ABOUT

Small Paws is an independent business based in Toronto Canada. We offer behaviour consulting to help you and your companion animals find solutions to the challenges that we all face when sharing a home  with another species. Whether you have a ferret, rabbit, rodent, dog or a multi-species household we will do our best to team with you to improve communication, using scientific methods and applying the LIMA methodology (Least Intrusive Minimally Aversive) to ensure that the needs of your household are heard and met.

Having devoted her professional career to the pursuit of Animal Behaviour, there is nothing Shannan enjoys more than that moment when you suddenly 'get it’ - when you and your companion animal are communicating without the confines of human language. Shannan has always believed anyone that lives with an animal understands that they have a lot of thoughts and feelings and that it is up to us to find a way to unravel them. From a young age Shannan has had an interest in animals; from her parents' first pet rats to her childhood guinea pigs Diane, Nibbles and Lumpy. Currently, Shannan shares her home with two 'extraordinary' ferrets, Martin and Nash.

Professional Experience, Publications & Affiliations

• 10+yrs of experience in shelter and consulting with small mammals & exotics. 

• In-shelter operations, behaviour, fostering, fundraising, and events

• TAGteach Certified Level 1 

• Member of the Association of Professional Humane Educators

• Authored Species Appropriate Enrichment for Ferrets, IAABC Journal Winter 2017

• Authored a series on life with ferrets for the American Ferret Report (AFR)

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Professional Development (recent highlights)

• IAABC annual meeting 2015, 2016

• APBC Exotics and Small Furries Conference 2015

• Guinea Pig Scent Detection with Roger Abrantes

• The Behaviour of Dogs by TEAM Education in Animal Behaviour

• 2 Days with Ken Ramirez

• International Ferret Congress (IFC) Conference Phoenix

+ Many more in person and online training seminars and events for a complete list or additional information contact us

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