Interpreting Feline Non-Verbal Communication
Jane Ehrlich examines the basics of feline body language. This article was first published in BARKS from the Guild, March 2015, page 26 Keep an eye on your cat’s body language to know what he/she is thinking and feeling. To that end, here is a scenario. In fact, you probably already know the signs. It is only a matter of putting them together and monitoring at what point Noodles starts demonstrating even one of these signals. It is the same as reading a human’s body language: one sign may not… Continued
Cats in Conflict
Jane Ehrlich examines some of the many types of feline aggression, one of the most common behavior problems in cats, and tries to shed some light on this complex issue. This article was first published in BARKS from the Guild, March 2015, pages 24-28. Inter-cat aggression is one of the most commonly reported behavior problems by cat owners, second only to feline marking behaviors such as urine spraying and middening (Magnus, Appleby & Bailey, 1998; Overall, 1997). The only cat owners likely to have not experienced this often convoluted… Continued
Lives of Streeties – A Study on Free Ranging Dogs
This Christmas I gave myself a gift. I finally permitted myself to publish my study on street dogs in Bangalore, India. I have been working at it for a year and I am thrilled to present it finally. The idea for the study was sparked when my colleagues and I were mulling over the question of how much exercise dogs need. We decided that we needed to do a study. The premise was simple – animals inherently know how much exercise they need. Animals in the wild don’t need to… Continued
Empathy for Human Learners
As I develop as a teacher I’ve been revisiting some of my experiences as learner, empathically engaging with my human clients who might be struggling with new skills. Being a good learner is something I last thought about seriously when I was a student (a long time ago!). I trained as a podiatrist in the UK, something that requires a lot of practical skills as well as theory. I was pretty comfortable learning all the theory, what I found very difficult (and uncomfortable) was learning the practical skills. I was… Continued
A Revelation about Resolutions
Over the years, I’ve made many New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, get organized, read more, and hundreds of other goals that became part of my never ending “To Do” list. But this year, I had a revelation and decided to do something different and so I made my resolution to find more ways of engaging with my dogs. Don’t misunderstand, I take great care of them, but sometimes, I’m so busy that I’ll give them a puzzle toy as a way of providing enrichment. Puzzles, are after all, great… Continued
Positive Is a Perception: Empathy to Understand the Perception of the Other
Two things happened to me recently that set me off thinking about positive reinforcement from the recipient’s perspective. Firstly I read a very negative review of positive reinforcement training through a Facebook blog. The writer was suggesting that positive reinforcement is a misnomer and, from the dog’s point of view, it is not positive. Secondly I’ve had a lot of folks asking me ‘what is a high value and low value treat?’ (wanting me to specify food/other primary reinforcement into categories). All this set me off thinking about how we… Continued
Do No Harm!
That maxim is one of the fundamental principles that health care providers are taught in school which roughly means that given an existing problem, it may be better not to do something or do nothing than risk causing more harm than good. I believe as positive reinforcement trainers and other dog professionals, we also have a duty to do no harm. The type of harm I’m referring to has nothing to do with using aversive techniques, but rather the harm when we unwittingly pass along advice that can have serious… Continued
Listen To The Opening Address at The PPG Summit – Tampa, 2015
A few of the most important points I felt were covered in my opening address at PPG’s First Educational Summit in Tampa, FL. Click here to listen to the full 19 minutes. • I reflected on the sometimes rocky but never boring journey it has taken over the last four years to get PPG to where it is today. • In my humble opinion the profession of animal training, behavior and pet care is a tripod of art, science and relationships, and each is as important as the other. •… Continued
Observational Skills For Empathy
As Jane Goodall pointed out in an article this week, story-telling is sometimes the best way to share ideas and information. So, I thought I’d share an experience I had with a brilliant trainer utilising her empathic observation on me a few years ago. Some years ago I acquired a rather large, 6 year old Welsh Cob (horse) who’d had very little handling. Fortunately he had the most divine temperament, but he was very big and also very scared of just about everything! Although I was confident handling and teaching… Continued
Seven Stages to a Bite
It’s sometimes good to remind ourselves of what our dogs are. Dogs are relatives of the modern day wolf, both having evolved from a common ancestor. Is it not fascinating that when we chose to domesticate an animal, we chose a predator and welcomed him into our homes. Irrespective of the form the current dog takes, he does share genes with a predator and those instincts will expose themselves in extreme conditions. What I am getting at is that all dogs, if pushed far enough, can bite! When a dog bites, it’s rarely… Continued
What You Think Is One Dog’s Punishment May Be Another Dog’s Fun Game!
I was first introduced to a positive reinforcement instructor many years ago when I adopted my shelter dog, Freddie, an adolescent dog who was very enthused about EVERYTHING! As the instructor explained how to reinforce our dogs, and even as I was seeing results, what I really wanted to hear was how we were going to punish our dogs when they did “bad” behaviors. While I look back on that kind of thinking with laughter, it got me thinking about how humans are “wired” to want to correct a “bad”… Continued
30 Reasons to Join the Pet Professional Guild
You may be wondering what exactly are the benefits of joining a member organization such as PPG so we’ve decided to help you out by listing a mere 30 of them. Whether you’re a seasoned pet professional, a novice trainer or a pet owner concerned with your pets’ well-being and best interests, PPG is the place to be. There are plenty more reasons to join PPG, but here are 30 to get us started: The only membership organization… Continued
Do Cats Really Like Music?
By Jane Ehrlich According to a study by Snowdon et al., ‘cats may ignore human music—but they are highly responsive to music written especially for them’ according to their study published in applied Animal Behavior Science. Professor Charles Snowdon, of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is the lead author of the study. In the study, 27 males and 20 females ‘took part’. ‘The cats were significantly more positive toward cat music than the classical,’ according to the report. I spoke to Prof. Snowdon about the study by phone. JE: ‘Why… Continued
How To Bring Empathy into Practice?
Drawing empathy into our training practice is so important. As positive reinforcement training is involves multiple choices (such do we shape, capture or lure this behavior? What sort of reward should we choose; food or something else? What is our secondary reinforcer going to be – a clicker/our voice or something else) all these choices require we make intelligent, informed decisions for the benefit of our non-human student as we work. What works for one dog won’t be so effective, reinforcing or clear to another. In order to make emotionally… Continued
A Freddie Moment
Freddie passed away on October 4, 2014. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him and all that he meant to me in his brief life. He changed my world significantly since our first meeting at the adoption fair, and without him, I never would have discovered the joy in helping other people and their special canine companions. But rather than be maudlin, I’d like to share an excerpt from an article I wrote for a magazine years ago, highlighting “volunteer activities with your dog.” While unpacking… Continued
Pet Professional Guild links up with Victoria Stilwell to support National Puppy Mill Awareness Day
National Puppy Mill Awareness Day falls on September 27, 2015 and the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) has partnered with renowned dog trainer, television personality and PPG Special Counsel member, Victoria Stilwell, in an effort to highlight the plight of millions of dogs held in puppy mills nationwide. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a puppy mill is a “large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs.” The National Puppy Mill Project states that there are currently 800,000… Continued
Is Fetching Really All That “Fetching” for Dogs?
As science sheds more light on the popular game of “fetch”, it is fascinating to learn that “fetch” may not always be that “fetching” after all for some dogs. Stressed dogs in particular may take longer to recover if they are playing fetch. This article discusses how this game affects a dog’s body. Fetch can ignite the hunting instincts in some dogs. This becomes evident when one considers that many dogs do not need to be taught how to run after a ball, but only how to return it. Sometimes dogs… Continued
Pet Care on a Budget
Many households are on a tight budget when it comes to things like food and health care costs, while the same can be true for our four-legged family members. While we do treat our companion animals like family, sometimes the cost for caring for them can get a little pricey, depending on the circumstances of course. Here are some affordable options that can help us save money when it comes to caring for our pets: Discount Stores Discount stores can be an affordable alternative for cutting costs on toys, treats,… Continued
Why is Empathic Practice Important?
While historically empathy has perhaps been seen as a fluffy, feel good emotion with little relevance to science, or science based practice, our lack of empathy has, arguably, led us into the dangerous territory we entered in decades gone by. Those beliefs include the view that animals are non-sentient, unfeeling and non emotional; all ideas prompted through the historical views of Descartes, Malebranche & La Mettrie (Brown, 1995) then, Kant’s later view that animals possessed sensation but no reasoning. In much the same way as Watson’s original behaviorism led to… Continued
Free-Feeding From A Bowl Can Be Costly!
Food is sustenance; it keeps us alive, it fuels our activities, but for most of us it is emotional comfort. Food can trigger wonderful memories of family gatherings, or console us when we’re sick or upset, so no wonder we want to show our love for our pets with food. And it behoves us not to set down a big bowl of “love” so our pets can graze all day long. The problem is that pets, such as our dogs do not equate food with love; they don’t respect… Continued
Progressive Zoos Never Use Aversive Punishment — Should You?
This series of blog posts recounts topics drawn from the Pet Professional Guild Radio Show, featuring Linda Michaels (2). Question: What are some of the benefits of using Positive Reinforcement (+R)? Answer: The benefits of using Positive Reinforcement training with our companion animals are pretty much the opposite of the drawbacks of using aversive punishment. Goodness, today, all progressive zoos and wild animal parks use management and positive reinforcement ONLY even with large and potentially dangerous animals. (See Video from San Diego Safari Park and the San Diego Zoo). Surely, we can train our… Continued
Pet Professional Guild Announces Third International Chapter, PPG Singapore
The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) continues with its quest to promote humane, scientifically sound training methods for pets worldwide with the opening of its first international chapter in South East Asia, PPG Singapore. The Singapore Chapter represents the third overseas launch in just six months, following the successful establishment of PPG British Isles and PPG Australia. PPG is a pet industry organization that currently represents animal training, behavior and pet care professionals in over 26 countries, all of whom are committed to results-based, science-based, force-free methods. The new chapter will… Continued
Defining Empathy
Over the last decade there has been an increasing awareness of the need to think, and act, empathically within healthcare settings; this information could be very useful for us. Helen Reiss MD of Harvard Medical School reports a variety of benefits to both patients and clinicians by including; greater patient satisfaction; better medical outcomes for patients; greater job satisfaction and reduced burnout for professionals; better adherence to treatment recommendations. The research has been so influential an organization called E.M.P.A.T.H.Y ™ has been founded to educate healthcare professionals in how to… Continued
The Mad Hatter
As a dog trainer, I wear my “professional hat” when I patiently educate my clients to help them resolve their dog’s behavioral issues. The joke is that when I get home, the last thing I want to do is start training my own dogs. I think the saying, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes” fits here. But I’ve come to realize that my relationship with my dogs (and cat) is so much more than just teaching them certain behaviors and consequently, I wear a variety of “hats” with them,… Continued
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