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History
On April 19, 2000, the ASPCA held an official dedication for a new behavior clinic and training space at our headquarters in New York City. This marked a punctuation point for the growth and development of programs in animal behavior at the ASPCA.
The ASPCA first offered dog obedience classes in 1944. Promotional materials at that time pointed out, “Dogs and owners are always trained together, the theory being that we teach you to train your dog,” and further emphasized, “Bad-mannered dogs are a hazard in traffic, an annoyance to neighbors and a nuisance to landlords.” This was certainly an early affirmation of the importance of training, and showed that animal behavior programs can help strengthen the human-animal bond. This philosophy continues to inform and guide our activities.
For much of their history at the ASPCA, training and behavior programs were run by the Education department. In the late 1970s, a behavior helpline service was developed to support the Adoptions department by providing new pet owners with ready advice and information on behavior questions. This would soon expand to include calling hours for the general public. In the early 1980s, staff began behavioral evaluations of dogs and cats available for placement. Programs and activities also included training for animal assisted therapy programs. The ASPCA became a Delta Society training, evaluation and certification partner, a relationship that continues today. A number of trainers have worked with the ASPCA, or served on our staff. Sue Sternberg, well known for her work with dogs in animal shelters, and Jacque Schultz, who is still with the ASPCA, were among these early contributors to what became the Companion Animal Services department.
Ann Squire, Ph.D., was the first academically trained ethologist to work at the ASPCA. She headed the education department from the early 1980s until 1987, and contributed insight on animal behavior to the Education programs and other ASPCA activities, including legislation and advocacy. Stephen Zawistowski, Ph.D., certified applied animal behaviorist, joined the ASPCA in 1988 to continue the development of animal behavior and training programs.
Starting in the 1990s, efforts were made to conduct research projects related to animal behavior, the human-animal bond and animal adoptions. These would result in poster presentations at the Animal Behavior Society meetings on methods for the evaluation of behavior of shelter dogs, distribution of problems presented to the behavior helpline, and resources used by dog owners seeking behavior and training information. A study about companion animal response to the loss of an animal companion based on observations by pet owners of surviving pets in multiple pet homes was presented at the International Conference on Human-Animal Interactions in Geneva. During this time staff also participated in the development and review process of more than 15 ASPCA books on pet care and training.
As companion animal behavior programs began to further develop in the field of applied animal behavior during the 1990s, it became clear that some unfortunate divisions were appearing among three main groups—dog trainers, applied behaviorists and veterinarians. The Animal Behavior Society initiated a certification program for academically trained behaviorists with applied experience in 1991.The American College of Veterinary Behavior would be formed later in the decade. These three complementary fields did not always work in a cooperative fashion. A distinct effort was made by the ASPCA to bring these fields together in an effort to promote the human-animal bond, and support adoptions and pet owners with appropriate behavioral interventions. Amy Marder, VMD, joined the ASPCA in 1999 as vice president of Behavioral Medicine and Companion Animal Services until 2001, when Pamela Reid, Ph.D., certified applied animal behaviorist, took over.
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