Abstract
here are behavior consultants throughout the entire nation who can be reached by phone, email, texting, face-time, workshops and, of course, educational conventions (such as the upcoming APA convention in Portland, Oregon with a speaker track of 30 presenters). On average, most people who are interested in behavior training of their birds tend to attend as many workshops, seminars and presentations as possible. But, for some reason, people still want more; and that is a wonderful thing for your bird, your family, your neighbor and you as the owner. Good news for you! Did you know that there are actual brick and mortar, land location, training centers that you can visit and learn how train birds? You can attend a scheduled workshop and learn a variety of different behavioral techniques. This article features APA commercial Member, Lara Joseph, and her outstanding Animal Behavior Center.
The Animal Behavior Center, LLC. is a 10,000 square foot animal training and educational facility located in Sylvania, Ohio which is a suburb of Toledo. Lara Joseph owns and operates the facility along with a group of highly dedicated volunteers. Having an animal behavior, training, and enrichment facility has been a mission of Joseph's for the past few years. Joseph reflected, "I would spend hours driving country roads and suburbs looking at large buildings, barns, and vacant lots and envisioning which buildings would best suit the purpose of this mission." A few years ago Joseph presented a behavior and training workshop for the Ohio Wildlife Rehabilitation Association (OWRA). During that presentation she continued her quest and inquired about what would be needed or desired as a functioning facility where she could temporarily take in injured wildlife. Joseph's aim was to take in the wildlife that could not be released, train them using positive reinforcement and then have them placed at different educational facilities across Ohio or beyond. Joseph had a mission in mind ranging from pets to wildlife.
In the fall of 2013, Joseph and her husband purchased a 10,000 square foot greenhouse on an acre of property in Sylvania, Ohio. The greenhouse had been out of business for over five years at that time. Joseph shared, "I remember the first time I went into the greenhouse about eight years ago when it was still in business; and I remember tilting my head back and saying, 'Wow, this would be a great place to fly birds!' At that time, I never had any inclination to purchase a facility to train animals. I walk in this former greenhouse every morning thinking, 'Wow, am I really here, and is this really happening?"'
The renovation project commenced and the transformation was underway. On a daily basis, over a six month time frame, Joseph's visions were becoming a reality. Joseph described how a great deal of research, hard work and finely tuned details went into understanding how the greenhouse operated in order to convert it to an animal training facility. Joseph's objective was to have areas assigned for presentation purposes, which would be given by her, as well as national and international speakers, about animal care and conservation for both the animals and the people who care for them.
As the project continued, the facility was divided into two separate sections, in order to have a fabulously heated concrete floor. A full 1,000 square foot section was separated from the rest of the center to receive the poured concrete onto the heated floor and to build out a wall to separate it from the rest of the facility. The heated area is where the animals are housed when not being trained or not in programs or educational events, Joseph explained. With Joseph's vision and the help of Corner's Limited out of Kalamazoo, Michigan the heated room transformed into a state-of-the-art 9' tallx8'widex8' deep enclosures, soon to be the home of seven parrots and one toucanette. Joseph said, "Most birds' health and function evolved through flight. The size of these cages are also an educational tool to show people who attend my workshops and animal training services, the importance of flight and training even when caged." Joseph said that there is another section that was developed. Joseph went on to share a story about an outer section of that room where a large outdoor enclosure from her former residence was brought over to the new facility. Joseph talked about how that particular cage was from when she "trained Moon and Willoughby, Nature's Nursery's program Barred Owl and Turkey Vulture." Joseph went on to explain that the future "temporary" residents of that enclosure is where the state pre-approved animal will be housed.