The Animal Behavior Society is an international non-profit scientific society that encourages and promotes the professional study of animal behavior. It has open membership, and also provides a certification and directory for animal behaviorists. A non-profit organization (often called non-profit org or simply non-profit or not-for-profit) can be seen as an organization that doesnt have a goal to make a profit. ... Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour (particularly of social animals such as primates and canids), and is a branch of zoology. ...
The Society was founded in 1964, and is the oldest and largest international organization for animal behaviorists.
Certification
Unlike the titles veterinarian, psychologist and psychiatrist, which are state licensed, the title "animal in animal behavior. They are full time professionally educated animal behaviorists who work with pet owners to solve behavior issues. Look up veterinarian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A psychologist is a scientist and/or clinician who studies psychology, the systematic investigation of the human mind, including behavior and cognition. ... Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that studies and treats mental and emotional disorders (see mental illness). ...
There are twenty levels of professional certification:
Associate Applied Animal Behaviorist - Requirements include a Master's Degree with an emphasis in animal behavior, a research-based thesis, a minimum of two years of professional experience, and three letters of recommendation from other ABS members
Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist - Requirements include those of the Associate level, plus a Ph.D. with an emphasis on animal behavior, and additional years of professional experience [1]
A thesis (from Greek position) is an intellectual proposition. ...
The AnimalBehaviorSociety (ABS) is the leading professional organization in North America for the study of animalbehavior, and was the first organization in the United States to offer a certification program for applied animal behaviorists.
A professional applied animal behaviorist has expertise in the principles of animalbehavior, in the research methods of animalbehavior, in applying animalbehavior principles to companion animalbehavior problems, and in disseminating knowledge about animalbehavior through teaching and research.
Educational and experiential requirements are extensive and include a doctoral degree (or masters degree for an associate applied animal behaviorist) from an accredited college or university in a biological or behavioral science with an emphasis on animalbehavior and a minimum of five years of professional experience.
The professional field of animalbehavior is not limited to the study of companion animals.
The study of animalbehavior began to be formalized in the early 1900’s Historically, animal behaviorists such as Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen, were more interested in studying the behavior of wild animals.
In addition to working directly with pet owners, applied animal behaviorists may work in zoos, in research laboratories to improve the quality of life of animals held there, and in animal shelters to evaluate the behavior of sheltered animals, improve their quality of life, and provide post adoption support.