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House Training 101: Tips and Tricks for a Mess-Free Home with Your New Puppy

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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?

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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

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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

How to Break Up Dog Fights

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by The Pet Professional Guild From time to time, one may have to act quickly to prevent injury to either dogs or humans when one or more dogs get into a bad scuffle or an all-out fight. Unlike a training scenario in which we would reject the use of aversive methods, this is considered an emergency where safety and minimizing injury are the immediate concerns. An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure The first line of defense against the occurrence of fights is a good working knowledge… Continued

Shock-Free Snake Safety

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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

Daily Dog Training Conversations

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by Michelle Martiya “He knows you’re the treat person.” Do you know the easiest and fastest way to get your dog to respond to you like they respond to me? BECOME THE TREAT PERSON, TOO! Do you know how I know if you’ve been stingy with the treats or tried bribing your dog instead of reinforcing your dog? Your dog ignores you when I’m there and only pays attention to me! I know when you’ve been doing your homework and generously offering your dog treats because your dog either pays attention to… Continued

Welcome K. Holden Svirsky, New Chair of the Shelter & Rescue Division

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K. Holden Svirsky of HoldenK9 LLC has stepped up as chair of PPG’s Shelter & Rescue Division. Holden is a dog behavior consultant with a certificate in training and counseling from the Academy for Dog Trainers. She is also a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer through Malena DeMartini’s certification program. She has been with PPG’s Shelter & Rescue Division since 2019 and helped author and develop the Pet Rescue Resource, an online toolkit for shelters and rescues to improve the adoption and retention rates of homeless pets, launched by the division in 2020. Read the full news… Continued

Dear Bruno…I Wish You Would Not Bark at the Deer

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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)

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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 Book More Clients in Your Dog Training Classes

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by PocketSuite As a dog trainer, you give your all in a session, whether you have two students or ten. But, of course, you want to fill those spots to make that hour count. If you want to land more clients for your dog training classes, keep reading! We compiled these expert tips to show you how to book more clients for your dog training classes. #1 Optimize Your Dog Training Website Your website is the first point of contact for potential clients. A professional website goes a long way… Continued

Herbal Tea for Horses

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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

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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

Why Not Debate Somebody in Real Time?

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  by Niki Tudge Two years ago, I was asked to debate a controversial figure on a podcast, and for several reasons, I turned it down. I was asked repeatedly, bordering on harassment, even though I gave what I believed to be a sufficient answer. Politely, I answered no. The first part of my answer was that I have limited bandwidth, and I place my efforts where I feel I have the most impact. The other part of my reasoning was based on the following. Going onto a podcast, Zoom… Continued

The Importance of Transparency in Sheltering and Rescue

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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

Meet LT Taylor, Whose “Hyperfixation” on Dogs Led to a Career in Animal Training

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  Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you first get into animal behavior and training, and what you are doing now? My mother is a dog breeder, so our house always had several dogs growing up, from Jack Russell terriers to Old English mastiffs. I became interested in behavior and training as a teenager, but then veered toward humane education and spent several years working at the San Francisco SPCA after graduating college. I loved working in sheltering but wanted to be more involved with the operations… Continued

Dog Training Tip: Build Trust by Creating a Reinforcement History

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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

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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

Time, Space and Choices: Improving Welfare for Shelter Cats with Dr. Zazie Todd’s Purr

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by K. Holden Svirsky “Cats are jewels,” I told my family after visiting Cat Town in Oakland, California. I felt lit up, like something magical had happened in the hour I’d spent there, kneeling on the floor in the open-space “cat zone,” and later peeking into the special studios of the adoption center. I was eager to see what I’d learned from reading Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy by Zazie Todd, PhD, come to life and practice. While chatting with Cat Town’s program manager, Dilara Göksel Parry, CCBC,… Continued

Understanding Horse Training Videos

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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

How Writing a Book on Canine Behavior Changed My Life

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by Annie Phenix When my publisher’s acquisition editor called me out of the blue in July 2021 to ask if I would write a second edition to my first canine behavior book, The Midnight Dog Walkers, my immediate response was a firm “no.” I had many reasons to decline. I had removed myself from the arena, so to speak, and wasn’t active in training groups or going to conferences. I considered myself semi-retired, and while I still consulted with dog owners, my focus was not on the dog training industry… Continued

Perceptions of Assistance and Service Dogs by the General Public

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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

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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

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