The Pet Professional Guild and Victoria Stilwell Partner to Promote Joint Goals of Promoting Force-Free Positive Dog Training Methods
March 2015. Tampa, FL – The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) is delighted to announce that Victoria Stilwell is Joining the Pet Professional Guild Special Council in support of PPG and its Guiding Principles. The Pet Professional Guild Special Council is a collection of leading industry experts who not only endorse and support PPG but also have respected knowledge to contribute to the education and engagement of force-free pet care and training methods. “This collaboration with Victoria is a really good fit for PPG,” said Niki Tudge, PPG’s founder and president.… Continued
Socializing a Formerly Feral Dog
When I started this blog, I assumed that I would write a lot about Clara’s training. Clara burst into my life as a 10 week old feral puppy [see note at end about feral dogs], and her socialization window was in the process of closing by the time she came to me. I slipped in that window before it shut and was fully accepted and trusted. But she growled at all other humans, even at that young age. In general, she related to them as a wild animal would, with huge wariness of… Continued
Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes
This article was written by Barb Levenson BS and first published in BARKS from the Guild (2014, April) pp. 26-27. Are you shouting cues or asking your dog for behaviors with a soft tone of voice? In a beginner rally class one night, I had an opportunity to show the difference between using a soft tone of voice to some of my students. One of the dogs, an adolescent lab, was somewhat anxious during class. I noticed that the owner, who was a very receptive student, was ‘barking’ cues to… Continued
Are We Dogs’ Best Friends?
My blog is called The Thinking Dog, so it doesn’t take a canine Einstein to figure out that I take dogs’ thinking ability seriously. But what does it mean to talk about thinking dogs? How do dogs think? What do they think about? While human thinking tends to occur primarily in words, and maybe images, what about dogs? While most dogs learn to understand many words, it’s unlikely that they think in words. Their thinking and memories are more likely to be tied to scent, which is their dominant sense,… Continued
Carrot or Stick? Is Compromise Ever Acceptable?
What if a client is so entrenched in his (or her) old-fashioned so-called “dominance” views that banging on about force-free positive methods in the first consultation is likely to alienate him altogether? What if as an individual he just can’t help being a controller and his own sense of security depends upon very tight rules and routines? People of a controlling nature may naturally be attracted to the forceful, dominance-based methods. The man I went to visit recently readily accepts his foibles and describes himself as having OCD. His wife,… Continued
Korean Meat Farm Dogs Arrive without Much Baggage
In January the Humane Society International brokered a deal with a farmer in South Korea who had been raising dogs for food. In exchange for funds to convert his operation to blueberry cultivation, he surrendered his twenty three dogs into their custody. Next thing they knew, the dogs were departing Seoul on a trans-Pacific flight to Washington, D.C., where they were divvied up among six area animal shelters, including the one where I volunteer. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX95zmnc5Zc&w=482&h=296] I confess, my reaction to this news was mixed. I’m a sucker for a… 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
What Dog Training Really Taught Me
Image credit: Yvette Van Veen of Awesome Dogs. Please see full credit and sharing info at the bottom of the post. One of Many Examples This reinforcement/punishment combo is very common and easy to fall into, because of ignorance about how learning works, but also because of the unwillingness of humans to change their own behavior even when they might know better. It becomes the norm in many dogs’ lives. Here is but one example. It is a standard recommendation in traditional obedience training that when your dog pulls out of… Continued
Don’t Stop That Behavior, Quit It!
In my “previous life” when I was a fitness and wellness trainer, I would coach my clients to making healthy choices. I learned back then about motivation, about what it takes to set a goal, but more importantly, I learned which goals are the kinds that will stick for the long haul and which are doomed from the start. It helped me empathize with my clients, as I used to be a smoker. Sure I had stopped many times by following a plan and then when I felt particularly stressed… Continued
It’s All About Relationships.
I became a dog trainer to facilitate the relationship between dogs and humans. My goal was to create a relationship based on trust and understanding. By opening the lines of communication, I felt like I could achieve my goal of keeping more dogs in their homes and educate people about force-free training. Now, fifteen years later, I realize I was partially correct. Dog Training is about creating relationships, but not just between dogs and their people. It’s about friendships between people with the love and enjoyment of their canine companions… Continued
Car Woes: A Tale of Botched Socialization
Poor shivering, quivering Huckleberry. Not because it’s cold out; she couldn’t care less about that. This is fear. Huckleberry is about to experience something that makes most dogs jump for joy, and she’s beside herself with fright: She’s going for a ride in the car. Part of this is my fault. When we adopted her three years ago, Huckleberry was a country bumpkin from the wilds of western Virginia, naive to the ways of Suburbia. Like so many rescue dogs, she was overwhelmed by the kaleidoscope of odd sights… Continued
Cooperative Towel Drying Your Dog – Part 1
Meet Cali, the Jack Russell Terrier. Cali is a client’s dog, who came to us for training after she bit three different people in less then a month. She was approximately 18 months when she started training with us. We were her “last hope” to keep her alive. Cali’s initial training started at 10 weeks old, with a different trainer. The trainer was called in because she was guarding her food bowl from the family. This trainer worked with Cali for about a year. Continually punishing her more and more… Continued
Train Your Dog Early and Often!
If you got a puppy around the holidays, now is the perfect time to start training classes. The prime time for socializing is before 16 weeks of age. By 12 weeks, your pup has received most or all of his vaccinations. He is generally physically and mentally mature enough to really benefit from group training classes. Ideally, the class would be open only to puppies less than 16 weeks of age. However, in some areas, it may be difficult to find this specialized type of class. If no class just… Continued
Bridging the Communication Gap
By Angelica Steinker This article was originally published on page 52-53 in the January 2015 edition of BARKS from the Guild, a bi-monthly magazine published by the Pet Professional Guild. Cognizant Behavior Consulting (CBC) is an approach to behavior consulting that provides consultants and clients with guidelines, boundaries and ethics. It is an emotion-centered approach that identifies and makes use of a needs-based approach for both the dog and human client. Active listening is the process by which a consultant gathers information about dog and human clients, making use of… 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
How Does Matching Law Affect How We Train Our Obedience Skills?
written by Niki Tudge Much of what we do in everyday life is all about choices. At any given moment we can work or we can do something more pleasurable, let’s say take our dogs for a walk. I can choose to do some work or train my dogs. I could then go to the beach or go to the store. I could food shop or go for a massage. I could deposit money in my bank account or buy a lottery ticket. I could train my dogs or schedule… Continued
False Bravado: Reframing the Old Dog Training Myths
By Karen Deeds, CDBC If you work with dog owners or cruise the dog behavior groups on Facebook you will often see dogs that are labeled ‘dominant’. I hear this most often in client homes where they have multiple dogs and have categorized one as the dominant or “alpha” dog because of his or her interactions with the other dogs. He/she is often described as the dog who is stealing all the toys, pushing the others out of the way at the doorways, hoarding all of the chew bones or… 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
Pet Professional Guild Raises the Stakes in Virtual Competition
Tampa, FL – The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) is offering an unprecedented range of prizes to entice the participation of members, supporters and pet owners in its virtual community event, The International Day of Celebration for Force-Free Training and Pet Care (ICFF), taking place between now and February 17. Like its predecessor last year, ICFF 2015 entails a photo and video competition where members are invited to submit entries in various categories. However, the prizes on offer this time round are even more alluring, with a free pass to PPG’s… Continued
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Happy New Year everyone! Like so many of you, this is a time when I reflect back on the old year and think about how I would like to improve things for the new year ahead. Dogs just want to have fun. When it comes to dogs and dog training, there are some many areas that can use our attention. If you are a dog sport competitor, you may focus on a new title or skill in your chosen event. If you are more casual dog owner, you might want… Continued
Built for Speed… and Service
By Bob McMillan Greyhounds might not be the first dog you’d think of if you were looking for candidates for service dogs for U.S. war veterans. They’re bred for explosive bursts of speed. No other breed is better equipped for sprinting than the greyhound. They have chests, lungs and hearts larger than other breeds and even their blood is different — greyhounds have more red blood cells to deliver more oxygen to muscles for running. They have a higher percentage of “fast twitch” muscles than any other breed. So how… Continued
The PPG Key Charter – Renew Your Passion
PPGs Key Charter is supported by our Vision, Mission & Values and collectively known as The PPG “Guiding Principles” As we come close to our third year of operation I wanted to share this message with you all. I personally find it very pleasurable to read and it is as meaningful today as it was when it was first written. Read our full Guiding Principles here The Guild Key Charter States That: a) By combining and coordinating our knowledge, efforts, skills, talents and passions to pursue a common purpose, we… Continued
“Bad” Dogs Make Good Teachers
OK, I’ll admit it, I’m having a tiny bit of puppy envy. I’m working with a private client and his 13 week old springer spaniel. This wide-eyed cutie pie has already met everyone and everything on the ASPCA socialization list except the hot air balloon (and since we’re not in Albuquerque, we can probably skip this one). He’s game for anything and well on his way to being practically bomb-proof. He’s had very few chances to develop exasperating habits. He started learning basic manners the moment he stepped through the… Continued