Volunteer Connection

Get to Know Chanel Headlam and Makenzie Streeter, SPCA Behavioral Specialists

What are your backgrounds and how did you become SPCA Behavioral Specialists?

Makenzie: I have two bachelor's degrees. One of my degrees is a BS in Marine Biology, and the other is a BS in Biomedical sciences. I originally wanted to go to veterinary school, but when I started working at shelters two years ago, I realized my passion was helping dogs get a second chance. I have always had a fascination with animal behavior, so when I saw the listing for a behavioral specialist assistant in October 2022 I applied. After a few months, the behavioral specialist I was working under resigned, and Chanel and I were promoted to behavior specialists. We worked hard to ensure our top priority was to improve the quality of life of the dogs in our care, and created a system that allowed us to track our dogs progress. I just celebrated my 1-year anniversary with the SPCA of Brevard, and I couldn’t be happier with the difference the staff has made in so many animals' lives. 

Chanel: I have always been the person to come home with various animals I found on the streets. My mother knew there was no use in arguing; I’d always have space for a helpless animal. I started at the SPCA of Brevard in 2021. I’ll be celebrating my 3-year anniversary this upcoming March! I started as a kennel technician and have gained experience with dog handling and knowledge here at our wonderful shelter. Shortly after being hired, I got promoted to a mutt matcher and also cross-trained to gain knowledge in how our dog medical team operates and even did a day in surgery with our amazing Dr. Les. I also spent time training with our cat staff to also learn cat medical and operations. I found my passion in behavior and wanted to make a difference in the quality of life our dogs here at the shelter have and help their journey from shelter to home. I was promoted to behavior assistant and shortly after our previous behavior specialist resigned, Makenzie and I were offered the opportunity to continue running the behavior department where we continue enrich the lives of the dogs in our care until they find their forever home. 

What is a typical day at the SPCA like for you?

M: There is no such thing as a typical day when you work with animals. Most days, we start by saying good morning to our dogs we house in the behavioral hallway by taking them for their first walk. They all get three walks a day. The rest of the day varies from day to day. Some days, we are meeting about how we can help the dogs who are showing the most signs of stress, while others we run playgroups and 1:1’s. We also put together mentally enriching activities for the dogs in the form of food enrichment, scent enrichment, or physical enrichment. 

C: Our day-to-day changes at the drop of a hat when troubleshooting some new behavioral challenges. Outside of walk times, you can find me doing various things throughout my days. Playgroups are my favorite thing to do. But I also help come up with new enrichment ideas for kennel staff and assist in making enrichment. We set our lure course in mulch for some of the dogs to run and chase. We get the dogs out of the kennels as much as we possibly can to prevent a mental decline from stress.  

Explain some of the things you work on with the dogs in our care.

M: Many of our dogs come to us with behavioral challenges, while others just need some TLC. We have had dogs that come to us with resource guarding, so we have a protocol that starts with hand feeding. We also have had dogs that need to learn how to communicate what their boundaries are, so we teach them how to walk away when they do not want to interact with us anymore. We also do a fair amount of basic obedience with all of our dogs, but there is always time for teaching tricks too. My goal is for every dog in our care to know how to fist bump. 

C: We work with a lot of things, basic obedience training. I enjoy doing loose leash exercises to help some of our dogs improve their walking skills. Me and Makenzie came up with a really good protocol to help us monitor all the dogs in the shelter and their overall stress levels. We call it the FAS. Every week us and dog staff have a morning meeting to make sure the more stressed dogs are getting the mental and physical stimulation they need. We also discuss meet and greets with adopters and make sure dogs are doing well, or if there are any improvements we can work on to help dogs present well in their meetings with potential adopters. 

What is the best part of your job?

M: The best part of the job in my eyes is watching a dog you spent everyday working with going into a loving home. 

C: The most fulfilling for me is getting to watch a fearful dog blossom into a confident and loving individual. And getting to build important bonds with them.  

What are the challenges of your job?

M: Some of the challenges we have faced are working with fearful, shut down, or extremely stressed dogs. When a dog is under extreme stress or fear, they present more challenges. Their fight or flight response tends to control them making it difficult to get them to trust us to start training or retain any training we do. Sometimes you have to build a bond with a dog before you can start training them. 

C: Sometimes we get dogs in that require some serious love and extra care, fearful dogs, and dogs that are scared of the world around them. A lot of hard work goes into building bonds and trust to ensure we can help them decompress and begin to show and also teach them that the world isn’t as scary as they think and neither are people. 

What is something volunteers can do to assist you? What do you want volunteers to know about your position? 

M: Volunteers that are willing to come in and walk or take dogs to the yards for us are always greatly appreciated. We could also use volunteers for mock meet and greets for the dogs that tend to be very fearful. These dogs typically sit longer due to their fear, so the more exposure they get the better the chances are of them getting adopted. If volunteers are not comfortable handling dogs, then doing laundry or deep cleaning kennels is a great way to help. This allows dog staff to spend more one on one time with the dogs that are struggling the most. Something I would like volunteers to know about our position is that our goal is to improve the quality of life of our dogs while they await their forever homes, so if you have any questions or ideas always come see Chanel or I. 

C: Bark Buddies! Kennel staff can always use help walking dogs! both during walk times and outside of walk times. Bark buddies can also help with dog baths and cuddle sessions in the yards.  We also use a lot of enrichment. So help making our frisbees, peanut butter sandwiches, and kibble-filled kongs are very helpful. Help with daily cleaning for dog staff is always welcome, especially if someone isn't quite ready to be a bark buddy. Helping with the daily chores and deep cleanings helps our kennel staff a lot.  that’s if you don’t mind the noise of the kennels cause those dogs love to bark! If you ever have a question you are more than welcome to ask a kennel staff member or Makenzie and myself. The most important thing about the behavior specialist position is were responsible for ensuring the dogs in our care have the best mental and physical health possible. We take pride in how much we do here for the dogs to get them out of the kennels and live their best lives! If you ever have any questions or even ideas to help enrich their lives we are always looking for new ways to help the dogs!