Countering The Aversive
Some pet dog trainers that are either using aversive methods or some that call themselves “balanced”, and use a combination of both aversive approaches and food rewards, may carry the notion that positive reward based trainers are against them personally, or that are looking to have them stop training dogs. While I can only speak for myself, it is not personal at all. What it boils down to for me, and many others, is the potential fallouts of using shock or choke, and/or physically reprimanding a dog that has me and… Continued
Proper Education, Not Faulty Legislation For Pet Dog Trainers
The profession of companion, or “pet” dog training is one that requires little more than the willingness to do it and promote oneself. There is no licensing required. Let me state right up front that given the appalling lack of education and the major divisions among pet dog trainers, there cannot be proper legitimate licensing that will give consumers more assurances of quality when they choose to hire someone. It is for these reasons and a few others that I am against the licensing of any pet dog trainers in… Continued
No More Henrys
A headline a few weeks ago caught my eye: PetSmart, groomer are sued in death of dog. Obviously, this should never happen. Reading the article just made me sad, and angry. The dog, Henry, a year-old dachshund, went to the groomer to get his nails trimmed. He emerged, bloody, with two broken ribs and a punctured lung, struggling to breathe. He died soon after. The owners’ lawsuit seeks more than damages for their suffering and Henry’s. They want change. They want the state (it happened in California) to license groomers. Grooming… Continued
Christmas Puppy – What a Great Idea?
Do not get me wrong, I am not talking about giving someone a puppy for Christmas or buying a puppy on impulse. I am talking about a long awaited puppy who, for no other reason but the mother coming into season at a certain time, comes home for Christmas. Or a family deciding to bring a new rescue dog home at this time of the year because they have time to settle him in. Christmas is the time when everyone is very social and off work so by definition it… Continued
Ad Hoc Advocacy
Advocacy opportunities sometimes pop up unexpectedly, as happened to me in November 2016. I contribute a column to a local weekly newspaper and while perusing an issue I found an interview with the public works director of a nearby village. He casually mentioned spraying herbicide in the dog park to control thistles. The director responded to my email inquiry and identified a specific 2,4-D product in use, inviting me to attend a meeting of the Park Board in two weeks. Knowing nothing about 2,4-D I did a little research and… Continued
It Was Coming Right At Me!
I am so interested in how dogs perceive things, and how they notice differences that we don’t, or that we take for granted. Those differences can matter to them a great deal. An example of that was the focus of my recent post, “Intruder in the Yard!,” about Zani’s response to a landscape timber in my yard that had rolled out of place. Clara, with her feral puppyhood, appears to discriminate between people to an extreme. She socializes with a few people besides me now, but each person has behaviors Clara is comfortable with, and everybody’s… Continued
#iSpeakDog Campaign to Bridge Communication Gap between People and Their Dogs
To help improve the relationship people have with their dogs, The Academy for Dog Trainers, the Humane Rescue Alliance, The Bark Magazine, and The Pet Professional Guild have teamed up to launch iSpeakDog, a global campaign and website designed to help people better understand dog body language and behavior. The iSpeakDog Campaign, which will launch as a week-long campaign March 27 – April 1, 2017 but is already posting on Facebook, comes at a time when canine behavior is being studied more than ever — revealing that people often misinterpret… Continued
Spray Bottles Are for Houseplants, Not Cats
By Beth Adelman, MS It’s piece of bad advice that just won’t die: When your cat is misbehaving, squirt her with some water. Even some veterinarians still say it. What’s wrong with the spray bottle? Well, for starters, it doesn’t work. Yes, when you squirt your cat, she is very likely to stop what she’s doing and run away. But if you squirt her, say, when she jumps on your dinner table, what have you accomplished? You may have taught her to run away at the sight of the bottle;… Continued
“Good Sit!”
Here is a quiz. Let’s say someone says, “Sit,” to a dog, intending the word as a cue. What part of speech is the word, “Sit”? Then, what part of speech is the same word if we say, “Good sit!” afterwards? That was a trick. If we were talking to a human who speaks the same language we do, the first “Sit” could be an imperative or command verb. The second “Sit” would be a noun. But neither of those, while grammatically correct, applies to training a dog. Dogs are not humans. “Sit” is something… Continued
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