Keeping Thanksgiving Fun and Safe for Your Dog
Thanksgiving can be such a special day, full of family, friends, and if you’re like me, the family dog. It is a day to show gratitude for everything you have. For many, it’s a time for large family gatherings, football, excitement, and loads of good food. Thanksgiving can also be a time of stress and short fuses. Generosity and sharing tend to be a common theme during the Thanksgiving holiday, which can mean your guests may be tossing food to the family dog. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of… Continued
The Shocking Truth
With recent events in Scotland regarding so called e-collars (the ‘e’ stands for electronic), the debate has been heating up. I thought I would take this opportunity to air a few suggestions to some of the statements that are being made. There appears to be some serious misconceptions and incorrect information surrounding e-collars that I would like to address in one swoop, here is an excellent platform to do just that. I wanted to start with a deeply scientific article about using e-collars but you know what, the people that will read that… Continued
Taming the Dreaded Oreckosaurus Rex
Some dogs run and hide at first sight of the vacuum cleaner or unleash a barrage of barking, lunging and biting at the dreadful thing. Others quickly identify the vacuum cleaner’s lair and the fear response begins as soon as the person reaches to open the closet door. Cleaning house soon becomes stressful for dog and owner alike. Imagine what a vacuum cleaner appears like from a canine perspective. Dogs are conscious of height, size and elevation as it relates to their sense of security. With more sensitive hearing than… Continued
Observational Skills For Empathy
As Jane Goodall pointed out in an article this week, story-telling is sometimes the best way to share ideas and information. So, I thought I’d share an experience I had with a brilliant trainer utilising her empathic observation on me a few years ago. Some years ago I acquired a rather large, 6 year old Welsh Cob (horse) who’d had very little handling. Fortunately he had the most divine temperament, but he was very big and also very scared of just about everything! Although I was confident handling and teaching… Continued
Seven Stages to a Bite
It’s sometimes good to remind ourselves of what our dogs are. Dogs are relatives of the modern day wolf, both having evolved from a common ancestor. Is it not fascinating that when we chose to domesticate an animal, we chose a predator and welcomed him into our homes. Irrespective of the form the current dog takes, he does share genes with a predator and those instincts will expose themselves in extreme conditions. What I am getting at is that all dogs, if pushed far enough, can bite! When a dog bites, it’s rarely… Continued
You Don’t Have to Go Through the Door Before Your Dog!
When Annie Phenix of Phenix Dogs recently mentioned to me that the “door myth” is still alive and well, I got to wondering what that actually would look like. The advice to always precede your dog through the door is propagated by those who think the key to having a well-behaved dog is to be a good “pack leader.” They also say to always eat before your dog. I had a guy recommend that after seeing one of my YouTube videos. How inconvenient is that? What a hassle! Instead, you can actually train your dog behaviors… Continued
What You Think Is One Dog’s Punishment May Be Another Dog’s Fun Game!
I was first introduced to a positive reinforcement instructor many years ago when I adopted my shelter dog, Freddie, an adolescent dog who was very enthused about EVERYTHING! As the instructor explained how to reinforce our dogs, and even as I was seeing results, what I really wanted to hear was how we were going to punish our dogs when they did “bad” behaviors. While I look back on that kind of thinking with laughter, it got me thinking about how humans are “wired” to want to correct a “bad”… Continued
Learning Becomes Almost Effortless
An excerpt from an upcoming article in BARKS from The Guild. Why do I love teaching tricks and why do my dogs love learning them? Why would you want to teach your dog tricks? What are tricks, anyway? How old should your dog if you want them to learn how to do tricks? How do I teach them? When do I find the time to teach them? Why do I use rewards? What is it that makes both teaching and learning tricks so much fun? Surely I should be teaching… Continued
30 Reasons to Join the Pet Professional Guild
You may be wondering what exactly are the benefits of joining a member organization such as PPG so we’ve decided to help you out by listing a mere 30 of them. Whether you’re a seasoned pet professional, a novice trainer or a pet owner concerned with your pets’ well-being and best interests, PPG is the place to be. There are plenty more reasons to join PPG, but here are 30 to get us started: The only membership organization… Continued
Do Cats Really Like Music?
By Jane Ehrlich According to a study by Snowdon et al., ‘cats may ignore human music—but they are highly responsive to music written especially for them’ according to their study published in applied Animal Behavior Science. Professor Charles Snowdon, of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is the lead author of the study. In the study, 27 males and 20 females ‘took part’. ‘The cats were significantly more positive toward cat music than the classical,’ according to the report. I spoke to Prof. Snowdon about the study by phone. JE: ‘Why… Continued
Teaching Thinking Dogs
A study that was published recently by an Oregon State University researcher compared wolves with dogs … and many people reading the conclusions appear to have understood the study to mean that we teach dogs to be stupid. The study tested pet dogs’, shelter dogs’, and wolves’ ability to open a container that had sausage in it. The dogs mostly sniffed around, then sought help from the nearest human. The wolves tried harder to open the container. The dogs and wolves were all tested under two conditions: alone and with… Continued
Will Your Halloween Be Fun or Scary?
Halloween can be a fun time for the entire family, including the family dog, or it can be a scary, and sometimes even a dangerous situation. Think about it for a moment from your dog’s perspective. Loud, screaming, running monsters, rushing up to the door, ringing the doorbell, screaming and running off. Whew, just that one sentence made me edgy. Now, put that scenario into play for two hours. Deciding if a dog will join the Halloween festivities needs to be a decision carefully thought through. Will the family dog… Continued
Is Planet Earth Flat?
Well the simple answer to that is NO! Of course we know that. If anybody asked you that question nowadays you’d probably be very amused. Why do I ask this on a dog training blog I hear you say? Well, I have been asked this question so much lately on social media, training consults and class…..what is the question? “Do I need to be a pack leader?” “Do I need to be alpha?” and, dare I say it, “Do I have a dominant dog?” Let’s look first of all at… Continued
Keeping Your Social Butterfly Social
When my wife I adopted Buddha he was a two-year old Labrador with no training and serious case of separation anxiety, thanks to a puppyhood that was disrupted by misfortune beyond his control. His foster family had just begun working on his SA and suggested that Buddha could become a therapy dog, if only he was given the support he required. I not only adopted Buddha but also the goal of seeing him become my Pet Partners registered therapy dog. If human kindness and sound dog stewardship could heal Buddha… Continued
Accidental Punishment
I charged straight into a positive punishment scenario by accident recently. I’ve been somewhat in the training doldrums lately, probably because I am putting so much energy into finishing my book. I have several training activities that I fall back on when I don’t have much energy. They are fairly unchallenging for me (read: I can’t mess them up too badly) but still fun for the dogs. Even those have been hard to do lately. But the other day I had some time and energy and decided to play a shaping game with each dog. We don’t… Continued
The Importance of Socialization for the Young Animal
Humans take years to learn socialization skills. In the process of growing from infant to adulthood, the human takes more than 20 years for his or her brain to fully develop. Yet during this time there is much socialization that is taking place. How different it is for animals that have far shorter lifespans than their human counterparts. Typically smaller dogs have a greater life expectancy with some breeds living more than 15 years –and some living into their 20s. Larger dogs, however, have a shorter life expectancy. Great Danes… Continued
How Safe Is It for Your Dog to Jump off Furniture?
As a dog Mom and professional dog trainer, dog safety is always on my mind. It seems every year, I start to question things I’ve done in the past, as to whether or not it is safe. My current dog, Dexter, is a small breed dog. Ok, so he’s double the breed standard, but still is only 27 pounds. He’s my first small breed dog. He’s also the first dog I’ve cared for that was allowed full access to furniture. But let’s back up a few more years. Before Dexter,… Continued
The Many Reasons to Look Forward to the PPG Summit
I attended my first professional dog training conference in 2003. I can still remember how excited I was and how much information crowded into my new to dog training brain. It was a wonderful experience that subsequent conferences have never quite matched. This year, I am full of eager anticipation for the first ever Pet Professional Guild Summit, taking place in Tampa, Florida on November 11-13, 2015. There are several reasons this event is high on my agenda. First is I am fortunate to be the 12th person to achieve… Continued
How To Bring Empathy into Practice?
Drawing empathy into our training practice is so important. As positive reinforcement training is involves multiple choices (such do we shape, capture or lure this behavior? What sort of reward should we choose; food or something else? What is our secondary reinforcer going to be – a clicker/our voice or something else) all these choices require we make intelligent, informed decisions for the benefit of our non-human student as we work. What works for one dog won’t be so effective, reinforcing or clear to another. In order to make emotionally… Continued
A Freddie Moment
Freddie passed away on October 4, 2014. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him and all that he meant to me in his brief life. He changed my world significantly since our first meeting at the adoption fair, and without him, I never would have discovered the joy in helping other people and their special canine companions. But rather than be maudlin, I’d like to share an excerpt from an article I wrote for a magazine years ago, highlighting “volunteer activities with your dog.” While unpacking… Continued
Sink or Swim: Eight Ways You Might Be Flooding Your Dog
Thank you to Marge Rogers, Debbie Jacobs, and Randi Rossman for discussions regarding this post. The point of view expressed and any mistakes are solely my own. The journey of becoming a positive reinforcement-based trainer sometimes seems like an endless stream of goodbyes to methods I once used. Goodbye prong collar (yes, I used one). Goodbye collar pops. Goodbye pretending to eat out of my dog’s bowl before she did. (Yep!) Goodbye forcing my dog’s butt down if she didn’t sit. Goodbye making my dog back up by walking into her space.… Continued
Pet Professional Guild links up with Victoria Stilwell to support National Puppy Mill Awareness Day
National Puppy Mill Awareness Day falls on September 27, 2015 and the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) has partnered with renowned dog trainer, television personality and PPG Special Counsel member, Victoria Stilwell, in an effort to highlight the plight of millions of dogs held in puppy mills nationwide. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a puppy mill is a “large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs.” The National Puppy Mill Project states that there are currently 800,000… Continued
Is Fetching Really All That “Fetching” for Dogs?
As science sheds more light on the popular game of “fetch”, it is fascinating to learn that “fetch” may not always be that “fetching” after all for some dogs. Stressed dogs in particular may take longer to recover if they are playing fetch. This article discusses how this game affects a dog’s body. Fetch can ignite the hunting instincts in some dogs. This becomes evident when one considers that many dogs do not need to be taught how to run after a ball, but only how to return it. Sometimes dogs… Continued
Pet Care on a Budget
Many households are on a tight budget when it comes to things like food and health care costs, while the same can be true for our four-legged family members. While we do treat our companion animals like family, sometimes the cost for caring for them can get a little pricey, depending on the circumstances of course. Here are some affordable options that can help us save money when it comes to caring for our pets: Discount Stores Discount stores can be an affordable alternative for cutting costs on toys, treats,… Continued
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