Search Results for Cooperative care
Canine Division
Judy Luther Your divisional chair and a member of PPG’s Steering Committee Email Judy Here, we focus on all things canine! In the menu bar, you will find links to lots of nice resources on a variety of canine-related topics, from advice on how to find great dog trainers to puppy education resources to articles about canine communication and social behavior. The Canine Division is very active and participates in lots of the programs developed at PPG. Several times per month, we host a Chat & Chuckle with special guests via Facebook… Continued
How Animals Learn
This article presents an overview of the types of learning, animal emotions vs. animal behaviors, applied behavior analysis, and choice and empowerment in animal training By Niki Tudge Like humans, animals can learn in a healthy, humane and safe manner, or, conversely, through pain, force and fear. In cases of high emotional arousal (“emotional hijacking”), the emotional brain inhibits the rational brain and an animal will go into fight or flight mode. In biological terms, this means it is difficult, if not impossible, for them to learn productively when in… Continued
Thinking Outside the Shelter
Behavioral services for companion animals can be so resource intensive that shelter administrators may consider in-house behavior programs to be a luxury rather than a necessity. When shelter leadership does take a chance on starting up a behavior department, minimal funding is often allocated. Our shelter was no exception: Friends For Life’s (FFL) behavior program started out as a department of one. Unsurprisingly, FFL had more behavior cases than one person could handle. The ability of the department to function effectively came to depend on the support of skilled volunteers.… Continued
The Ever-Changing World of Service Dog Training
By Veronica Sanchez The service dog industry is ever growing and changing. With the expanding use of service dogs there has, unfortunately, also been abuse of laws pertaining to service animals and emotional support animals (ESA) in particular. Lawmakers have taken notice of this and, consequently, passed changes in legislation, which have impacted guardians of ESAs as well as service dogs. This has led to an even greater need for qualified service dog trainers. To best understand the changes in the law and their impact on service dog and ESA… Continued
What Makes a Good Temperament?
It is a common misconception that “All a dog needs is love” or “It’s how you raise them” to increase the chances – or even “guarantee” – a dog will have a good temperament. And although these things are very important, there are a lot more factors that affect how a dog will behave at maturity. A “good” temperament can mean different things for different people. For example, someone competing in dog sports is looking for one set of characteristics, while service dog trainers or working dog handlers may have… Continued
Everything Was Fine Until…
By Suzanne Clothier Does this sound familiar? “Everything was fine until… [fill in months, age, event].” It’s a statement that is common, and sometimes accepted without much thought. For example, a client might tell us that their puppy was a saint until he turned 7 months old. Or that there were no problems until Grandma Tilley came to stay for a week. Perhaps a new neighbor was bitten, or the owner was nearly pulled into the street when the dog spotted a squirrel. Whatever the precipitating event(s) that brought the… Continued
PPG Summit 2020 Sessions: Cooperation, Control, and Counterconditioning
BARKS presents session details from PPG’s 2020 Summit and Workshops in Phoenix, Arizona Session Details: Presenter: Leslie McDevitt Session Title:Cooperation, Control, and Counterconditioning Session Type: Lecture/Lab (1.5 Hours) The presenter will discuss two cooperative counterconditioning games from her new book Control Unleashed: Reactive to Relaxed. These groundbreaking games were created to empower dogs to direct their own counterconditioning procedures. Voluntary Sharing (VS) is for dogs who have difficulty sharing resources or taking turns. Requested Approach Training (RAT) is for dogs who are reactive to being approached, or approaching others (people,… Continued
Message Received!
By Suzanne Clothier At the heart of any relationship is communication. On so many levels, how effectively we communicate plays a huge role in the quality, tenor and overall success of a relationship. As psychologist and family therapist pioneer Virginia Satir (1998) states: “Communication is to . . . relationships . . . as breathing is to life.” As a trainer, my goal is to find the communication approach that serves the human, the dog, and the relationship. I need to recognize what works well for that specific team, and… Continued
The Miracle Mutt
By Gail Radtke Changing your career in your 40s is nerve-wracking at the best of times but I was lucky enough to have a very special friend to inspire and guide me towards following my passion. That special someone was Lanie, a Shar-Pei-Chow-Malamute-shepherd-mix girl who completely changed my life. Up until 2007 I had had a rewarding career at British Columbia Provincial Corrections in the Greater Vancouver area as a Correctional Supervisor and Instructor but then a car accident left me with injuries that would change my ability to carry… 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
Do Dogs Have a Right to Say NO?
Aren’t dogs supposed to do as they are told and follow so-called “commands?” They are just dogs after all. Interestingly enough, only about 20 years ago we took no for a no and children who approached dogs when they were sleeping or eating were in no uncertain terms reminded to ‘let sleeping dogs lie and leave the dog alone when he is eating’. We seemed to understand then that dogs were dogs and had a right to say no. These days it seems we all get really upset when the… 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
Why is Empathic Practice Important?
While historically empathy has perhaps been seen as a fluffy, feel good emotion with little relevance to science, or science based practice, our lack of empathy has, arguably, led us into the dangerous territory we entered in decades gone by. Those beliefs include the view that animals are non-sentient, unfeeling and non emotional; all ideas prompted through the historical views of Descartes, Malebranche & La Mettrie (Brown, 1995) then, Kant’s later view that animals possessed sensation but no reasoning. In much the same way as Watson’s original behaviorism led to… 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
Captivating Clever Trevor
More than a month has passed since my wire fox terrier Trevor died suddenly of acute right-sided congestive heart failure at the age of 14. I picked up his ashes and paw print from the vet clinic two weeks ago when I took Zip in for an EKG following a weekend of accelerated heart rate. Life goes on in spite of loss. As I carried the vellum “gift” bag containing Trevor’s cremains, the pouring rain made me think of my unshed tears and pain too difficult to express as I… Continued
Letting Go of Restraint for a Force-Free Blood Draw
A number of years ago I saw Dr. Karen Overall, the Veterinary Behaviorist, speak for a two-day workshop. If you have a chance to see her, GO! She has an amazing way of making the complicated seem simple. One quote that she said during the weekend was, “We must let go of the idea of restraint!” She was referring to vets and how they restrain dogs and cats for everything. She was also talking about grooming and regular pet care. This concept has stuck with me ever since, mainly because… Continued