Dog Bites and the Importance of Education
I was very fortunate to be able to attend PPG Special Council member Victoria Stilwell’s second Annual Dog Bite Prevention and Behaviour Conference, held earlier this month at the University of Lincoln in England. The conference is a national event dedicated to finding practical and workable solutions to the issue of dog bites through education and heightened awareness. It began with a welcome introduction by Victoria Stilwell, which had us all eagerly awaiting the presentations that were to follow. Three of the presenters hailed from the University of Lincoln itself.… Continued
Use of Reiki in Pets
Reiki is a Japanese technique, based on the teaching of Mikao Usui in 1922, for stress reduction and relaxation that is also stated to promote healing 1. Practitioners believe that the human body is made up of energy and Reiki balances the human energy fields known as Auras, and energy centers known as Chakras 1. Although some practitioners swear by the benefits of Reiki, there are still limited research studies to provide evidenced-based practice guidelines and recognized results to prove its reliability and its use should not be substituted for… Continued
What’s In A Name?
What’s in a name? “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” William Shakespeare was right when he penned those words to his classic play over 400 years ago because regardless of what you call a rose, it won’t change its intoxicating scent. But what about other labels? Unfortunately when it comes to our dogs, cats and other domestic animals, what we call them may very well define our relationship with them and quite possible influence laws that need to protect them from abuse.… Continued
Provide for Your Pet’s Care in an Emergency
One of the saddest things I see at the shelter is pets whose owners have passed away and left no provision for them in their wills. These pets are heartbroken and confused. I’m sure their owners would be devastated to know their beloved friend is pining in the animal shelter. If you love your pet, it is well worth your time to be sure your companion will be cared for in the event of illness or death. It is a good idea to have plans for an emergency as well… Continued
How Force-Free Training Helped Save My Dog’s Life!
Written by Louise Stapleton-Frappell Yesterday I shared a post on Facebook about Pamela Johnson’s “Rattlesnake Avoidance Training Using Force-Free Methods,” a Pet Professional Guild webinar. (You can register and watch the webinar here). Last night we had a thunderstorm and my Staffy bull terrier, Jambo, was frightened so I stayed up with him. The storm finally passed and at 2am I took him and Tessa, our German shepherd, outside for a bathroom break. There was a toad at the bottom of the steps but unfortunately, I didn’t see it until Jambo made contact. As a… 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
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
The Dignity of Being an Individual
By Pamela S. Hogle It’s hardly a new idea: Treat dogs as individuals. In 1963, Clarence Pfaffenberger wrote a book called The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior. A line in that book eloquently states what I see as the ideal approach to educating dogs. Pfaffenberger writes that the first time a puppy is removed from his or her litter, separated from his or her littermates for training, the puppy is given “the dignity of being an individual.” He means, I believe, that a trainer who is focused on a single dog — not… Continued
A Puppy in Winter
By Bob McMillan It’s true, I did not time this very well. It was Indian Summer when I got my Irish wolfhound puppy, Oona. We frolicked in the yard among the butterflies and roses. This month, Old Man Winter’s hung a big “kick me” sign on my Tennessee county. The Arctic chill let up just long enough for it to rain. Again. The yard is either slime or… frozen slime. It’s unfit for either polar bears or mud ducks. And Oona is a canine juvie now. With cabin fever. A… Continued
My Dog Said “Sorry” To My Cat. I Think.
My dog Huckleberry and my kitten Cato play rough-and-tumble games all day. Huckleberry chases Cato, Cato pounces on her neck, Huckleberry fake-bites his leg, he jumps on her belly and fake-gnaws her ear. They’re friends. Not “friends” like the dog and cat who sleep together in the dog’s bed because it’s the softest, warmest spot in the house and they both want to stake their claim to it. Real friends, who have devised a code of fair play that transcends their differences in size, strength and species. You can watch… Continued
A Dog is for Life, Not Just for Christmas
Now that Thanksgiving is in the past, our focus turns to Christmas. Finding the perfect gift for a loved one can be a daunting task. If you are considering giving or getting a pet as a present, please do some research. First, be sure the intended recipient wants an animal. A client once confided in me she didn’t really want the dog her children gave her. The children thought the woman was lonely after the death of her spouse. The woman had been looking forward to traveling and living a… Continued
Can You “Baby-Proof” Your Dog?
The dog training school where I teach has a exciting new partnership with Babies-R-Us: We’re about to start monthly seminars for expecting and new parents on finding your “new normal” with a baby plus a dog. I’m using today’s post to organize my thoughts and brainstorm a bit. I’ll lay out the best advice I’ve gathered from my research and toss out some insights from personal experience. I’m also inviting readers–other trainers, dog lovers, parents–to share their knowledge, success stories, and cautionary tales. I’m a mom myself. In addition to… Continued
The Many, Many Problems with BSL
I recently had the pleasure of both attending and speaking at the Coast to Coast Bully Walk in Chesterton, IN. The walk is held every year, in various locations across the USA to celebrate Pit Bull Awareness Month. Both Jambo and I were kindly invited by Piper’s Page of Life but, unfortunately, Jambo could not attend. In my speech there, I focused on the importance of training your dog without force; improving the image of the “bullies”; why it is important to spay/neuter dogs; and why we should all fight… Continued
Eight Common Dog Training Errors: Cautionary Tales
As the great trainer Bob Bailey says, training is simple but not easy. The principles are very simple and straightforward, but actually applying them in practice can be very difficult. I’ve mentioned many times that I am not a professional trainer. But I hang out with some phenomenal ones. Plus, I am a student of life and tend to do lots of observation of myself and others. (What, you had noticed?) And I don’t mind sharing my own errors if it can help somebody along. Here are eight of the… Continued
Spending Time with Dogs Brings Joy to Our Lives
When I add a dog to my life, I consider our relationship the beginning of a voyage. I look forward to creating a bond based on understanding and trust. There isn’t a timetable for these events to occur. The bond takes time to happen. My idea is to enjoy the journey. In these days of cell phones, texting and reality TV, many of us expect instant gratification. In human and canine relationships, taking the time to establish communication is critical. I like to prioritize the behaviors I want my dog… Continued
Socialization — Rolling with the Punches
By Bob McMillan Oona, my Irish wolfhound puppy, is about to turn 15 weeks old. Depending on which studies you follow, her developmental window for socialization is now closed or is closing fast. Adolescence is upon us — the wild child phase. We’ll see if I got it right this time. I had a year to plan extensive details for her socialization while waiting on my breeder’s list for Oona’s litter to be born. I’m certainly no pro at it. It wasn’t until I got my first wolfhound, Finn, that it… Continued
In Defense Of Treats–And The Dogs Who Love Them
“My dog will do anything as long as there are treats.” Don’t dog owners say this all the time? Often the tone is light, with a grin and a “that’s a dog for you” wink. But sometimes it’s got an undertone, an edge. Some owners wonder why their dog won’t act a certain way or do a specific behavior just because they said so, or just to please them. They may chafe at “paying” for behavior they think they deserve for free. What I call food-motivated, an asset in training, they… Continued
The Best Laid Plans: Adding a New Dog to the Fold
How to introduce a new dog or cat to a home with resident pets has been well-documented by many an expert. Personally, I have done it successfully so many times over the years I rarely bat an eyelid when another creature needs a place to stay. So bringing home dog #5 wasn’t really much cause for concern. I knew our dogs would be okay with her and eventually the cats too, but the dog herself was something of an unknown quantity. No worries I thought, we can handle it. I… Continued
Forcing Hugs on Dogs Amounts to Punishment
Imagine if somebody, particularly someone you didn’t know, were to approach you directly, grab you and, despite your resistance, squeeze and rub him/herself against you, what would you do? Struggle to escape? Shout at them? Call for help? Slap them? I’m sure you would be very fearful of what might happen next. According to human etiquette, not only would it be a totally unacceptable invasion of our personal space and extremely bad manners, but pretty threatening also. In the workplace it would be justification for a complaint of harassment. ‘Hugging’… Continued
DOWN WITH DOMINANCE
When was the last time you heard “my dog is dominant” or “my dog is trying to be dominant with (fill in the blank)” or “my dog doesn’t see me as the dominant one”? Dominance in dogs is scientifically proven to be a myth. The AVSAB (American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior) in its concern for the resurgence of dominance theory issued a position statement. By definition the state of being dominant according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is defined as “a dominant position especially in a social hierarchy”. This definition is… Continued
PPG Responds to American Kennel Club’s Backtracking on the Use of Shock in Dog Training
In the light of a recent study stating that – unsurprisingly – electronic training collars present a welfare risk to pet dogs, The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) was delighted to hear American Kennel Club Vice President Gina Dinardo speak out in favor of positive reinforcement training methods in an interview with Fox News on 13 Sept, 2014. “There are better training methods than using shock collars,” said Dinardo. “Shock collars can cause stress, distress, sometimes pain. Used inappropriately they can prevent dogs from even being receptive to other training methods in… Continued
Life Is a Numbers Game
On August 13, 2013, I forced myself to say goodbye to my senior Jack Russell rescue Minnie Winnie. She had developed intestinal lymphoma that my vet had diagnosed the previous September. I was thankful to have an anonymous sponsor pay for the surgery that re-sectioned her colon and removed her spleen along with a chunk of her liver that luckily was benign. Whatever your thoughts might be on “heroic measures,” the result was that Minnie Winnie recovered better than she was before her surgery! She played with her basketball and… Continued
Drill-Sergeants Not Needed
I’ll never forget the first (and only) time I ended up in a law suit. It was many years ago and I was young and terrified. I had given my landlord a 28 day notice to vacate my apartment, but a 30 day notice was the law. In his complaint, the landlord additionally sited me for tossing out a (moldy) vinyl shower curtain and urine-stained carpet from the previous tenant’s cat. We met at the court-appointed mediator’s office to resolve the issue and it was there that I got to… Continued
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