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BARKS Podcast with Veronica Sanchez of Cooperative Paws Service Dog Education: September 9, 2020


Join Niki Tudge as she chats with Veronica Sanchez of Cooperative Paws Service Dog Education about the service dog industry, public access dogs, and the concept of at-home service dogs, as well as her new program, Mobility Task Training How-To’s.   Listen to Podcast here on a choice of platforms. Or simply click ‘Play’ below. Veronica Sanchez M.Ed CABC CPDT-KA is the founder of the Cooperative Paws Service Dog Coach™, an educational certification program for professional trainers. She teaches dog trainers how to train service dogs and how to incorporate service dog… Continued


Preventing Resource Guarding in Dogs


Resource guarding is a dog’s natural tendency to protect valued possessions such as food, toys or resting locations. From a dog’s perspective, the approach of a person or animal is a potential threat to losing the valued possession. The behavior reflects a lack of trust and a fear of loss. Dogs in the wild must guard their food, water and shelter or they cannot survive. Domestic dogs will of course survive if someone takes their chew bone away, but their behavior is influenced by 32,000 years of evolution. If a… Continued


Phoenix Blog Competition: Choices Matter


By Maria Zarate As a veteran shelter professional, I’ve always sought outside the box to find effective and efficient methods to help residents skill build. Here are three “go to” methods we use regularly in the shelter environment and I hope you find them helpful too. Pillow Case Feeds What to do with all those donated pillow cases? Don’t toss them, use them instead to feed the residents who eat quickly or who enjoy a good game of “find it”. Pillow case feedings make meal times fun and help slow… Continued


The Importance of Ethograms


By Dr. Sheryl L. Walker With a background in behavior analysis and animal behavior, I am easily captured by behavior in the wild. I was driving to work a couple of weeks ago and stopped to watch a family of geese walk across the street. One adult was in the front, one adult was at the back, and they were separated by four juveniles. The adult at the back was moving his head back and forth with his beak open, I’m assuming making some type of noise. Those 30 seconds… Continued


BARKS Podcast with Laurie C. Williams of Pup ‘N Iron: September 4, 2020


Niki Tudge is joined by Laurie C. Williams the Owner of Pup ‘N Iron® in Virginia to discuss diversity in the dog training profession. Listen to Podcast here on a choice of platforms. Or simply click ‘Play’ below. Laurie C. Williams CPDT-KA has had a love of and connection with dogs from as far back as she can remember. She is the owner and director of training and behavior counseling at Pup ‘N Iron Canine Fitness and Learning Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she has been serving her community as a… Continued


Phoenix Blog Competition: Traumatized Dog


By Rhonda York Claire, an Aussie/cattle dog mix, came to live with us in May 2016. When I brought her home to foster her, I had no idea how to help her. She was completely unsocialized to humans and utterly terrified of everyone and everything—except for my two Labs, Angel and Buddy. I read many books, but nothing addressed how traumatized she really was. I regularly volunteer at PAWS for Life animal shelter in Pueblo, Colorado and am used to hyper dogs, big dogs, slightly OCD dogs and nervous dogs.… Continued


Getting Exercise Just Right!


By Robyn Lowe of PPG corporate partner Canine Arthritis Management Exercising and the Arthritic Dog I would like everyone to meet Daisy, the apple of my eye. She’s a Chihuahua cross Jack Russell terrier and is extremely active for her size (2kg). Unfortunately Daisy has osteoarthritis (OA) in her hips; exercise has changed a little now. I now know how hard it is to get it right, not over do it so they are sore the next day but not to restrict exercise so much that you ruin their fun!… Continued


Practice Makes Perfect


By Joanna Moritz Nobody likes going to the vet’s office with a sick pet. But here are some simple rules to follow that will make your trip more pleasant for you, your dog and the office staff – and that’s a win-win-win. 1. Practice Makes Perfect The less stressed your dog is for an exam, the better for everyone involved. So: If you have a puppy or a small dog, put him on your washer or dryer occasionally and practice touching him all over – and give him treats while… Continued


BARKS Podcast with Judy Luther of Trust Centered Training: August 26, 2020


Join Niki Tudge where she Chats and Chuckles with Judy Luther, chair of the PPG Canine Committee. Their discussion explores the great programs the committee is working on such as Project Trade, standard training procedures for boundary training, and so much more. Listen to Podcast here on a choice of platforms. Or simply click ‘Play’ below. Judy Luther is based in the St. Louis, Missouri metro area and Branson, Missouri and has provided training and behavior consulting services for a variety of species, both domestic and exotic, for over 27 years.… Continued


Raising a Puppy


By Sally Bradbury If you’ve read the children’s book Jack and Billy: Puppy Tales that I co-wrote with Steven Goodall, you may remember that we related the tale of two littermates who were placed into two very different homes. Explains Norris (2019): “In the case of Jack and Billy, both puppies go to homes that are similar: they both have children, both puppies have access to toys, both puppies are to be crate trained and house trained, and both puppies go out for walks. But there is a big difference… Continued


Celebrating National Dog Day 2020


By Bella / Animal Courses Direct, a PPG corporate partner In honor of our canine companions, Animal Courses Direct are celebrating National Dog Day 2020 with some truly inspirational stories from some of our students. “My Four-Legged Glasses Called Karma” Anne, from London, is completely blind and so depends on her wonderful helper Karma to get around. Karma, the dog, is the perfect supportive companion, helping Anne with day-to-day life. One day, Anne had to go into the city center to deliver some documents to a particular office. Karma did… Continued


How to Be More in Tune with Your Dog


How can I bond better with my dog? How do we connect more? I’m not even sure she even likes me! We care about our dogs and, as a consequence, we worry about questions such as these from time to time. Certain situations or scenarios mean they just pop into our head from time to time and, most likely, they’re completely unfounded. Having said that, there’s definitely room to think about how we can be a little more ‘in tune’ with our dogs – if we are, both our lives… Continued


Phoenix Blog Competition: Understanding Behavior


By Kimm Hunt In my second week as an animal control officer, a few heartbeats away from my 21st birthday, I had a rude awakening about the realities of working in animal welfare. The incident set the course for my professional career, including my current work in animal behavior and training almost 30 years later. A 14-week-old pit bull-type puppy I picked up had just completed his seven-day stray holding period at our shelter and I was crushing on him. He was sociable, wiggly and adorable. The sympathetic woman who found… Continued


Quick Cat Behavior Tip: Trimming Claws


By the PPG Cat Committee  While there are a lot of cats who may not initially be terribly keen on the whole claw trimming process, there are ways to make it enjoyable and fun for both parties. This article will explain the steps cat owners can take to make it a more pleasant, stress-free experience all round. Important Reminders: Trimming a cat’s claws can prevent damage to furniture and other household items, as well as to humans, from inadvertent scratches. Often the biggest challenge isn’t the claw trimming itself but… Continued


Stumbling through Puppy Socialization


In 1983 my wife and I moved into our first home on a ¾ acre lot in a small city and could finally have a puppy.  She was a black Labrador Retriever whose AKC registration name was Monona Midnight Melody, but we called her Samantha. We knew nothing about raising a puppy and there were not abundant dog trainers to work with, nor could we have afforded them at the time. I bought the best-selling dog training book available and tried to teach Samantha according to the instructions of the… Continued


Bath Time


By Robyn Lowe of PPG corporate partner Canine Arthritis Management After coming home from our walk the other day, Daisy needed a bath. It got me thinking… Daisy is 2kg (4.4 lbs)… yes 2kg! (that’s not Daisy in the picture, just in case you wondered!) She can be bathed in the bath, shower or even the sink. She’s extremely easy to support and doesn’t slip or jump about when getting baths. I know for a fact this isn’t true of all dogs and especially for larger breeds it’s extremely difficult… Continued


BARKS Podcast with Denise O’Moore of INTODogs: July 31, 2020


Niki Tudge hosts Denise O’Moore, chair of INTO Dogs, to chat about all things Geek Week, a virtual educational event taking place on November 11-15, 2020. Join us to find out all about the Geek Week schedule, presenters, and all things Geeky. Tune in to hear the fun news about this great event where, for five-days, 24-hours a day, there will be more than 130 educational sessions with over 80 presenters. Learn about the sponsorship opportunities, virtual exhibitor halls, and so much more. See Geek Week for more details. Listen… Continued


Examining Anxiety Traits and Breed Specifics


By Dr. Sheryl L. Walker A review of a recent paper on the prevalence, comorbidity, and breed differences in canine anxiety in Finnish pet dogs Review Introduction With a background in behavior analysis and animal sheltering, and currently working toward my Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) certification, I personally found the research in Prevalence, comorbidity, and breed differences in canine anxiety in 13,700 Finnish pet dogs by Salonen et al. (2020) intriguing. Right off the bat, the first sentence in the Abstract packs a punch, especially if you have spent any… Continued


Behavior Modification — A Case Study of a “Difficult” Dog


By Maren Jensen Ph.D. and Angelica Steinker M.Ed. CDBC PDBC PCBC-A The Joy and Journey of Rehabilitating a Dog with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, Pica, Separation Anxiety, Noise Sensitivity and Aggression Rumble was a normal puppy. He investigated, pounced and loved all. Rum, as he is affectionately known, socialized with confidence and happiness, starting at nine weeks. He learned how to learn playing games. Maren, his owner, is a dog trainer and dog sport coach. Everything seemed on track for Rum to make a spectacular entrance into the dog sport… Continued


Do “Carbon Copy” Dogs Exist?


We love our dogs so much, but sometimes there is that one dog who just sort of raises her head just that little bit above the parapet and eats her way into our heart that bit deeper. Or maybe we’ve battled more with that one dog to overcome behavioral or medical struggles…It’s not always easy to pinpoint but it’s that unidentifiable ‘something’ that makes some dogs shine just a bit brighter in our memory. The pain of losing a dog is immense and it can take time to heal emotionally… Continued


Respect, Routines and Redirection


By Andrea Carne  Dear Diary, day 10 of quarantine and the human is STILL sitting in my spot … Over the past few months, your social media has no doubt been filled with a host of funny memes depicting the plight of cats reluctantly having to endure the presence of their humans 24/7. While these have provided some much-needed light relief in an incredibly stressful period, I believe there is also some truth behind the comedy. At the time of writing this article, we were in the middle of the… Continued


Developing Food Manners


By Michelle Martiya One of the top reasons I believe people move away from clicker training with their horses is being unsure of how to manage their animal’s behavior around food. Horses can often become over-excited with the introduction of food reinforcers and offer unexpected or even dangerous behaviors that can scare or injure their handlers. In my experience, “food manners” is often taught as an isolated behavior in which the horse stands calmly next to his handler, facing forward in a neutral position. While this behavior is an excellent… Continued


BARKS Podcast with Kelly Duggan of Kelly Duggan Design: July 24, 2020


In this BARKS Podcast, we “Chat & Chuckle” with Kelly Duggan of Kelly Duggan Design, a Pet Professional Guild approved vendor. Kelly wears many hats and has several roles in our industry, from her own business to supporting the Academy for Dog Trainers to working behind the scenes helping the Pet Professional Guild with their new website. In this podcast, we talk to Kelly about marketing and websites and how you can best leverage your website to service more clients and help more pets. The conversation wanders from graphic design… Continued


Phoenix Blog Competition: Learning Compassion


By Charleen Cordo For 15 years, I worked at an established training and adoption facility for shelter dogs at a facility for mentally ill youths. The dogs, who mostly came from a rural community, I felt that, judging by their behavior, had not always been treated very well. Many of them had worms or were prone to eating anything they could, some had mange, and most were just not very healthy. Among the behaviors they exhibited were jumping up, shyness around the approach of hands, lack of leash manners, and… Continued


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