About Animal Behaviour Matters
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR CONSULTANT
About Us
Animal Behaviour Matters is owned and operated by Jade Fountain, a fully qualified, internationally trained behaviour consultant who works with companion animals, exotic and native species. We provide expertise in working with everything from fish, marsupials and goats to vultures, sea lions and cheetahs. Our focus is founded on applied behaviour analysis and positive reinforcement to teach and change behaviour in any species. We are also human coaches, dedicated to building knowledge, skills, passion and cohesion in animal care teams and with handlers or trainers.
Jade has studied animal behaviour, learning and welfare, applied behaviour analysis and zoology. Jade is currently undertaking a PhD in animal and veterinary sciences at the University of Adelaide, looking at efficacy of training and enrichment to improve welfare. She has a Masters of Applied Behaviour Analysis and a Masters in Science (Animal Behaviour/Zoology), in which she studied reward pathways in the brain during learning in chickens, field observations of animal behaviour in Africa and aggressive behaviour in native birds as part of her academic research. Her BSc was in zoology/psychology studying personality in Tasmanian devils and interning in a lab researching personality in explosive detector dogs. She is a Certified Dog and Cat Behaviour Consultant with the International Association for Animal Behaviour Consultants (IAABC), a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) and has graduated from the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Behaviour and Training (KPA-CTP).
Jade promotes animal welfare foremost in behaviour change. Jade has a background leading teams to develop innovative animal behaviour welfare for shelter animals in Australia and overseas. She has lectured in applied behaviour analysis for animals and run animal training workshops at universities in Australia. She has worked for the RSPCA as a behaviour manager, the service dog industry, training assistance dogs for autism, mobility and PTSD roles, as a studio dog trainer on film sets in the USA, led prison dog programs, trained detection dogs and conducted assessments for ex-military dogs. A profound interest in conservation led to her working in threatened species recovery programs throughout Australia and South Africa, including the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, Endangered Wildlife Trust, Zoos Victoria and ACT Parks and Conservation. Some of this work has been with wildlife rehabilitation, cheetah conservation programs including training cheetahs, wildlife detection dog programs for critically endangered species, anti-poaching aid, and conducting behavioural field research in Botswana and South Africa. She has consulted with teams in behaviour change and training for native threatened species and exotics across Australia.
Jade is an international presenter and teacher who presents public seminars and workshops on animal behaviour and the science of animal training and learning. Jade has demonstrated experience coaching human teams to train animals through workshops in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and the US. She has worked with dog handlers, zoos and wildlife parks, dog clubs and taught TAFE animal training workshops.
