Find Out What Your Dog Really Thinks About You; Animal Behaviorist Dr. Rolan Tripp Explains the Canine Mind

Note to Editors: A photo of Tripp is available electronically.

Dog owners in the Fort Collins area will have the opportunity to unravel some of the mystery of Fido’s behavior later this month. Visiting veterinary practitioner and animal behaviorist Dr. Rolan Tripp will present "Inside the Canine Mind," a seminar at 7 p.m. Aug. 26 in Room B213 at the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The seminar is free and open to the public.

Tripp is a veterinary practitioner with a special interest and expertise in applied animal behavior and has been named an affiliate faculty member at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Since 1997, he has lectured at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital for a part of the Applied Animal Behavior course in the Professional in Veterinary Medicine curriculum. During this course, veterinary medicine students learn about the importance of the human-animal bond and keys to understanding animal behavior, an important part of their future careers as veterinarians. This one evening seminar is the only one offered to the general public and seating is limited, so reservations are required.

"These issues of misbehavior are very important for animal owners, and there are few resources out there, so Dr. Tripp’s information is very valuable," said Laurel Lagoni, director for the Argus Center for Human Animal Bond Resources in Fort Collins, Colo. "In a recent survey, for example, 70 percent of respondents said their animals were like their children. So the issue of acceptable and unacceptable behavior becomes a family issue."

Tripp received his D.V.M in 1979 from the University of California-Davis. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Veterinary society of Animal Behavior. The author of numerous professional papers on animal behavior, including the professional manual "Pet Perception Management," Tripp also is the founder of the TeleVet Puppy Training Program of videocassettes. He has been a regular on the television network Animal Planet and, beginning this fall, he will be a regular on the network’s new show, "Good Dog U."