Ask A Trainer: Help! My Dog’s Barking is Getting Worse
Q. My 3-year-old whippet barks as soon as someone arrives next door, especially with a dog. This has gotten worse and I am at a loss to know how to stop him. – via Facebook A. Thank you for your question. We need to try and work out why your dog is barking. For example, is your dog barking because he is defending the house? Or is he worried? Or excited by people and/or other dogs? When someone arrives next door, is your dog’s barking triggered by him seeing… Continued
When You See Service Dogs with Their Handlers in Public, Remember These Three Tips
Service dogs are trained to provide specialized services to individuals with disabilities in order to help them live more independent and fulfilling lives. Service dogs are an invaluable resource for individuals with physical and mental disabilities. With this context in mind, it is important to understand proper service dog etiquette. Here are three tips to remember when you see service dogs and their handlers in public: Tip #1: First and foremost, it is important to remember that a service dog is not a pet. Service dogs are highly trained to… Continued
House Training 101: Tips and Tricks for a Mess-Free Home with Your New Puppy
You brought home your new puppy and quickly discovered they are a peeing and pooping machine. House training a puppy can seem like a daunting task. It can feel frustrating at times. I mean, who wants to clean pee and poop? No one! But I’m here to tell you that it’s totally doable—and in less time than you might think. By following my tips and tricks, you’ll have your puppy house trained in no time flat. Let’s address one important thing before we get started… you ARE going to miss… Continued
Why is Play So Important for Your Relationship with Your Dog?
Isn’t playing with your dog just the best? Playing with your dog is something that can be done anytime, anywhere. We can use play as a great way of bonding with our dogs, and also use it as a motivator for training. Bonding with Your Dog Through Play Here are our thoughts on why play is so good for strengthening the relationship between you and your dog: It gives your dog a workout. Play is a great way to exercise with your dog, help them burn off some energy and… Continued
Why Sleep Is So Important for Equids
Horses, donkeys and mules have different sleep/wake cycles than humans. They spend about 12% (horses) or 13% (donkeys) of their 24-hour day sleeping. They also tend to have multiple short sleeps during a 24-hour period, and these periods can be both during the daytime and during nighttime. Types of Sleep What’s important to know is that, like humans, equids have more than one type of sleep. There’s light dozing, deep sleep and REM sleep (dream sleep). Most people are familiar with a dozing horse or donkey, with low head, half… Continued
Shock-Free Snake Safety
Warm weather might bring on thoughts of outdoor adventures with our dogs. However, something that may not be enticing for outdoor adventures is that venomous snakes share our outdoor spaces! If you live in an area with venomous snakes, a snake safety protocol for your dog is critical. What should be in a snake safety protocol for your dog? PET: Prepare. Educate. Train. Prepare for Peak Snake Season Keep your dog on a leash on hiking trails and other habitat areas for snakes or avoid these areas altogether during peak… Continued
Dear Bruno…I Wish You Would Not Bark at the Deer
Do you live with a dog who enters “barking frenzy” mode when a critter appears? Perhaps it is a squirrel, a rabbit, another dog, or even the mail delivery person. Maybe your dog even perches by the window waiting for things to come into view so he can bark and “make” them go away. When my wife and I still had Buddha and Gandhi in our lives we spent most of our free time on the porch, enjoying the wildlife that came to our feeding stations. Sometimes they came much… Continued
Meeting the Environmental Needs of Your Pet Cat(s)
Enrichment provides cats with ways to engage in natural behaviors. It improves their physical and mental health, alleviates stress and boredom, and improves their ability to cope with challenges. There are numerous types of enrichment, but perhaps the most basic and well-known is environmental enrichment. It will be the focus of this article. EATING/DRINKING Feeding stations should be located in calm and quiet areas that allow cats to eat in peace and without interruptions. This will help keep them from being interrupted or disturbed, which will in turn help prevent… Continued
How To Prepare Your Pet for Smoother Vet Visits
There’s no doubt about it, a trip to the vet’s office can be pretty daunting for both us and our pets. Whether it’s worrying over a busy waiting room with other animals around or stress about what might happen in the consultation room, anxiety for all involved can often run high. Top Tips for Ensuring Smoother Vet Visits So how can you make the whole experience more relaxing for yourself and your pet? Stay calm yourself The first thing you must try and do is reduce your own worry… Continued
Herbal Tea for Horses
I love herbal tea—the many flavor varieties, the way it warms me up when I have a chill, the relaxing effect it has on me. A few winters ago, I had a lightbulb moment while preparing breakfast for the horses. As I took a sip of my peppermint tea from my thermos, I thought, “If horses love starlight mints, would they like mint tea?” Next thing you know, I had devised an elaborate taste preference test with many different types of herbs that I knew were horse-safe. I tested several… Continued
Fear Is an Emotion, Not a Behavior
There’s an old saw in the dog world that just won’t go away: “Don’t pet or comfort your dog when she’s acting scared—you’re just reinforcing that behavior.” But fear is not a behavior to be reinforced – or punished. It’s an emotion, like excitement, affection, playfulness, and sadness. Behaviors and emotions are tied together in important ways, but they are not the same, and require different approaches when they become a problem for your pet. Behaviors are Learned – Emotions are Involuntary Take for example the fallacy that forcing a… Continued
Dog Bite Prevention Week!
As a certified dog bite prevention educator, I can tell you that dog bites do not just happen out of the blue as many seem to believe. Behavior is Communication All behavior is designed to access something, avoid, or escape something. In applied behavior analysis we talk about behavior being anything we can observe that can be measured. The problem, when it comes to dog behavior, is a lack of human comprehension. Our understanding is limited and we miss the details, the communication signals. If humans could ask WHY… Continued
The Importance of Transparency in Sheltering and Rescue
Much like the lack of transparency in dog training, there’s also a lack of transparency in sheltering and rescue organizations. Animal Sheltering Data In 2018 eight prominent animal welfare organizations and foundations released a joint mission statement concerning accountability and transparency regarding data sharing of the numbers of animals in their care and their outcomes. Additionally, Shelter Animals Count partners with various sheltering organizations to collect standardized data for their National Database, with a long-term goal of 100% shelter participation nationwide. But this project primarily tracks intake/outcome numbers, like how to count… Continued
Dog Training Tip: Build Trust by Creating a Reinforcement History
We need our pets to trust us so that they will follow our cues and guidance, especially when they are feeling unsure about a situation. We can’t always predict when a sticky situation will occur and when it does, we want our dogs to know we’ve got their backs – to keep them safe, or to get them out of there. Earning and maintaining an animal’s trust goes hand in hand with creating a reinforcement history during training. Building a Relationship Based on Positive Interactions Ideally, we start creating… Continued
Product Review: The Outward Hound Tail Teaser
The Outward Hound Tail Teaser is one of my favorite dog toys, let me tell you why! When I visit my training clients, I always have toys with me to make sure that their dogs like them before they buy them. This is because some dogs might be afraid of the noises that the toys make, or not like things that move quickly. Today I want to tell you about one that is in my top two favorite toys. The Tail Teaser is a flirt pole. What is that,… Continued
What is a “Positive” Dog Trainer?
Let’s say you want to find a great trainer for your dog and so you do a web search. The search results in several web links and you check them out, seeking the best result for your beloved pet. What might you find? Lack of Industry Regulation and Oversight First, understand that among about 50,000 dog “trainers” in the United States, there is no standard, regulation or oversight. Any single person who wishes to call themselves a “dog trainer” is…voila, a “dog trainer.” There is no need for qualification or… Continued
Starting Off on the Right Paw with New Pet Introductions
Bringing a new pet home is always fun and exciting for us but how might our other furry family members feel? It could be a source of stress or worry so it’s always important to introduce new pets gently so everyone starts off on the right paw. A Good Experience for Everyone You can actually begin whilst your new pet is still with their breeder, foster or rescue organization. Do some scent swapping by rubbing a blanket on your new pet and taking it home so your existing pet becomes… Continued
Understanding Horse Training Videos
There are tons of horse training videos all over YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms. It can be very challenging to determine which videos are worth following and maybe practicing with your horse, and which ones should be avoided. I often receive videos from students asking if what the trainer in the video is saying is correct because it sounds like it might be but they have doubts. Or someone posts a video in a Facebook group asking how the horse was trained because the horse “looks” happy… Continued
Perceptions of Assistance and Service Dogs by the General Public
Stereotypes of Assistance and Service Dogs Based on seeing stereotypes of assistance and service dogs, many people expect these dogs to be Labradors working under charities like Guide Dogs. It is becoming more common to see assistance and service dog teams owner train rather than seeking help from a charity for an assistance dog. Charities may not be an option due to the wait times and also the cost, which is outside the budget for so many teams. Today, assistance dogs come in all sorts of breeds, from all sorts… Continued
Ideal Pairings to Consider When Getting a New Cat
Thinking of adding another cat to your household? In this article, I describe the best combination of cats, based on the advice in professional articles and the experiences of animal welfare workers. Best Cat Pairings What do I mean by best combination? It’s when all members of a group of cats live together peacefully, stress-free, and happy, and with acceptable behavior. International Cat Care (ICatCare) says siblings who grow up together make the best pairings. ICatCare noted that this is especially true if “there was evidence of sociability with each… Continued
Is Walking the Dog a Dreaded Chore?
One of the biggest complaints I hear as a trainer is that dogs pull, are reactive toward people, or toward other dogs. Dog Walking Pro Tips I have different ways of addressing all of those things, but can give you one hint before your walk with any dog. Wear them out a little before the walk. I love to take them out to the front yard on leash and sprinkle treats around for them to search for. This gets them in a sniffing mood and it is commonly said that… Continued
Dogs, Dogs, Dogs! We Love Them!
So, how do we help dogs navigate our human world? When I go to see a client, I begin each session speaking about what it was like for me going to the zoo as a child. The lion, the gorilla, all the inhabitants lived in cages. As a result, they often displayed abnormal repetitive behaviors known as zoochosis, a form of psychosis that develops in animals held captive in zoos. These behaviors included pacing, bar biting, excessive licking just to name a few. I then move the conversation onto the happy fact that… Continued
What You Need to Know About Puppy Socialization
Socialization is a hot topic, but what does it mean exactly? Is it about your pet being able to play and being social? Well kinda, but not just that. Dogs and cats have a critical socialization period; in puppies this is a period of 3-12 weeks of age, and in kittens their key socialization period is up to 7 weeks of age. During these periods our pets are most receptive to new experiences, and the things they are exposed to -or not- can have far reaching consequences. That’s not to… Continued
Winter Weather Tips for Pets
Like people, some pets love the winter snow and cold, and others hate it. Our dog Dulice was not deterred by the snow but found a terrier’s dream as it allowed winter burrowing. My current dog Muppy, a rescue from Mississippi, hated her first seven winters in Maine. However, Muppy enjoys a good roll in the snow today as long as the temperature doesn’t drop below 30 F. Our cat Boomer enjoys outdoor journeys on a harness and leash and lying in the summer sun, but when it comes to… Continued
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