Elin Lindell

For quite some years now,  I have been interested in learning, how it works, and in dog training and how behavior works (why do animals behave the way they do?)

And - when I started to learn more about behavior, I realized that so many animals show signs of great distress when visiting the veterinary clinic. That made me interested in what you can do to make the animals and owners to feel more at ease  in the clinic, and through that make the visit nicer for everyone. It also inspired me start training cooperative care with my dog Whiskey (he has since passed away).

If you are interested in an example of cooperative care, take a look at this video with my little dog Whiskey inhaling medication (which he needed due to his bronchitis "asthma"):  https://youtu.be/42mY0sZw-Bk?si=EjPj7cvmqzpL8rER

The name of the current project is  "Bättre compliance och hälsa via lågstresshantering av hundar" (translated as "Better compliance and health with the use of low stress handling in dogs")

Principal supervisor for the project is Lena Olsen (SLU), and Karolina Enlund  (SLU) and Katarina Varjonen (Anicura Albano) are supervisors.

The project is funded by Stiftelsen Djursjukhus i Stor-Stockholm.

In this project we will explore if/how training of cooperative care behaviors (specifically toothbrushing and aural care) can decrease signs of stress in the clinical setting and allow for f ex better examinations.

Also, we will explore if educating the dog owner in cooperative training (both teoretical and practical) can help facilitate daily toothbrushing of the dog, and how this impacts the dog´s oral health. 

To be able to do this we are going to:

Develop a visual tool in Swedish, with the aim to help to evaluate the dog´s level of stress, both in a clinical setting and during cooperative care-training. (It is kind of a "map" where you can compare your dogs body language with pictures to help assess if the dog is stressed, and if so, how severe the stress is.)
 

Develope training protocols based on positive reinforcement ("rewards") in Swedish for tooth brushing and aural care, with the purpose of giving dog owners and animal health personnel the skills to be able to train dogs in toothbrushing and/or aural care. 

2022: 10 months distance education within behavioural medicine (Behavioural Medicine Distance Education, University of Sidney, 2022) https://cve.edu.au/Web/Continuing_Education/Registration/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=25BMED

2019: Passed 1 year long clicker instructor-education by Canis Hundeskole: https://canishundeskole.no/kurs/canis-klikkerinstruktor-2024/

2017 -: FearFree certified (now FearFree Elite): https://fearfreepets.com/

2007-: working with dogs and cats in a clinical practice both at a small clinic and now in a big animal hospital

2007: Licensed veterinarian, SLU Uppsala

Principal supervisor: Lena Olsén, Universitetslektor vid Institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper (KV); Anestesiologi https://www.slu.se/cv/lena-olsen/

Supervisor: Karolina Brunius Enlund, Universitetsadjunkt vid Institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper (KV); Smådjurskirurgi https://www.slu.se/cv/karolina-enlund/

Supervisor: Katarina Varjonen, licensed veterinarian, specialist i hundens och kattens sjukdomar, specialist i dermatologi (steg 2) samt Europeisk specialist i dermatologi (Dipl ECVD) https://www.anicura.se/hitta-klinik/stockholm/djursjukhuset-albano/vi-som-jobbar-har/veterinarer/katarina-v/