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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Our annual Dog Trainers' Retreat is coming in June. Early bird registration happening now. With Debbie Jacobs, CPDT-KA, RBT; presentations by Sean Will, Ph.D., Maasa Nishimuta, M.S., and Dr. Christine Calder DVM, DACVB; PORTL play; and training with the animals of Lemon's Hope Sanctuary. Link below.

Debbie Jacobs, CPDT-KA, RBT, sitting on a picnic table with a brown dog sitting in front of her and looking up at her and another brown dog lying down next to her, also looking at her.

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Reposted by Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant

George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

"The irreversible gravity of killing, coupled with the lack of a substantive legal justification, is bringing into sharper view a structural weakness of law as a check on the American presidency." { gift link } www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...

nytimes.com

The Peril of a White House That Flaunts Its Indifference to the Law

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Reposted by Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 20/10/2025

"At every step along the way, I rationalized, compartmentalized, and found excuses to stay tethered to the party, even as I grew to believe it was undermining the foundations of our constitutional republic." Enough is enough: www.thebulwark.com/p/my-last-da...

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Reposted by Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant

Lili Chin she/her @lilichin.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

A few photos from Day 2 of the Animal Training retreat in VT by @trainingmatters.bsky.social Blown away by the incredibly smart and inspiring presentations. Loved the animals, the fun company, the beautiful setting, and yes, we returned for more Maple Creemees. 😋🍦

Me (target training) with Diablo, white mini horse.

Round 3 of maple creemees from Lilac Ridge Farm.

Maia Nahele Owen did an inspiring force-free presentation on training her herding dogs using behavior science.... guiding animals to move to access reinforcers... in this case, using R+ away from sheep, and then, adding in sheep movements as R+! So cool.

I was too slow to capture Angel's cued "flehmen response" on camera.

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Reposted by Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant

Adelita for Congress @adelitaforcongress.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Speaker Johnson, you ready to swear me in?

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Join Kiki Yablon, Mary Hunter, MS, Dr. Keira Moore, Dr. Mindy Waite, Hannah McGee, Maia Nahele Owen, Debbie Jacobs, Eileen Anderson, and Laura Monaco Torelli for a weekend exploring practical applications of behavior analysis with animal learners. Attend remotely or in person. Link below.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Second annual mini conference on ABA-based animal training with Eileen Anderson, Kiki Yablon, Mary Hunter, Keira Moore, Laura Monaco Torelli, Mindy Waite, Debbie Jacobs, Hannah McGee and Maia Huff-Owen, writers, teachers and researchers in September in Vermont. www.eventbrite.com/e/animal-tra...

eventbrite.com

Animal Trainers' Retreat: Training With Love + Science

A weekend of collaboration, education and rejuvenation centering on animal training and teaching based in applied behavior analysis.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

"There is so much beauty in what we can learn through science, in how complicated life is, and in trying to understand how it works." The simple "answers" provided by fictional narratives and pseudoscience have paved the way for the anti-science times. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | The Science I Would Be Doing if I Weren’t in ICE Detention

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

The fun we have at our animal training workshops in beautiful southern Vermont! Truly an education vacation for humans and animals! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igf4...

youtube.com

Lemon's Hope Edit

YouTube video by Elissa Orlando

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

"Working with a different species really tests your skills as a behavior analyst." Dr. Kiera Moore, BCBA-D, KPA-CTP, during a recent webinar, Paws for Thought: Becoming a better behavior analyst by training dogs. We offer behavior analysts the opportunity to work with individuals of varied species.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

We'll be exploring trauma assumed training at our annual workshop with Debbie Jacobs, CPDT-KA, RBT in June. Hands-on practice with sanctuary animals and the Portable Operant Research and Teaching Laboratory. Teachers of all species welcome. www.eventbrite.com/e/fear-loath...

eventbrite.com

Fear & Loathing: Trauma Assumed Training

Join Debbie Jacobs, CPDT-KA, RBT for two days of evidence-based information and practice related to learning and behavior change.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Pursuit of woo and pseudoscience over evidence—the mythologies we tell ourselves—are how we got to RFK Jr. Like what one scientist calls neurobollocks, the nonsense that has seeped into our culture as neuroscience became a focus rather than behavior, more pseudo than science with each step.

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Reposted by Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant

Sentient @sentientmedia.org · 29/01/2025

January’s Los Angeles fires set ablaze over 35,000 acres. While fires of this magnitude devastate homes and entire neighborhoods, humans aren't their only victims. A range of animals are also significantly impacted by fires, but often lack proper support systems. @gracehussain.bsky.social explains:

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How Wildfires Affect Animals, Explained

Look at the impact of fires in California, and beyond.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

We hold workshops at my facility and sanctuary in Brattleboro, Vermont, for dog trainers and animal caregivers of all stripes. This is the first one scheduled for 2025. Ceus are pending and early bird discounts are available now. www.eventbrite.com/e/dog-traine...

eventbrite.com

Dog Trainers’ Retreat on Aggression and Reactivity

A three-day event focusing on working with aggressive and reactive behavior in dogs .

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Check out The New York Times' Serial podcast series The Good Whale. Analyze the training plan for release. Where did it fail? Yes, many have strong feelings about orcas in captivity. The experiment to release this one has been done and its lessons shouldn't go to waste.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

My beautiful Windsprite Stellaluna, who was taught better because of the work of animal training icon Karen Pryor, author of Don't Shoot the Dog and founder of Karen Pryor Academy, who passed recently. Training is teaching and teaching is about the individual in front of you. Skinner set the rules.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

We will hold our Dog Trainers' Retreat on Aggression and Reactivity with Emily Lewis, CDBC, and Casey Matthews, KPA-CT May 30, 31 and June 1. How to Train Animals With Challenging Behaviors with Debbie Jacobs, CPDT-KA, RBT will take place June 28 and 29. Left to right: Emily, Casey and Debbie.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

The sheep of Lemon's Hope Sanctuary left to right: Hope, Gina and Louis. Note how Louis looks like Mark Zuckerberg. He's much friendlier, though.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

New resident, Diablo. Rainy day makes for messy gray, but he's a serious cutie. He's getting to know long-time resident, Angel.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Inaugural sanctuary animal, Lemon the goat, scratching her head. Having been attacked by a dog, she is permanently disabled with a fused knee joint. She gets around well and has a prosthetic for occasional use.

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Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant @trainingmatters.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Slowly introducing the animals of my Lemon's Hope Sanctuary. These long faces are seniors Henri, 25-ish, and Chance, 30.

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Reposted by Sara Matters, MA, ABCDT, FFCP, ABA certificant

MTMcGurk @mtmcgurk.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

abcnews.go.com/Health/measl... This is all preventable. The vaccines work and are effective. Long term, an Army cannot fight when it is sick. Disease and illness killed millions outside of the battlefield. Needless deaths and preventable.

abcnews.go.com

Measles cases surge worldwide, infecting 10.3 million people in 2023: WHO

There were an estimated 10.3 million cases of measles in 2023 globally -- an increase of 20% from the previous year, according to a new WHO report.

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