Behavioral Applications Regarding Canines (BARC)

The mission of Behavioral Applications Regarding Canines (BARC) is to teach sheltered dogs socially acceptable behaviors that will facilitate adoption and will promote pet/owner happiness. BARC is a UW-Eau Claire collaborative faculty/student, community-based (Eau Claire County Humane Association) program in which students gain firsthand experience teaching dogs socially appropriate behaviors using a behavior analytic approach (e.g., positive reinforcement). All student BARC members are to have completed Psychology 281, Introduction to Behavior Analysis and Therapy, prior to implementing any behavior programs. Most of the behaviors we train are basic behaviors every "good" dog is thought to have. Examples include sitting, laying down, not being "mouthy", coming, walking on a leash without tugging, shaking, and staying down. We assess these behaviors initially to determine which skills the dog could be taught to most readily facilitate adoption. As different skills are taught, the focus of the training shifts to generalization, which allows owners to maintain the same level of control over their adopted dog as that of the BARC trainers. Generalization will be accomplished during training by having multiple people attempt to produce the behavior and by producing the behavior in many different environments. For their part, students work 10-20 hours a week researching training techniques, conducting functional assessments of problem behaviors, implementing specific behavior programs, and collecting and presenting data. In addition, BARC meets weekly to review progress of ongoing behavior programs and to develop new programs for problem dogs.

Student training a dog
Student training a dog
Student training a dog

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