3 Reasons a Little Dog Might Not Lie Down on Cue
By Eileen Anderson When I first started training dogs, things that didn’t work were a mystery to me. Why couldn’t I reward Summer with chasing squirrels like everybody said I could? Why couldn’t I find that slot in the layout of her teeth where the experienced trainers said she should hold the dumbbell? And why, oh why, could I not teach Cricket to lie down on cue? At first, I saw everything through the lens of disobedience: my dogs were wrong when things didn’t work out. As I learned more… Continued
The Top Ten New Simple Solutions to Help You and Your Dog in the New Year
Helping Pet Dog Guardians Get It Right! Did you know that good management is an essential part of any training or behavioral change plan? In fact, management is an important part of your dog’s life, in the same way that it’s important to manage your children’s environment. If your dog is behaving in a way you do not like, then limit his opportunity to practice the unwanted behavior. Management strategies can be put in place while you learn how to teach your dog new and more appropriate behaviors. Here are… Continued
Teaching Your Dog to Self-Interrupt
By Eileen Anderson Here is something I taught with positive reinforcement that enhances Clara’s life and mine. I’ve taught her to respond positively to being interrupted, and even to interrupt herself. This trained behavior helps us get along smoothly from day to day, and also helps keep her safe in the world. Self-interruption is related to a whole batch of desirable dog behaviors. I mean desirable to us humans, but they are beneficial to the dogs, too. People refer variously to reorientation, offered attention, checking in, and more. Even recall is related. By whatever name, these… Continued
A Little Doggy “Me Time” this Holiday Season!
Okay, you’ve unwrapped the pressies, eaten the turkey, spent time with the family, watched endless hours of TV….what next? If you’ve got the luxury of some time off, why not use the festive period to spend a little more time with your dog, building relationships or even future planning? 1 – Walks for you and your dog only – Take some time to enjoy each other’s company – no phones, no headphones – nothing! Just you and your dog! Watch what your dog does on walks, how he interacts with other… Continued
A Cry for Attention
By Lara Joseph Foraging is defined as searching for food. From my observations, however, much more is involved than the mere hunt for food when a parrot carries out this behavior. I am fascinated with watching birds forage because it has such a profound impact on their behavior in so many ways. It seems to come naturally to some companion parrots while others need to be taught. Incorporating foraging opportunities in our birds’ cages, rooms, aviaries and other environments can really help engage and stimulate their minds and fill their… Continued
The Problem with Shock
By Angelica Steinker It isn’t that shock collar training doesn’t work, because it does. The question is at what price? Some extremely skilled trainers may be able to offset some of the problems shock collars can cause. However, shock collars are for sale at almost every pet store making them readily accessible to the general public. A shock collar can potentially lead to very serious problems. There are a multitude of other powerful training options including obedience, behavior management, and positive reinforcement. Malfunction The first potential problem is that the… Continued
PPG Summit 2020 Sessions: Do Scientists Really Know What They’re Talking About?
BARKS presents session details from PPG’s 2020 Summit and Workshops in Phoenix, Arizona *Early bird discount available if you register before January 31, 2020! Session Details: Presenter: Dr. Karolina Westlund Session Title: Do Scientists Really Know What They’re Talking About? Session Type: General Session (1 Hour) In the last 100 years, what we know about animal behavior, learning and cognition has been completely rewritten. But how many of today’s assumptions will hold true another 100 years from now? Which areas need further study? What claims are yet to be refuted as… Continued
Opinion: Puppies Are Poor Christmas Gifts
It may be tempting for parents to get a puppy for their kids as a special Christmas gift. We have probably all seen TV programs and holiday movies where that scene played out joyfully on screen. And there was always a happy ending. But Christmas puppies do not always have happy endings. Modern families seem busier than ever. Often, both parents work full time, the kids are away at school during the day and are being transported to and from athletic and social activities on weeknights and weekends. That leaves… Continued
Personal Trainer or Dog Trainer? The Case for Day Training
By Veronica Boutelle of PPG corporate partner, dogbiz Frustration over unfinished cases and low client compliance—endemic issues in our industry—often lead us to view clients as lazy, uncommitted, unskilled, uncaring, cheap. As positive reinforcement trainers, we teach “Don’t blame, train.” But while we’re quick to apply this mantra to dogs, we’ve largely failed to do so with our human clients. The human client equivalent would be, “Don’t blame the client, train their dog.” Our primary service modality, of coaching clients to train their dogs, does not serve our human or canine… Continued
Living and Working with Deaf Dogs
By Morag Heirs Our canine companions are remarkably adaptable and, based on current thinking, this ability has allowed them to take advantage of the rubbish dumps created by primitive humans and shaped the transformation from wolf-like ancestor through to domesticated dog. I often feel that their talent at interpreting our sometimes hurried and chaotic verbal language is nothing short of miraculous! In some ways then, the deaf or partially-deafened dog has an advantage over the hearing dog. Born with restricted senses, these dogs not only are largely oblivious to our… Continued
“I Will Never Use the Shock Collar Again!”
By Eileen Anderson This is a story from a client of one of my professional trainer friends. Let’s call my friend “Phoebe.” My friend had met the client for some coaching for her young, exuberant dog, Raven. But it was a very long distance for the client to come. My friend received this email after she hadn’t heard from the client in a while. Some details were altered for privacy, but I’ve left the email essentially as the client wrote it because she tells the story so eloquently. I am… Continued
Perfect Dog? What You Put In Is What You Get Out
So many times people say to me – your dog must be perfectly behaved right? Well…yes, he responds very well to what I ask him to do in various situations, but it doesn’t ‘just happen.’ It’s not something that miraculously occurs – it takes work. Unfortunately, sometimes owners enter the world of ‘dogdom’ with the expectation that a ‘perfect family pet’ is generated within the realms of a six-week puppy starter course. During this initial period, puppies are entering a rapid stage of physical, mental and social growth and learning.… Continued
The Elephant on the Stairs
By Bob McMillan Positive training is not a new idea. With starts and stops over the last century, it has been used by empathetic individuals to bring out the best in their animal companions. A recent book, Elephant Company by Vicki Constantine Croke, reveals a surprising chapter in the evolution of positive training. It is a rousing tale of an Englishman whose love of the jungle giants persuaded him to open an “elephant school” in colonial Burma that saved hundreds of lives in World War Two. It is the story… Continued
They Call Him Rocket Man
Dog trainers enjoy the privileged opportunity of influencing the life and welfare of other people’s pets. With that comes great responsibility to only use methods and equipment which are modern and effective, while promoting a positive relationship as the dog becomes a full member of the family. In short, we must do everything which is in the best interest of the welfare of the pet and their family. On February 7th of 2016 I began a journey with a Welsh Terrier named Rocket, but everyone calls him Rocket Man. Rocket… 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
The Power of the Clicker
By Donna Savoie Dickens’ family purchased him from a breeder when he was five months old. The breeder did not allow the family to see the entire litter nor the dam and sire before they took him, but brought him up a flight of stairs and simply told the family, “I pick this pup for you.” The family was slightly upset by the interaction and the inability to view the entire litter or meet the dam and sire, but Dickens ran right over to them and snuggled and won them… Continued
When Food Toys “Fail”
By Eileen Anderson How many of us have heard about food-toy failures from our friends and clients? “I tried the Kong with my puppy, but she didn’t like it,” or, “My dog is not smart enough for those puzzle toys!” There is an ever-increasing variety of food toys for dogs and other animals on the market. There are toys of differing complexity. There are toys that demand problem solving and toys that necessitate complex motor skills. Dog owners are fortunate to have more and more choices to enrich their dogs’… Continued
On the Danger of Dog Collars
By Karolina Westlund Ph.D. of PPG corporate partner Illis Animal Behaviour Consulting There’s a debate raging in Sweden about whether choke collars are potentially dangerous to dogs. Pros and cons of choke collars? Photo: Elf, Wikipedia Several influential dog coaches on TV use and recommend them, other experienced dog professionals argue against them. It’s currently causing all kinds of shock waves to ripple across social media, which inspired me for a blog post. I’m not a dog owner – I’ve never owned a dog. I’m guessing that in some people’s eyes, this… Continued
All Hallows and…..All Positive
By Anna Bradley October 31 (and the following week up until November 5 here in the United Kingdom) might be exciting, colourful and full of fun and entertainment, particularly for youngsters, but for pets and pet parents it can be a stressful time. The issue has been compounded in recent years, no thanks to the easy availability of fireworks and sparklers, in the UK at least, which has meant that the former are frequently released both before and after this particular period and at erratic and unpredictable times of the… Continued
Encounter with a Poisonous Toad: How Positive Cues and Scent Games Saved the Day
In the early morning hours of a wet April in 2015, I found myself rushing my gorgeous Staffordshire bull terrier Jambo to the emergency vet. As a result of what happened on that stormy night, I shared our experience and the information that my veterinarian subsequently shared with me in a BARKS blog titled How Force-Free Training Helped Save My Dog’s Life! Here is a quick recap of what occurred: After a particularly bad thunderstorm had finally dissipated, I decided to take my two dogs out for a bathroom break… Continued
Pushing and Pulling are for Luggage, Not for Dogs
One of my recent puppy clients was a precocious fellow named Colt. He was hardly bigger than the family cat, and it was the first puppy the family ever had. From day one we covered all the basics of raising a puppy, with an emphasis on keeping things safe and fun, and applying the training skills in everyday life. Each time I work with a “first time puppy” family I am reminded of the enormous amount of work which is required of them, and how easily they forget what I… Continued
How I TRAINED My Dog to Take a Pill
By Eileen Anderson Most of us have used the “hide it” method at one time or another to get our dogs to take pills. In fact, I wrote a whole post about some ways to sneak pills into dogs. But there’s a better way. What if you never had to hide a pill again? What if your dog would take a pill almost like a human? Instead of washing it down with a drink of water, your dog would get a favorite treat afterward instead. Pill-taking can be trained as a behavior. It… Continued
Training Tips: My Puppy Is a Scaredy Cat
By Sally Bradbury The world can be a scary place for a puppy sometimes, so it is important that we don’t put him into situations that he cannot cope with. For example, if your puppy is scared of large chubby bearded men in red coats, then you can just keep him away from the chimney on Christmas Eve. However, we also need to help him to not be scared of everyday things like the vacuum cleaner, the dog behind the fence up the road, visitors to the house…all the things… Continued
Being Social…..and Polite
I have seen many posts on social media recently by dog owners regarding ‘out of control’ dogs in public spaces. I don’t recall this much of an outcry 3, 5 or way back 10 years ago, so is it really warranted? Or is it simply the case that now we have a facilitated platform for such views? It’s only a personal opinion, but in my view the simple answer is, yes, it is warranted. The great thing is that modern society largely embraces canine culture. There’s still a lot of… Continued
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