of fear, pain, intimidation, and the inhibition of their agency when training our companion animals. Ethics and welfare matter. (To be contd.)

Photos from Henny Kupferstein, Ph.D.'s post 26/10/2024

Even spookier....Disabled folks are still being shocked & it's called "therapy" in the USA

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Xc7z9qBzRa76JY9E/

25/10/2024

23/10/2024

Colonialism & imperialism disrupts families, period.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/Mr2WJVSVp7vdbbzq/?mibextid=jmPrMh

what a terrible time to be online 21/10/2024

A great check in....how's everyone doing?

what a terrible time to be online

Nature Study Reveals the Deadly Danger of Anti-Trans Laws 19/10/2024

This is obvious to a lot of us but is brief breakdown for those that don't understand why anti-trans legislation is so dangerous

Nature Study Reveals the Deadly Danger of Anti-Trans Laws SUPPORT more videos like this at http://patreon.com/rebeccaSUBSCRIBE at http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=rkwatson+++Links + transcript ava...

bipoc_awc | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok | Linktree 17/10/2024

Don't forget about this support space for BIPoC animal care professionals

BIPOC in Animal Well-Being Collective

bipoc_awc | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok | Linktree BIPOC in Animal Well-being Collective: Community & Support for BIPOC

Photos from LAB: Ludar Animal Behavior & Consulting's post 16/10/2024

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY // DECOLONIZATION DAY: Part 1 of ???

We've said it before..."representation is not liberation." But we don't even have solid representation for us Indigenous and/or Nomadic Ethnicities within animal care fields.

So much of animal care & all environmental fields rely on Indigenous epistemologies (aka: Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous wisdom or Indigenous ways of knowing). But our peoples are kept out of the industries because that's the purpose of the system. The system isn't broken, it's working exactly how colonialism intended it to work.

Us Indigenous and/or Nomadic Ethnicities are constantly having to deal with overt and covert racism that keeps us distracted. It wastes our energy we could be spending with animals and the land.

Those of us able to stay in animal care fields long term...usually become assimilate by the colonial structures. We become puppets or tokens doing the colonizer's labor for them even if we don't realize it.

Here at LAB we have been told decolonization makes us a liability. Which to us means our Indigeniety is a threat to the colonial status quo (as it should be). Our mere existence is seen as a threat. This is not our problem to solve.

We aren't here to blame anyone for their ancestors. We have non-Indigenous peoples at LAB even. No one is responsible for the past but we are ALL responsible for the present and the future (at least by 7 generations). We are actively watching a genocide daily still.

It's great to create Indigenous Peoples Day posts, do land acknowledgements, etc etc but where the long term commitments to us Indigenous peoples? What are the actionable steps outside of performative virtue signaling? We will tackle tackle these types of questions as they pertain to animal care in part 2 of this series.

Donate to Help Danielle with Emergency Car Repairs, organized by Danielle Toussaint 15/10/2024

This is a courtesy share for a LAB volunteers extended family

Donate to Help Danielle with Emergency Car Repairs, organized by Danielle Toussaint Hi, my name is Danielle, and I’m a single mother of two. Three years a… Danielle Toussaint needs your support for Help Danielle with Emergency Car Repairs

Our story

“Science-based animal behavior modification and training”

Ludar Animal Behavior offers behavior modification, training, and wellness services for a wide variety of species. We use evidence-based science and focus on improving an animal’s quality of life. By using our knowledge from Ethology (Animal Behavior), Zoology, Psychology and Neuroethology, we provide practical, long-term solutions for our clients. Whether you are experiencing issues with aggression, need to train your pet to take medications, or want to create better habitats for captive animals, we can help!

In addition to helping pet parents, we also provide educational resources to veterinarians, zookeepers, wildlife rehabbers, trainers, groomers and many others. We firmly support LIMA and the Humane Hierarchy.

Service area: In-person consults offered throughout Ohio. Web-based consults offered worldwide. Phone & email consults also available for minor issues.

Videos (show all)

From Mel: "This is why native speakers must be prioritized by all career fields but especially medicine. Including veter...
CW/TW: dog bite, police This is a good video to unpack canine body language with. This dog gives several cues that they ...