LIVE FROM THE RANCH
Join Ken Ramirez and Melissa Taylor on the next episode!
Join Ken Ramirez and Melissa Taylor on the next episode!
Melissa Taylor, CBCC-KA, CSB-C, is the Behavior and Training Manager at Friends For Life Animal Shelter, a progressive animal welfare organization in Houston, Texas. At FFL, Melissa heads a comprehensive, animal-centered behavior program that includes in-house animal care, community outreach, and inter-shelter consultation. With over 20 years of experience in shelter animal behavior, her journey began with an internship at the ASPCA’s Animal Behavior Center in New York City. Her passion for cooperative care grew from training livestock and wildlife as the coordinator of the Behavior and Training Department at the Houston SPCA, and she now applies the same principles to the dogs, cats, exotics, and humans she works with now at Friends For Life.
Melissa thrives on using data to create innovative projects that improve the lives of shelter animals and the people who care for them. For example, she started the Fraidy Cat Program to reliably shape and generalize prosocial behaviors in undersocialized cats. Her non-compulsive, choice-based training and behavior modification program is associated with a 67% reduction in the number of long-stay dogs at Friends For Life.
Throughout her career, Melissa has focused on the development of shelter programs related to animal behavior. She has partnered with other shelters locally and globally to start behavior volunteer, fearful cat socialization, enrichment, and animal-centered staff training initiatives.
In recognition of her contributions, Melissa was awarded the 2022 Member of the Year Award by the Association For Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) for her work as co-chair of the APDT Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, examining the experiences of BIPOC members of the professional dog training community. She is passionate about the role of social justice in the advancement of animal welfare.
Learn more about Melissa on her website.
Ken is the EVP and Chief Training Officer at Karen Pryor Clicker Training, co-leading the company with Aaron Clayton. Ken oversees the vision for, and development of, training education programs. You will usually find Ken teaching at a ClickerExpo conference, leading a course at the Karen Pryor National Training Center (The Ranch), or teaching one of the Karen Pryor Academy courses.
A 40+ year veteran of animal care and training, Ken is a biologist and behaviorist who has supervised the development care and training of more than 40,000 species. He has worked with organizations across the globe to improve animal training, program effectiveness, and animal health and welfare. Ken’s diverse body of contributions includes designing and implementing conservation projects for elephant protection and spearheading projects to train everything from komodo dragons to butterflies. Ken’s extensive canine work includes working with trainers, organizations, and federal and state agencies on training procedures for topics including aggression, search-and-rescue, and scent detection.
Ken has written/edited two successful books, taught at a major university, hosted two successful seasons of the television series Talk to the Animals, and was EVP of animal care and training at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. When he’s not doing cool stuff with animals and people, you might find Ken at a NY theater or at any movie screening.
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uliana DeWillems (she/her) is the co-host of Live from the Ranch. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and KPA Certified Training Partner in the Washington, DC, area. She owns and runs JW Dog Training and Behavior Consulting. When she’s not working with clients, Juliana regularly shares her training expertise on TV, radio, and online programs. She has been featured on WTOP News and Good Morning Washington and was a regular guest on The Pet Show with Dr. Katy for many years. Juliana currently co-hosts the Live from The Ranch online broadcast with Ken Ramirez.
After realizing that there was a huge need for good, humane training advice on social media, Juliana started JW Dog Training’s Instagram page at the end of 2020. Since then, she has grown her Instagram page to more than 135,000 followers, reaching a worldwide audience. Through trial and error, along with marketing experience she has from a past life, Juliana has figured out what works and what doesn’t in getting positive reinforcement training information out to the public in the ever-changing world of social media.
Learn more about Juliana on her website, Facebook, or Instagram.