An Open Letter To Pet Retailers Concerning The Availability of Pet Training and Management Devices That Deliver Electric Shock
In September 2017, the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) rolled out its Shock-Free Coalition, the key purpose of which is to build a strong and broad movement committed to eliminating electric shock devices from the worldwide supply and demand chain. It is our intent to fully realize the goal of shock tools and equipment being universally unavailable and no longer permitted in the training, management and care of pets anywhere. We plan to work diligently to achieve the following: 1. To engage and educate pet owners and shelter/rescue workers to help… Continued
Burnout: When Trying to Do Good Makes You Feel Bad
You love dogs. Loved them all your life. I mean, like it’s a your religion. You read about dogs, write about dogs, think about dogs, surround yourself with dogs, can’t imagine life without dogs. And you tie yourself up in knots over dogs in shelters. You want to help them and save them and right the wrongs that may have been done to them. Contrary to popular belief, you do not want to bring them all home. You just want someone like yourself to bring them all home and love… Continued
Cold Weather House Training
By Kelly Fahey This winter I have been getting some inquiries about puppies “backsliding” in their house training. First, let me put your minds at ease and let you know that there is likely nothing wrong with your puppy. It’s COLD out. It’s unusually cold out. These frigid temperatures have moved in and don’t seem to be going anywhere. Here’s what likely is happening: Your puppy doesn’t want to be outside in the terribly cold weather and might be relieving her bladder just enough to take the pressure off, and… Continued
Clicker Training for Cats (2/6)
By Paula Garber and Francine Miller In clicker training, primary reinforcers are things that are instinctively or inherently rewarding to a cat. Reinforcers for cats should be given in small amounts and frequently to maintain learning momentum. For cats who are food motivated, use high-value food or treats for clicker training. Many cats like foods with a high animal protein content, like cooked or freeze-dried meat or fish. Other foods to try include canned tuna, deli meat, meat-based baby food (make sure it doesn’t contain onions), and liver paste made… Continued
Counterconditioning Leash Reactivity, the Hybrid Approach
Leash reactivity towards dogs, humans or traffic, is one of the most challenging training endeavors. This is simply because there is no consistency in the appearance of the stimuli, and there will most assuredly be at some point, an over threshold event for the dog due to “criteria pile up”. More than one piece of criteria at a time combined with a lack of sufficient distance, too much duration, and or both, then add in the stimulus entering the environment with intensity of both the visual and auditory components known… Continued
Separation anxiety: 7 reasons why you need to have strong support
By Julie Naismith Have you been out for a coffee recently? Did you spend the time chatting about your dog’s separation anxiety? I’m guessing not. Or if it did come up, your friends probably didn’t want to go into it in any detail. At the risk of sounding dramatic, it’s a socially isolating condition. Having a dog with separation anxiety sets you apart. No one else is going to get it. No one understands what it’s like to own a separation anxiety dog until they have one themselves. I recently… Continued
Does Your Training Language Potentially Compromise Your Credibility With the Medical Community?
The words we choose to use in our training and behavior change sessions and written client plans impact the way we are perceived. Our words Impact our credibility and thus our ability to work alongside our peers and our industry partners, particularly those who hold more senior credentials such as Board-Certified Behaviorists and Veterinarians. In any profession whether you are a presidential speech writer, a career orator or an individual service provider working with clients transferring skills and knowledge, words really do matter. The nomenclature we choose to use matters… Continued
So Easy to Miscue …
A few days ago, I heard a story on the radio about police dogs and their handlers. The reporter was talking to a retired police dog handler who now trains dogs and works as an expert witness. What he said was disturbing for anyone who gets stopped by a police officer-and-dog team, but, to anyone with dog training experience, sounds plausible. What he was talking about was how common it is for the K9 handlers to miscue their dogs. Sometimes it is conscious and intentional; the officer wants to do… Continued
Ensuring Festive Fun For Fido!
Christmas will be here again before we know it – sadly, every year, dogs can become casualties during the festive season. So how can we ensure that everyone has a fabulous time including our furry friends? Here are a few tips: KEEP CHRISTMAS PLANTS OUT OF REACH Those lovely Christmas traditional plants are poisonous for our dogs, so keep them well out of the way: mistletoe, poinsettia, holly, and amaryllis. NO BONES It’s nice to share the Christmas turkey but, remember, don’t give your dog any bones as they can splinter… Continued
Are You SURE Your Dog Prefers That Food Toy?
It just occurred to me that it is super easy to make assumptions about how much our dogs prefer a particular food toy, or even whether they really enjoy them that much. Don’t yell at me. To be clear: I use food toys for my dogs every single day. I think they can be enriching and that they are ethical things to use. But food toys present us with a funny little problem. The laws of behavior get in the way of something we might like to know. How can we tell… Continued
Santa Claus May Scare Dogs
People around the world enjoy the winter season and many nations celebrate a version of Saint Nicholas. In the United States I witnessed an increase in commercialization and marketing hype since I was a child and Christmas decorations now appear after Halloween in my locale. There is a lot of social pressure to “be happy” during the Christmas season. Personal and social expectations of “joy and happiness” rose substantially over the years and today pet owners may draw their dogs into the frenzy by dressing them in holiday attire or… Continued
An Open Letter to Pet Industry Representatives Regarding the Use of Shock in Animal Training, Management and Care: We now know enough to stop shocking our pets
Shocking pet dogs remains a common, if controversial, training practice worldwide. In this open letter, Pet Professional Guild (PPG) combines decades of research, the opinions of certified animal behaviorists, and the question of ethics to explain why using electric shock in the name of training and care is both ineffective and harmful. PPG concludes that shocking constitutes a form of abuse towards pets, and, given that there are highly effective, positive training alternatives, should no longer be a part of the current pet industry culture of accepted practices, tools or… Continued
Making Peace with Muzzles
I’ll give you the moral of this story first: Make peace with muzzles. Be OK with dogs who wear them, applaud owners who use them, and put one on your own dog if the situation warrants it. Now I’ll tell you the story. It’s about mistakes I made that led me to this moral. I hope it’ll bring you there, too. (And if you only read this far, at least check out The Muzzle Up! Project’s website.) Years ago I had a gentle, low-key mutt named Sachem. She was easygoing with… Continued
How to Teach Your Deaf (and Blind) Dog to Wake Up Gently
By Debbie Bauer There is a myth that deaf dogs can be “dangerous” because they will bite when they are startled or woken up. Could this ever happen? Yes, it could. But it could also happen with a dog that can hear just fine. Does it happen a lot? No. Most deaf dogs are no threat when startled. Can this scenario be prevented? Yes, definitely! You can teach your deaf dog to wake up easily and happily. By teaching this skill to your new dog, you can prevent this issue… Continued
Clicker Training for Cats (1/6)
By Paula Garber and Francine Miller Why train a cat? Why indeed. Myths about the trainability of cats abound: “Cats can’t be trained because they’re too independent.” “Cats are difficult to train because they are not food motivated.” “Cats don’t need training like dogs do.” These are all common misconceptions, but get ready to kick all the myths to the curb and add some useful cat training tools and techniques to your repertoire. Clicker Training Professional dog trainers will already know all about clicker training and many use the method… Continued
Why do food rewards win, but not for separation anxiety?
By Julie Naismith Rewards-based training is the best. Dogs love it because it’s fun and it doesn’t involve fear or pain. And best of all, it works. In fact, research shows that it works better than any other method. Hands down, the best tool for training is food. But, despite the fabulousness of food, it’s best left in the cupboard when we’re training a dog with separation anxiety. It’s not that we couldn’t use food for separation anxiety training, it’s just that we don’t need to. When it comes to… Continued
Rehomed Dogs – Expectations and Reality
Everyone knows that worldwide there are millions of dogs in the most awful predicament. The lucky ones are rescued, rehabilitated and await homes in shelters – so, why not be their saviour? Rehoming a dog is a richly rewarding experience for both parties, but there is a caveat – know what you are in for and be prepared. If you are not, this is to the detriment of the dog of course and you. Can you do this? Seriously, question this! The majority of people want to help and not… Continued
Dogs Are Better Partners to Humans Than to Other Dogs
The New York times recently published an article describing a study that compared dogs’ and wolves’ ability to perform cooperative tasks. The article, and the short accompanying video, are somewhat disdainful in their assessment of the dogs, who did not perform as well as the wolves on the task. The rope-pulling task used for the study is one at which other species, including elephants, chimps, and multiple bird species, have succeeded. Two test subjects must pull on ropes at the same time in order to bring a tray with food rewards… Continued
With Her Tail between Her Legs
Most of us know that a dog’s tail can be a fairly good indicator of mood. We can observe whether the tail carriage is low, medium, or high and whether it is loose or stiff. Whether and in what manner it is wagging. We can often draw some pretty good conclusions from those observations, keeping breed in mind. A dog wagging her tail loosely at a low angle is possibly friendly. A dog holding her tail upright, wagging it stiffly from side to side is one to watch out for. A… Continued
Being Your Dog’s Best Advocate
In 2012, my wife and I enrolled in a therapy dog training class which led to a Pet Partners evaluation process for therapy animal teams. I partnered with Buddha and my wife partnered with Gandhi. It was only by working closely together for our mutual benefit that we truly became teams and passed the evaluation. The instructor taught me two significant concepts I had never before considered. One was that I was my dog’s best advocate, and the other was the application of PETS. Although I had kept dogs in… Continued
An Open Letter to County Commissioners re: Consumer Transparency – the Methods Used in Animal Training, Care and Management Will Protect Pets, Their Owners, Local Residents and the Public at Large
By Susan Nilson and Niki Tudge Introduction: The Importance of Transparency between Clients and Service Providers Frieden (2013) states that: “Free and open information empowers people to make informed choices and reduces the likelihood that misinformation or hidden information will endanger health.” It is not unusual and, in many cases, is mandated, that providers and manufacturers of potentially dangerous services and products place warnings on said products, thus providing transparent details to the end user regarding any risk from use. Tobacco, alcohol, gardening equipment, power tools, and even some children’s toys… Continued
Why Become Credentialed?
Louise Stapleton-Frappell B.A. Hons. PCT-A. CAP3. CTDI. DN-FSG1. DN-CPCT2 – Wow that’s a lot of letters and I recently added some more: PCBC-A! (Professional Canine Behavior Consultant – Accredited) So why do I feel the need to continuously further my education in the field of force-free, rewards based, science based dog training? I am sure that many of you are already aware that the field of dog training is as yet an unregulated industry. Whether you live in the USA, the UK or elsewhere, you will probably be surrounded by people calling… Continued
Case Study: Introducing a New Dog to Resident Cats
I used clicker training to help introduce my newly adopted dog, Ness, to the four cats in my household. Ness was under-socialized and had no experience with cats prior to adoption. The cats had only occasional exposure to visiting dogs during family holidays. During those visits, I provided my cats with a safe retreat and positive distractions such as Kongs filled with salmon paste. At the start of the introductions, Ness was tethered to me at all times on a loose leash while I was home. Since Ness was near… Continued
Type-Delete-Reset. Manage your Social Media Activity. Your friendships, business and mental health deserve it!
by Niki Tudge I spend about an hour each day, broken down into short time periods, on social Media. Most of my postings are on Facebook and Twitter as I prefer these two platforms. Many of my business posts are done remotely through a social media software and are scheduled in advance. But, each AM, mid-day and PM, I do enjoy short sessions scrolling through my news feed, keeping up with friends replying to comments and responding to any tags. On any given day I cannot tell you how many… Continued
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