Book Review: Puppy Training
Recently I read a Kindle book on the subject of house training a dog, written by Alexandra Santos. I recognized her from a Pet Professional Guild webinar I attended on August 6, 2019 titled Fear Learning and How to Work With Fearful Dogs. Santos is a professional canine behavior consultant who graduated from the Animal Care College in the U.K. with a Diploma of Advanced Canine Psychology. She has previously written Puppy Problems and Puppy and Dog Care books, among other things. During her fearful dogs webinar I was impressed with… Continued
Does a Wagging Tail Mean a Happy Dog?
Zani’s tail is up, and you’ll see in the video below that it is wagging. Does she look friendly and happy? Why do dogs wag their tails? The prevailing view is that they do so when they feel happy and friendly. Many do, but dogs also wag their tails in other situations. So the answer to the title question is no. Dogs wagging their tails are not always expressing friendliness or joy. Not by a long shot. Many dogs will wag their tails from arousal or when performing predatory behaviors.… Continued
Case Study: Puppy Joyfulness Lost, Tail Between Legs, Acts Cautious
Hettie is an adorable Cockerpoo puppy who is now 16 weeks old. For the first four weeks that Hettie was with them (8 to 12 weeks old), she was a typical confident, happy and energetic puppy. She would fly around in puppy joyfulness, grab things and cause the usual puppy chaos. Why, then, has she now lost her puppy joyfulness? Before getting Hettie, her owners had already booked their vacation. While they were away, they left her in what they believed was the best place possible. This was a well… Continued
July 22, 2019: Governor Cuomo Signs Legislation Banning Cat Declawing
New York Becomes First State in Nation to Ban Cat Declawing: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has signed legislation (S.5532B/A.1303) banning the performance of declawing procedures on cats, making New York the first state to prohibit the practice. The bill takes effect immediately. “Declawing is a cruel and painful procedure that can create physical and behavioral problems for helpless animals, and today it stops,” Governor Cuomo said.“By banning this archaic practice, we will ensure that animals are no longer subjected to these inhumane and unnecessary procedures.” Read article
BARKS Podcast with Daniel Quagliozzi: August 7, 2019
Guest: Daniel “DQ” Quagliozzi, Cat Consultant and Owner/ Operator of Go Cat Go, San Francisco’s leading resource for cat guardians, seeking contemporary and individualized lifestyle advice. Topic: Cats and consent to petting. How overstimulation and petting aggression can be avoided through awareness of human intention and the understanding of feline body language and thresholds. How taking less physical liberties with our cats can allow for more social interaction and trust with our cats. Listen to the recorded podcast here
Case Study: Attack – The Best Form of Defense?
Just look at this dog! Isn’t she wonderful? Billie is a four-year-old Aylestone bulldog and her guardians have had her for six weeks. Previous to this she had been used as a breeding bitch and ended up in a shelter, so she probably didn’t have a very good life. She certainly has a good life now. Scared – attack may be the best form of defense Billie is a sweet-natured dog, although maybe a little worried about things. She is a dream at home, but out on walks she is… Continued
The Comparison Curse
Owning a dog is a privilege, as is the opportunity to share our lives with them for 12, 15 years and, let’s hope, longer still. During that time, think about all those battles and struggles you conquer together, what you achieve that, at first, seemed insurmountable, those amazing journeys you have together and, of course, that inexplicable personal relationship you strike up which no one else can understand. Time spent with a dog is never long enough, but each day is spent creating incredible memories – a unique canine/human time… Continued
BARKS Podcast with Adina Silberstein: July 26, 2019
Guest: Adina Silberstein, the Founder, President and CEO of Queenie’s Pets Adina Silberstein is an entrepreneur and business coach, specializing in processes, organization, company culture and profitability. Adina is committed to urban communities, force-free practices, empowering others, and ongoing professional and personal development. Topic: PPG Webinar: Say “No” More Often: Capitalizing on Your Unique Value. How operating from fear can negatively impact decision-making, yet creating clear-cut, forward-thinking boundaries can positively impact work/life balance, profitability, company culture and more. Listen to the recorded podcast here
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
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