Confessions of a Dog Trainer. Part 1: Feeding from the Table!
By Sue McCabe I have a confession. I sometimes feed my dogs from the table. When I go out to eat with my dog we are sharing quality time, and a meal together. So as long as my dog is quiet and calm and settled, he gets to share my food or he gets a Kong of his own to enjoy. Below is a picture of my pup Jellybean having lunch with me at a coffee shop in Warwick Bridge, England. I don’t do this at home and since he’s never been… Continued
BARKS Recorded Podcast with Alexandra Kurland: April 17, 2019.
Guest: Alexandra Kurland, a graduate of Cornell University where she specialized in animal behavior, whose area of particular interest is the development of a horse’s balance: physical and emotional. Alexandra Kurland is the author of “Clicker Training for your Horse“; “The Click That Teaches: A Step–By–Step Guide in Pictures“; “The Click That Teaches: Riding with the Clicker“; “JOYFULL Horses“, and “The Goat Diaries”. She is co-producer of the weekly podcast, Equiosity. Her clicker training website: The Clicker Center. Topic: Series of PPG Webinars presented by Alexandra. Lining up the How,… Continued
April 17, 2019: Study Examines Use of Normal and Abnormal Behaviors to Affect Motivational State
The study concludes that abnormal behavior usually indicates poor welfare, regardless of whether it was initially adaptive, but points out that sometimes abnormal behavior can also be functional – including to modify motivational state. This, in turn, “makes it likely that certain changes in behavior and physiology, often associated with feelings and emotions in sentient animals, will occur.” Read study
The “Invention” of Cues in Training
Once upon a time, there was a girl who decided to teach her dog some tricks. She figured out that if she gave her dog something he liked after he did something she liked, he was liable to do the thing again. So she taught him some simple tricks using food and play as reinforcement. As she went along, her dog started finding playing training games lots of fun in and of themselves. But she still used food and play. He liked earning his “pay” and she liked giving it… Continued
Does Your Animal Have Control?
By Karolina Westlund Ph.D. of PPG corporate partner Illis Animal Behaviour Consulting Many animal trainers, veterinarians and pet owners highlight the importance of controlling animals. Controlling them, as in restricting the animals’ movement, their choices and their opportunities to control their environment through their behaviour. Sometimes you have to, for safety reasons. Obviously. But often you don’t – and more often than you might think. Actually, the trend in modern animal training is to deliberately and strategically shift control from the handler to the animal, while still staying safe. Giving control to the animal… Continued
April 15, 2019: Study Finds Emotional Mirror Neurons in the Rat
Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have tested the theory of empathy in rats and found the presence of mirror-like neurons in the rat’s anterior cingulate cortex that are responsive when other rats are observed undergoing a painful or unpleasant experience. The finding suggests that observing rats shared the emotion of the other rats and, according to Prof. Christian Keysers, the lead author of the study, “…this all happens in exactly the same brain region in rats as in humans.” Read study
For a Healthier Life, Don’t Let Your Pet Get Overweight
Years ago my wife and I adopted a wonderful yellow Labrador named Charlie. At first, he had normal weight, at around 75 pounds. He steadily gained weight until he reached 100 pounds. A veterinary exam determined Charlie had a thyroid problem. With daily medication his weight returned to normal. Charlie lived over 14 years, but his quality of life was cut short by severe arthritis. Like other pet owners who have lost their pets too soon, I felt cheated. In Psychology Today, Stanley Coren, Ph.D., DSc, FRSC commented on a… Continued
The Reality of TV Dog Training
By Niki Tudge and Susan Nilson In recent years, much creditable scientific study has been given to dog training and behavior modification methods and their respective efficacy and consequences. The preponderance of the evidence shown by these studies indicates that the implementation of training and/or behavior modification protocols predicated upon outdated “dominance theory” and social structures (“alpha,” or “pack leader”), usage of physical or mental force, intimidation, coercion or fear are empirically less effective and often create as a consequence “fallout” behaviors, such as fear, aggression, global suppression of behavior,… Continued
Dog Training: Why I Do It
By Joanne Ometz Eight people enter the room with five puppies. I encourage whole families to attend my puppy classes. “Let’s get everyone on the same page,” I have told them, so parents, kids, couples, and single puppy parents arrive, leading or being led by their puppies. All take their places, sitting and immediately beginning to lower treats to the floor by their young dogs, who begin to slow down, sit, or lie down, to settle. Soon, we have a room full of quiet people with puppies lying at their… Continued
April 10, 2019: New Survey to Research Cases of Shock Being Used on Pets without Owners’ Permission
In the wake of a number of recent news stories, the Pet Professional Guild Advocacy Committee is starting to collect data from pet owners who have had shock collars used on their pets without their permission. Pet owners who have experienced this are invited to complete this form.
Treats that Beat Squirrels!
By Yvette Van Veen Treats that Beat Squirrels! What if I told you that tiny little treats could beat a high level distraction like a squirrel? It doesn’t seem to make sense. The distraction is clearly more desirable than a paltry pea sized biscuit. It would be like saying that people would choose to work for a strawberry rather than sloth by the pool with a six pack of cold ones. The temptation to sip the more appealing beer holds greater value than a four calorie berry. It seems reasonable to conclude that beers would… Continued
April 8, 2019: Shock Collars to Be Banned in Netherlands Next Year
Netherlands Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Carola Schouten, has announced the banning of shock collars for dog training from July 1, 2020. Schouten is also introducing new rules for breeding the Bambino Sphynx cat: “Research from Utrecht University shows that the breeding of these cats is often accompanied by health and welfare problems for the animals.” Read article. In Dutch
April 4, 2019: Study Finds Cats Can Recognize Their Names
A new study, published in Scientific Reports, has investigated whether cats could differentiate their names from four other words, including those with the same length and accent as their own names and the names of other cats living in the same household or environment. The study also tested whether cats were more likely to recognize their own names when uttered by a familiar vs. unfamiliar human. Read study
Dispelling the Myths: Tuggy, Retrieve and Safe Play
By Sue McCabe I still regularly hear from clients that they have been told they shouldn’t play tug with their dog. It causes aggression; it creates a hard mouthed dog who will damage game (if you’re into that sort of thing); you’ll never get a decent hold if you teach tug. I still hear the only way to play tug safely is to make sure the human always win the game. Would you really want to play with someone who always wins? Let’s get things straight. It is possible to play tug and allow… Continued
Portland Blog Competition: The Journey of a Crossover Trainer
By Nichola Marshall This is going to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech and it kind of is because I feel like I have won something very special – a change of perspective. So before I start crying I want to say, “thank you” to all of you for sharing your experiences and being supportive, thank you for being tolerant of my “noobie” questions and comments, thank you to the late PPG steering committee member Anne Springer and, most of all, thank you to whoever it was who said, “Don’t… Continued
March 27, 2019: Newly Published Review Debates Reliability and Validity of Behavior Evaluations for Shelter Dogs
The new paper, What is the Evidence for Reliability and Validity of Behavior Evaluations for Shelter Dogs? A prequel to “No Better than Flipping a Coin,” presents the following highlights: Colloquial usage of scientific terms such as “validated” can be misleading. No shelter canine behavior evaluation meets accepted standards as being validated. Published error rates are too high to justify routine use in shelters. Behavior evaluations are heterogeneous and often not comparable with each other. A lack of face validity may explain the high error rate for behavior evaluations. The authors… Continued
Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Started Training Dogs – Gus, the Dominance Myth, An Alpha Roll, and a Damaged Relationship
By Don Hanson In a recent interview, I was asked a series of questions about how to choose a dog trainer. One of the questions was “What would you like to have known when you started training dogs?” In the spring of 1991, I had a new 12-week old Cairn Terrier puppy named Gus. I had no knowledge of dog training, but a desire to learn. I started to learn by reading two of the most popular dog training books at the time; How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend and Mother Knows… Continued
The ‘Quick Fix’ – Not So Quick After All
In today’s society, it seems everything has to happen ‘now.’ Results are expected instantaneously and I think, sadly, this notion has to a certain extent worked it’s way into how we think, feel, and live our lives with our dogs too. Time is precious, and we haven’t always got space for ‘issues’ our dogs may throw at us or, if we have, there must be some quick solution. I am very fortunate in that the majority of dog owners I work with, truly understand that to achieve the results you… Continued
Teach Your Dog to Cooperate with Grooming and Vet Visits
By Debbie Bauer Brushing, combing, cutting toenails, being held for vet examinations and treatment – these things are a part of life for our dogs. These aren’t events that will happen once and never again. Instead, these are lifelong skills that our dogs will need to learn to deal with as ongoing events in their lives. Yet these are also things that some dogs get very stressed about. The good news is that we can teach our dogs to think more positively about all of these activities, and we can… Continued
The Last Trip To the Vet: What If Your Pet’s Last Breath Is on the Operating Table?
Alex in the foreground, with Rusty and Andrew behind him—photo from 1993. Yes, they are in a bathtub. Many years ago I lost Alexander, my dear, dear cat to stomach cancer. This was before veterinary medicine had the technology that’s available today. It was also before I took as proactive an approach to my animals’ health and welfare needs as I do now. I knew nothing about training or socialization. My cats were not crate- or carrier-trained. I didn’t know to use counterconditioning, desensitization, and habituation to teach them that… Continued
Beating the Winter Blues
This winter has been very challenging, especially for those of us living in the northern half of the United States. Winter has behaved like a house guest who does not know when it is time to leave. As I type this and look outside I still see thick snow and packed ice, with temperatures about 30 degrees below average. It is enough to give some folks cabin fever, and it is hard on pets too. About seven weeks ago a heavy ice storm covered my property, followed by repeated heavy… Continued
March 13, 2019: Shock-Free Coalition Launches Survey on Use of Shock Collars in Dog Training
The study will help the researchers understand various aspects of the use of electronic collars on canines and is being conducted primarily by the Shock-Free Coalition and Dr. Nathaniel J. Hall from the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at Texas Tech University. The survey takes a few minutes to complete and will provide important data for the Shock-Free Coalition. It is available until April 2, 2019 and is pertinent to anyone who shares, or has shared, their life with pet dogs, who works with dogs, or who has any other interest… Continued
Skipping Reinforcements? Rethink That
By Yvette Van Veen We’ve all heard it. “When do the rewards stop?” The knee jerk reaction by many, especially on social media is to cave, to placate, to give the client at least some of what. ” Variable reinforcement, skip rewards. It will actually make the behaviour stronger!” Not….so….fast. Skipping reinforcements (rewards) does make a behaviour more resistant to extinction. Think of constant pay as a soda pop machine. Put in coin. Get a soda. Broken machine? You walk off pretty fast. You’re unlikely to put in another coin, at… Continued
What Makes a Pet Fence Humane?
By Jennifer Smith of EasyPetFence.com, a PPG corporate partner Dog trainers, animal shelters and pet owners alike choose to fence-in yards for several reasons. For one, pet fencing allows dogs and cats to exercise; play; and socialize with other animals. Fencing is convenient for pet owners that may not have nearby dog parks to visit, or much time to take their dogs on adventure hikes or lengthy jogs. And, pet fencing keeps domestic animals secure and protected against potential wildlife attacks. While there are many types of pet fence on the… Continued
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