In a win-win partnership for students and dogs, Carroll University’s popular Animal Behavior program partners with the Humane Animal Welfare Society (HAWS) each year to enable students to foster dogs for a semester and train them so they are ready for their forever home. This is the sixth year of the partnership. 

We recently caught up with Dr. Lee Kesting, Carroll University Assistant Professor of Animal Behavior, as she conducted a lab session with students and dogs at the HAWS Shallock Center for Animals in Delafield. 

Kesting said the lessons for the day included Animal Centered Education (ACE), which is setting up enrichment zones for the dogs in all kinds of environments using natural items that might be inside or outside of a typical home. The objective is to encourage the dog to smell objects because it stimulates brain function and helps keep the dogs engaged and interested in their surroundings. The students and their foster dogs were also working on loose leash walking skills and settling skills, which will be crucial for the dogs to develop so they can present their best selves when they move on to their forever families. 

Jade’s Journey

Jade was the star of the show, as the dog who has been at HAWS twice since 2020 and was one of the long-term residents in the shelter. This good girl has finally hit the jackpot, as her foster student, Nikki Sikes, has already decided to adopt her at the end of the semester. Sikes had already worked a semester at HAWS and knew Jade, so when she was being matched with a dog for this program, she said, “I would like a dog as close to Jade as possible.” And, by the time the program started, she was still available and the perfect match was made.

Sikes said, “Jade is an absolute sweetheart. She loves humans, snuggles and is very food motivated, with her favorites being whipped cream and spray cheese.” Jade is on medicine for anxiety, which has helped her significantly. “The cutest thing is she needs her emotional support toy in her mouth to go for a run or walk.” Her favorite toy is a green platypus called Ducksworth, but she will sometimes take another toy for a walk. 

She added, “So, you’re taught a certain way of managing a dog by the book, and then you learn the dog has other ideas. There are days when we’ll cycle through four or five different things that we’re going to be training just because if she doesn’t feel like doing ‘sits’ that day, maybe she wants to do something that’s a little more active work, so we practice loosely walking instead. I’ve learned you have to listen to the dog and kind of follow their lead.”

Kesting added, “People tend to oversimplify animals and think you can do the same thing with them every day. There’s a lot more going on in those brains than just eat, sleep, poop.”

Sikes is a senior this year and is a double major in animal behavior and psychology. She is hoping to work in zoology and is specifically interested in working with wolves. “They’re just gorgeous, and they’re very misunderstood animals. There’s a zoo in my hometown that has wolves, so I’m looking into possibly working with them there.”

Training Future Zookeepers, Veterinarians and Scientists

About 150 students are enrolled in Carroll’s Animal Behavior bachelor’s degree program, which prepares them for various careers, including wildlife biologist, veterinarian assistant, zookeeper, animal trainer, wildlife rehabilitator or laboratory manager. The program has also become a great staff pipeline for HAWS, adding to the value of the partnership. Students can also go on to earn advanced degrees to become veterinarians, animal researchers, animal neuroscientists, and more. Only a dozen students per semester participate in the HAWS foster dog partnership program, and all of them have already completed coursework on dog handling to prepare them for this challenge. 

Kesting explained that animal behavior is a growing field, and there’s a high market demand for it. “We’re looking to have trainers and people promoting animal welfare rather than just seeking to control dogs,” Kesting said. “That’s a relatively new concept in the past 20 years, as professionals have come to understand the value and effectiveness of positive reinforcement training. It’s about understanding the animal’s motivation and perspective and working with them. The last thing you want to see is somebody who is manhandling their dog to get them to behave because that won’t work, and it will make your dog afraid of you.”

Kesting continued, “What I think is so interesting is the students I have right here in their young twenties, and they go home and tell their parents, ‘Hey, I know we’ve done this forever, but actually, let me show you how this positive reinforcement works.’ And then the parents see it too and they’re floored.”