For The Curious 2 – Your Questions on Deaf, Blind Dogs Answered
By Debbie Bauer There were more great questions sent for my For The Curious series of posts! Thank you to everyone who sent such great questions that people often have about blind/deaf dogs and double merles! Are your blind/deaf dogs always on a leash or beside you? Are they able to roam freely at home and are they able to navigate a space they are familiar with? What about a space they are unfamiliar with? My b/d dogs are free to roam in the house or fenced areas. They know the space… Continued
Dogs and Body Pressure: A Photo Study
Can you guess what just happened here? Zani and Clara and I were playing a game I call the Gravity Game. It has evolved over the years. The indoor version is as follows: Clara deliberately drops her ball It rolls Zani picks it up Zani brings it to me I trade it for a piece of kibble I toss the ball back to Clara Repeat I have a previous post on The Gravity Game. Clara invented it, first using gravity to play a game of fetch with herself, then training… Continued
To Chase, or Not to Chase?
I live in the countryside on a 25 acre parcel surrounded by farmland. We developed our property to support wildlife. Needless to say there are critters of all kinds and in all directions. My dogs love it as much as I do. The major difference is I have no hard-wired impulse to chase the critters. My Labradors, on the other hand, face temptations every day. A little Angel sits on one shoulder preaching self-restraint while a little Devil sits on the other shouting the contrary. To chase, or not to… Continued
Case Study: Separation Distress, Insecurity and Panic When Away from His Owner
Darcy watches his lady owner all the time. When she’s out of sight he pants and he paces. Even when left at home with his male owner, he whines and stresses. Separation specifically and only from the lady owner freaks him out. Strangely, he shows no sign of being possessive of her. The daughter can hug her and she can hold the baby without Darcy doing more than continue to watch her. Darcy is 9-year-old of mixed breed, probably Patterdale and Labrador. After a bad first year which he came… Continued
#PPGSummit 2019: Sound Bites
By Susan Nilson “We need to be careful when using genetics as an easy ‘explanation’ for behavior…Genetics has an important and undeniable contribution to behavior, including aggression. However, how and to what degree genetics interacts with environmental variables is far from known. Understanding how environmental risk factors mixed with more susceptible genotypes may help contextualize risk and our understanding of behavior.” – Dr. Nathan Hall. Read article
Ask the Experts: Maximizing Your Training Space
By Veronica Boutelle Make sure to use your space in ways that truly work for you. You’ve achieved your dream of having a facility. Be careful you get to enjoy it. That means passing on services that require you to spend time in ways you’d rather not (for example, tied to a day care floor instead of out day training, or overseeing a large staff when you’re really not comfortable doing so, etc.). Read article
What’s Shocking about Shock?
By Don Hanson The Shock-Free Coalition did not come to its conclusion that using shock for the training, care, and management of pets was unnecessary and harmful out of the blue. Its position is based on the careful review of the growing number of peer reviewed, scientific studies that demonstrate that shock is not only unnecessary, but is harmful, both physically and psychologically. The current scientific data, in addition to the moral and ethical concerns about mental and physical damage to animals subjected to methods using force, fear and/or pain… Continued
The Escape Artist Dog
By Beth Napolitano According to PAWS (2019), we are justified in worrying about our dogs’ safety when we are out with them in public places: “Escaping is a serious problem for both you and your dog, as it can have tragic consequences. If your dog is running loose, he is in danger of being hit by a car, being injured in a fight with another dog, or being hurt in a number of other ways. Additionally, you are liable for any damage or injury your dog may cause and you… Continued
Thinking Inside the Box
By Andrea Carne “If it fits, I sits.” How many Facebook memes and YouTube videos depicting cats squished into boxes and other small spaces have you chuckled over? It might be a packing box, a shoebox, even an egg carton – often far too small to actually fit the cat comfortably – and yet the said cats seem blissfully happy with their chosen spaces. While no definitive research study has come up with an answer, most behavior consultants agree boxes and other small, enclosed spaces provide a safe, secure hiding… Continued
Teaching Students, Training Kittens
By Breanna Norris Where to begin training a kitten? We started in the same place we would with any other species, a nose target. I brought a variety of target sticks for students to use…After training nose targets, the students went on to work on crate training, shaping going around a cone, stationing to a platform and cooperative nail trims. The crate training progressed quickly for all four kittens, with Bagheera the star. We started with all four kittens on lab tables (although for other training some teams opted to… Continued
Group Housing Solutions
By Kathie Gregory Horses have evolved as a social species to live in groups. The group is essential to the survival of the species, providing safety in numbers, working together to detect and assess any potential threat. The fact that many horses are now kept in a domesticated environment where there are no predators has not changed their survival mechanism. As such, significant issues arise from a lack of social contact, not being part of a group, and the lack of opportunity to form friendships. It is intrinsic to the… Continued
Considering Canine Aggression from a Scientific Perspective
By Susan Nilson “The skull shape is going to determine the bite level. There’s a lot of stuff that goes into the amount of damage done by a bite and very little of it has to do with the dog’s ability to control himself. A dog jaw is a third order lever. This means the force is in the middle between the load and the fulcrum. This is physics 101. Dogs do not all have the same bite mechanics or bite potential…My issue with bite levels is that predictions are… Continued
Learning from Mother Nature
By Lara Joseph Sadly, behavior issues are skyrocketing in the realm of exotic animal care. Most of what I see is due to ongoing, stressful conditions and, often, the signs of stress are not recognized in the companion animal community or facility staff, who are not always educated appropriately. A lot of the behaviors I see are due to frustration, lack of choice, and the result of an animal not being able to control their own consequences. Read article
Saying Goodbye
By Alicia Obando According to Tzivian et al. (2015), the loss of a pet may be “very stressful to the owner, whether these deaths were caused by euthanasia, accident, or by the progress of illness. The longer one has a pet, the greater the attachment can become, and this strong attachment may provoke a distress reaction upon a pet’s death. Many people grieve for their pets in much the same way as they do for the deaths of their friends. Families are known to experience a range of emotions in… Continued
Dealing with Dog Bite Liability
By David Pearsall As most pet professionals are aware, a general liability policy will protect you against bodily injury or property damage to others caused by your negligence (or your staff’s negligence while working for your business). Typically, a $1,000,000 liability limit is recommended. Please be aware that under most general liability policies, defense cost is outside of this limit, and the insurance company will defend you if a lawsuit is brought against you/your business. There is also a medical payments limit (typically $5,000 – $10,000) which is used to… Continued
Case Study: Barks Aggressively at Dogs, Counterconditioning, Changing Emotions
On walks, Daniel the Deerhound Lurcher barks aggressively at other dogs. At home, he is a well-behaved, quite self-contained but friendly boy, four years of age. The owner has had him for two years. He lived on a narrow boat For the first two years of his life, Daniel lived on a narrow boat, so he has had several years to rehearse barking at other dogs in order to make them go away. When he barks aggressively, it works! The dogs carry on walking. Living on a boat, I’m sure… Continued
No Recall? Is It Really Your Dog’s Fault?
Of all the doggy and doggy parent issues, not coming back when called has got to be nearing the top of the list. There could be lots of variations of this, a casual sauntering back when your dog feels like it, taking in a few sniffs along the way. Maybe your dog might be one of those explosive types, let off the leash and, crikey, she’s off like a bullet and, before you know it, is a speck in the distance. Meanwhile, you begin that Olympic sprint before collapsing in… Continued
Teaching Your Dog to “Go Say ‘Hi'”
By Danette Johnston I am not a fan of dogs greeting on leash for several reasons but I do like to teach dogs a “GO SAY HI” cue for the following circumstances: Times when it may be OK for the dogs to meet on leash. For emergencies when another dog or human is approaching without consent. Therapy work. GO SAY HI is a bit of a fake-out cue. What GO SAY HI means to me (and my dogs) is: go ahead and step toward that dog/human, sniff for 1-2 seconds and then come back… Continued
June 18, 2019: New Study Examines Evolution of “Puppy Dog Eyes”
A new study has found that facial musculature between domestic dogs and gray wolves differs only around the eye. The study reports that exaggerated eyebrow facial movements in dogs cause their eyes to “appear larger, giving the face a more paedomorphic, infant-like appearance, and also resembles a movement that humans produce when they are sad.” This potentially elicits a “caregiving response from humans, giving individuals that inherit the trait a selection advantage with humans.” The researchers conclude that “the data suggest that selection—perhaps mainly unconscious—during social interactions can create selection pressures… Continued
Actually, I **Can** Get My Dogs’ Attention
I was thinking the other day about how and why I have a dream relationship with my dogs. They are cooperative. They are sweet. They are responsive and easy to live with. You know how I got there? Training and conditioning them with food and playing with them. They weren’t the most difficult dogs in the world when they came to me, but they weren’t easy, either. Clara was a feral puppy who was growling at every human but me when she was 10 weeks old. Zani is so soft and… Continued
Prehistoric Dogs and Humans
Dogs and humans have a long history of living and working together, unique among species on this planet. In the modern age dogs wear many hats…companions, herders, protectors, search and rescue, guides for the blind, bomb and drug sniffers…just to name a few. During prehistoric times dogs served our ancestors as well. In “The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction” Pat Shipman, a retired Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, chronicled in exquisite scientific detail the alliance between the two predator species. That alliance conveyed… Continued
Are Head Halters Like Prongs?
By Yvette Van Veen Are Head Halters Like Prongs? Head halters took the training world by storm years ago. Some trainers are hanging up their head halters because they simply don’t like how dogs seem to fight them. Other trainers, those who use force have long tried to make the claim that head halters are no different from prong collars. Generally, the argument made is that if you use a head halter then you really are no different from a trainer who uses prong collars. That we are in denial. That aversives are necessary. That we… Continued
BARKS Podcast with Dr. Lynn Bahr: June 6, 2019
Guest: Dr. Lynn Bahr DVM, the CEO of Dezi & Roo Dr. Bahr serves on the Board of Director of Pandemonium Aviaries, Fear Free Advisory Board, Parliamentarian of the Society of Veterinary Medical Ethics, and is on the Cat Committee of the Pet Professional Guild. Topic: Scratch, Scratch, Scratch The benefits of allowing cats to scratch and how to encourage them to scratch appropriately. This podcast will include tips, tricks, and tools to help cat owners live cohesively with their clawed cats. We will discuss why it is good for… Continued
Animal Trainers: Take Animal Emotions into Consideration!
By Karolina Westlund Ph.D. of PPG corporate partner Illis Animal Behaviour Consulting Is the dog fearful, or crouching? Does it matter, when you’re training? The world of animal trainers is divided, and I find that some trainers avoid the subject of animal emotions altogether. “There’s no need to factor in and understand emotions, just deal with the observable behaviour”, is the gist of what some trainers and animal professionals say. No doubt their unwillingness to consider emotions stems from the Father of Behaviourism, influential to this day. Skinner said: “The ‘emotions’ are excellent examples… Continued
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