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
and my present dog Salma, practising taking a pill: https://youtu.be/9IGhKqAWGIs?si=8r6I7D0b4sH6Szgw
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")
Link to the website for the project: https://www.slu.se/en/faculties/vh/research/forskningsprojekt/hund/better-compliance-and-health-with-low-stress-handling-of-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 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 can help facilitate every-day care for their dog.
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, with the purpose of giving dog owners and animal health personnel the skills to be able to train dogs for some common veterinary situations.
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
Additional Experience
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/
ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0932-3098
Fluffylog on appstore - advisor for the dog health tracker launching in 2025, enabling simple data collection and visualization for both dog owners and veterinarians. It is currently available only on the App Store.
Participated in the startup and development of FirstVet, including writing informational texts, conducting video consultations with dog and cat owners, planning and—together with the dog Whiskey—taking part in informational videos for FirstVet https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWBrK0wDKtDvATM9MuIbfEe37DkBMpQyf&si=y9tKVmxXTrAOYE2i
Before FirstVet existed: answered questions about dogs and cats on VetZoo’s website and, before that on the now-closed site veterinaren.nu
Lectured and held courses, participated in podcasts on topics such as behavioral medicine for animal care staff, as well as for dog trainers, canine behaviorists, and dog clubs – for example this episode of Hundpodden (in Swedish) https://hundpodden.se/36-smarta-klada-och-magbesvar-hos-hund-med-elin-lindell/
Behavioral mini-series published in the Swedish Veterinary Journal (Svensk Veterinärtidning) in 2020 – example from part 2, on reinforcement and punishment (PDF, page 36)
Finalist (4th place) in "Veterinarian of the Year" 2020 https://youtu.be/2hJ3nkcRBmo?si=9v2NONqG1GV_3yoF