Socializing a Formerly Feral Dog
When I started this blog, I assumed that I would write a lot about Clara’s training. Clara burst into my life as a 10 week old feral puppy [see note at end about feral dogs], and her socialization window was in the process of closing by the time she came to me. I slipped in that window before it shut and was fully accepted and trusted. But she growled at all other humans, even at that young age. In general, she related to them as a wild animal would, with huge wariness of… Continued
Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes
This article was written by Barb Levenson BS and first published in BARKS from the Guild (2014, April) pp. 26-27. Are you shouting cues or asking your dog for behaviors with a soft tone of voice? In a beginner rally class one night, I had an opportunity to show the difference between using a soft tone of voice to some of my students. One of the dogs, an adolescent lab, was somewhat anxious during class. I noticed that the owner, who was a very receptive student, was ‘barking’ cues to… Continued
The Far Side Of Behavior Solutions
One of my favorite Gary Larson, Far Side cartoons, is a drawing of a girl reading a book about equine medicine with the caption, “Doreen breezes through her first semester of veterinary school.” The page shows a long list of possible horse ailments and only one antidote…shoot him! Unfortunately this is how a lot of people deal with their dog’s behavioral issues. And while symbolically shooting the dog may seem like the right thing to do, after all the dog is “behaving badly” and therefore needs to be taught a lesson;… Continued
Are We Meeting Our Pets’ Needs?
I think it’s part of our American culture to love the idea of having a pet. Whether it’s a dog or cat or a pocket pet, many of us enjoy our lives more when we share it with a companion animal. There is another side to the equation. And that is how is our companion is enjoying their life with us. Animals have needs. The essentials are shelter, food and water. But even more so, particularly in the case of dogs, our companions need time and attention and some freedom … Continued
Are We Dogs’ Best Friends?
My blog is called The Thinking Dog, so it doesn’t take a canine Einstein to figure out that I take dogs’ thinking ability seriously. But what does it mean to talk about thinking dogs? How do dogs think? What do they think about? While human thinking tends to occur primarily in words, and maybe images, what about dogs? While most dogs learn to understand many words, it’s unlikely that they think in words. Their thinking and memories are more likely to be tied to scent, which is their dominant sense,… Continued
Carrot or Stick? Is Compromise Ever Acceptable?
What if a client is so entrenched in his (or her) old-fashioned so-called “dominance” views that banging on about force-free positive methods in the first consultation is likely to alienate him altogether? What if as an individual he just can’t help being a controller and his own sense of security depends upon very tight rules and routines? People of a controlling nature may naturally be attracted to the forceful, dominance-based methods. The man I went to visit recently readily accepts his foibles and describes himself as having OCD. His wife,… Continued
Korean Meat Farm Dogs Arrive without Much Baggage
In January the Humane Society International brokered a deal with a farmer in South Korea who had been raising dogs for food. In exchange for funds to convert his operation to blueberry cultivation, he surrendered his twenty three dogs into their custody. Next thing they knew, the dogs were departing Seoul on a trans-Pacific flight to Washington, D.C., where they were divvied up among six area animal shelters, including the one where I volunteer. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX95zmnc5Zc&w=482&h=296] I confess, my reaction to this news was mixed. I’m a sucker for a… Continued
Are ‘Free-Shaped’ Dogs Better Problem Solvers?
A look at the criticisms of lure-reward training by Carmen LeBlanc MS ACAAB CPDT. First published in BARKS from the Guild, April 2014, pp. 12-18 Most professional dog trainers have heard about criticisms of lure-reward training in recent years. These criticisms have been made along with enthusiastic claims about the superiority of free-shaped (unprompted, trial-and-error) clicker training. Those of us who use free-shaping understand the enthusiasm. It is challenging and exciting to communicate with dogs in such a free-form way, developing a new behavior one small increment at a time.… Continued
When Choosing a Dog Trainer, Buyer Beware!
Written by Leah Roberts Originally posted in 8/27 2010 Before 1981 when Dr. Ian Dunbar developed the first Sirius Puppy Class, training wasn’t recommended for puppies under 6 months old. The only training methods available at the time involved physical force using training tools such as choke collars, and were considered to be too harsh for young puppies. Dr. Dunbar created the lure/reward method, which opened up an entirely new perspective on dog training in general. With this method, instead of being corrected for wrong behavior, puppies are set up for success by… Continued
What Dog Training Really Taught Me
Image credit: Yvette Van Veen of Awesome Dogs. Please see full credit and sharing info at the bottom of the post. One of Many Examples This reinforcement/punishment combo is very common and easy to fall into, because of ignorance about how learning works, but also because of the unwillingness of humans to change their own behavior even when they might know better. It becomes the norm in many dogs’ lives. Here is but one example. It is a standard recommendation in traditional obedience training that when your dog pulls out of… Continued
Don’t Stop That Behavior, Quit It!
In my “previous life” when I was a fitness and wellness trainer, I would coach my clients to making healthy choices. I learned back then about motivation, about what it takes to set a goal, but more importantly, I learned which goals are the kinds that will stick for the long haul and which are doomed from the start. It helped me empathize with my clients, as I used to be a smoker. Sure I had stopped many times by following a plan and then when I felt particularly stressed… Continued
It’s All About Relationships.
I became a dog trainer to facilitate the relationship between dogs and humans. My goal was to create a relationship based on trust and understanding. By opening the lines of communication, I felt like I could achieve my goal of keeping more dogs in their homes and educate people about force-free training. Now, fifteen years later, I realize I was partially correct. Dog Training is about creating relationships, but not just between dogs and their people. It’s about friendships between people with the love and enjoyment of their canine companions… Continued
May Your Bowl Always Be More Than Half-Full
Can dogs be optimists? Pessimists? Many people see dogs as natural optimists. After all, dogs are very loving and amazingly forgiving of human foibles (and worse — just look at all the mistreated dogs who still love humans). Many dogs greet every stranger as a new best friend. And some dogs are sure that a car ride means fun for dogs! Cali is one of those naturally sunny, cheerful, affectionate optimists, as I wrote recently on my Thinking Dog Blog. Her mission in life is to greet every single human on… Continued
The Curious Case of the Haunted Room
Sometimes, however many questions we ask, it’s impossible to get to the bottom of just why a dog has developed a “weird” behaviour. We can see the current antecedents, but what caused it to kick in originally? In one of my recent behaviour consults I arrived to see a dog totally spooked by one room – the kitchen. All doors from outside and from the other rooms in the house led into this kitchen, so the only way to avoid the room would for greyhound Jo to stay outside. One… Continued
Cooperative Towel Drying Your Dog – Part 2
We introduced you to Cali the Jack Russell Terrier, one of our great clients, in a previous post. Cali is a true testament to the power of positive training and the resilient nature of dogs. Cali, did not like to be touched. She would bite people, when they tried to touch her. She also did not like to be restrained, she would try and bite people. So, being towel dried was the worst of both “evils” to Cali. We have worked in a variety of ways to be able to dry… Continued
Do Animals Grieve?
“There is a cycle of love and death that shapes the lives of those who choose to travel in the company of animals. It is a cycle unlike any other. To those who have never lived through its turnings and walked its rocky path, our willingness to give our hearts with full knowledge that they will be broken seems incomprehensible. Only we know how small a price we pay for what we receive; our grief, no matter how powerful it may be, is an insufficient measure of the joy we… Continued
A Simple Walk: Training a Puppy
There’ve been days this long, long winter — days when the sun hadn’t been out in weeks, the wind was shrieking and the mercury read 35 but the wind chill was a bit less — that I wondered what in the world I was doing out walking my puppy all over the streets of my town. Oona is just over seven months old now. She tops 110 pounds. When you touch her, she’s springy and taut with new muscles. She’s an Irish wolfhound, a force of nature now, and she… Continued
Car Woes: A Tale of Botched Socialization
Poor shivering, quivering Huckleberry. Not because it’s cold out; she couldn’t care less about that. This is fear. Huckleberry is about to experience something that makes most dogs jump for joy, and she’s beside herself with fright: She’s going for a ride in the car. Part of this is my fault. When we adopted her three years ago, Huckleberry was a country bumpkin from the wilds of western Virginia, naive to the ways of Suburbia. Like so many rescue dogs, she was overwhelmed by the kaleidoscope of odd sights… Continued
Cooperative Towel Drying Your Dog – Part 1
Meet Cali, the Jack Russell Terrier. Cali is a client’s dog, who came to us for training after she bit three different people in less then a month. She was approximately 18 months when she started training with us. We were her “last hope” to keep her alive. Cali’s initial training started at 10 weeks old, with a different trainer. The trainer was called in because she was guarding her food bowl from the family. This trainer worked with Cali for about a year. Continually punishing her more and more… Continued
Ground Scratching: Why Does My Dog Do It?
Why do some dogs scratch with their paws after they eliminate? I recently read a discussion on Facebook about the meaning of this dog behavior. Some people’s speculations about the reasons for the behavior included: Avoiding something or another behavior (displacement) Expressing anxiety Expressing boredom Relieving stress Expressing frustration Calming oneself Calming another dog Expressing enjoyment of a previous activity Being stressed Expressing high arousal Marking (territorial) Marking by scent Marking visually Note that all but the last three of these have to do with an emotion or internal state. I was interested in… Continued
From Bait Dog to Happy Pet
By Catherine Clark He is tall, dark and handsome. His name is Jacob. And he is a five-and-a-half year-old black Labrador retriever. Jacob was my fourth foster through Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida and was just over a year old when I began fostering him. One of my first duties as per the rescue organization was to take Jacob to see Angelica Steinker at Courteous Canine, Inc. DogSmith of Tampa. Jacob was rescued in Florida’s panhandle. When found, he was full of cuts and bites. At the vet, he was… Continued
Don’t Buy That!
The other day I was not able to get out to buy groceries, so I asked a friend if he’d mind picking up some items for me. I handed him a list which looked something like this: Don’t buy the following: Bananas Cauliflower Cereal Soy milk Swiss cheese Cherry soda So my wonderful friend came back with a bag of potato chips, apples, chocolate bar, eggs, whole milk and hamburger buns. I told him I didn’t like any of those things either. Well he was a little upset, but being… Continued
Train Your Dog Early and Often!
If you got a puppy around the holidays, now is the perfect time to start training classes. The prime time for socializing is before 16 weeks of age. By 12 weeks, your pup has received most or all of his vaccinations. He is generally physically and mentally mature enough to really benefit from group training classes. Ideally, the class would be open only to puppies less than 16 weeks of age. However, in some areas, it may be difficult to find this specialized type of class. If no class just… Continued
Bridging the Communication Gap
By Angelica Steinker This article was originally published on page 52-53 in the January 2015 edition of BARKS from the Guild, a bi-monthly magazine published by the Pet Professional Guild. Cognizant Behavior Consulting (CBC) is an approach to behavior consulting that provides consultants and clients with guidelines, boundaries and ethics. It is an emotion-centered approach that identifies and makes use of a needs-based approach for both the dog and human client. Active listening is the process by which a consultant gathers information about dog and human clients, making use of… Continued
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