Wolf Park Guest Speakers Series Seminars

Guest Speakers Series Seminars

This is a selection of the "repeat offenders" in our guest speaker series program. These seminars may not be available every year, nor may they be the only seminars offered! We are always striving to expand our educational offerings. Please check the online gift store for current offerings and to sign up online.

Click on a speaker's name to learn more about them, or click here to read all their biographies.


Dr. Raymond Coppinger	Suzanne Clothier	Ken McCort	Jan Martin McGuire

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Dr. Ray Coppinger

Dog Behavior: Innate, Developmental or Emergent
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Natural History of the Dog

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 with the greater population of dogs. That means that most of the dogs in the world form a continuous population that feeds, reproduces and maintains their own lifestyles reasonably independently of people. 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.

The Ethology of Dogs

There are many ways to study dog behavior. Ethology, sometimes called behavioral ecology and sometimes behavior genetics, is a biological approach to measuring behavior. Most of the people interested in dogs are interested in modifying their behavior. Behaviorism is one method that is popular now. Known as ‘click and treat,’ the technique is used to teach tricks or a particular behavior. In contrast, people who train pointers or sheepdogs or other hunting and working dogs rely on an innate characteristic. The exploration of these breed-typical raycoppinger behaviors s a job for ethologists.

Dog Cognition
Have you ever wondered, when a border collie herds sheep, for example, if it is conscious of what it is doing? If the behavior of herding is genetic, then there is little need for the dog to be conscious. And how does the dog compare with other animals in characteristics such as self-awareness and intentional behavior? Can they form images of missing objects? When one tells a dog to fetch its ball, does it form a mental image of that ball and can it generalize to other balls, or does it just learn the one and then searches for a familiar smell?

Emotions of the Dog
Do dogs have emotions? Are they like people's emotions? Most scientists think dogs express fear and alarm but don’t see how they can feel guilt or love. For scientists, it is important to be able to measure quantity and quality of a behavior in order to demonstrate its effect. There is a chance that a model could be constructed that demonstrates a rich array of emotions in animals like dogs.

CEU Credits: 19.5

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Suzanne Clothier

The Elemental Animal: Questions & Answers from the Core of Being
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What is it that makes a wolf a wolf and not a fox? Why do our dogs live with us so readily? How do you begin a dialogue with an animal? What are the elemental questions to be asked (and answered) that get us closer to an understanding of any individual species and any individual animal? How do you ask questions of a non-verbal animal? And how do you read the answers?

This workshop focuses on exploring the wealth of what is available to us when we know how to be quiet within our own minds, how to pose the questions and listen for the answers, how to become more fluent in the subtleties and nuance of expression and perception that animals can teach us. Umwelt, ethology, cognitive perception, psychobiology combine with compassion, curiosity and thoughtful observation to create a new awareness of The Elemental Animal before us, whatever the species.

Teachers: Suzanne Clothier and Pat Goodmann
Co-teachers: wolves, foxes, bison, frogs and even bugs. The workshop will consist of a combination of lectures, video, hands-on interactions, observation & group exercises.

CEU Credits: 19.5

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Ken McCort

Canid Behavior
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Ever wonder why your dog did something? Why did it lick another dog's ears, or roll in something dead? Do you find yourself accidentally training your dog by reacting to what it has already done? Don't you wish you could predict your dog’s behavior? Do you sometimes wonder if your training is going too fast or too slow for your dog? If any of this sounds familiar, then learning to read your dog's signals and cues may be the right thing for you.

Ken Understanding the signals dogs are constantly giving out, and noticing the context under which they are given, will help you answer these questions and a lot more. No "psychic" ability necessary, dogs are constantly letting us know how they feel. It's just that most people are not aware enough to catch the signals of how the dog is feeling or what it is trying to communicate.

In this seminar Ken will lead as participants explore displacement behaviors, appeasement gestures, cut off signals, conflict behaviors and other subtle and not so subtle cues all dogs demonstrate that tell people their emotions, intentions and concerns. In addition, participants will talk about gross anatomy communication, such as tail positions and weight shifts. Add in sensory awareness, space and distance concerns and the dog’s communication gets rather complex.

This seminar is designed to bring together all these elements to help the human understand and then predict the dog’s behaviors. We will use the resident wolves and some other demonstration animals to show the participants how the communication flows. Many of the demonstrations will be filmed and reviewed by the group, so that the identification of the behaviors is clear and obvious to all.

If you are interested in getting more in touch with your dog's emotions, learning to train more efficiently and getting a closer look at wolves than anywhere else I know of, then plan on attending this intense, fun and exciting seminar weekend.

CEU Credits: 16.75

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Jan Martin McGuire

Wolves for Artists
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This fun and unique workshop hosted at Wolf Park has Jan giving lectures on painting wildlife (emphasis on wolves, foxes and coyotes, but also on all wildlife including African and Rainforest) and also the business of art. In conjunction with Jan’s artistry, the biologists of Wolf Park talk about wolf behavior and anatomy. Participants will be able to go in with wolves to get real time hands-on experience. They also get multiple opportunities to take photographs and/or video of the wolves for reference.

Jan welcomes artists in all mediums, and at all levels, from amateur to professional to join her for this three day intensive. Because this workshop consists of three very full days, participants do not actually paint while at Wolf Park. Instead they listen, watch and learn. Jan will do slide lectures, virtual demonstrations, mini demos on subjects like how to paint fur, eyes, moss, bark, etc. She gives complete steps and walks participants through from beginning to end.

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