
Project Trade: Revisited
In March of 2016, the Pet Professional Guild rolled out Project Trade, an international advocacy program promoting the use of force-free pet equipment by asking pet guardians to swap aversive gear for a discount on services. The aversive gear was identified as shock, prong, and choke ...

A Creative Solution for the Dog Who Barks at Other Dogs
By Kitty Lee
*This post is The Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) Australia winning entry in our Geek Week 2020 Writers’ Competition*
Three years ago, I decided to become a professional dog trainer. I’d been teaching obedience classes at the local dog club and fostering rescue dogs ...

BARKS Podcast with Louise Ginman of APDT Australia: October 3, 2020
Join Niki Tudge as she chats to Louise Ginman, president of The Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) Australia, one of the co-hosting organizations for Geek Week, a virtual educational event for pet training and behavior professionals, taking place on November 11-15, 2020.
Louise is ...

Phoenix Blog Competition: A Rough Start
By Kim Jukes
Zeus had a rough start to his days at Fuzzy Friends Rescue in Waco, Texas two years ago.
Early one morning, the staff came in to find that someone had thrown a young German shepherd puppy over the fence. When they did, he had cut his underside on the fence.
Fence Jumper
The ...

Puppy Joint Problems: An Unexpected Detour
By Gail Radtke
Porter came into Sam’s life at the age of 8 weeks old as a healthy, happy, and adorable American pit bull terrier pup.
Sam had met both Porter’s breeder and his biological mother and could not have been happier to bring Porter home and start raising her puppy.
Sam works as ...

BARKS Podcast with Debra Millikan of PPG Australia: October 2, 2020
Join Niki Tudge as she Chats and Chuckles with Debra Millikan, a PPG board member and steering committee member discussing the Pet Professional Accreditation Board and Pet Dog Ambassador program.
Pet Professional Accreditation Board
Leran how the three Pet Professional Accreditation Board ...

Puppies Being Puppies
By Sally Bradbury
Preventing food guarding at mealtimes is usually pretty straightforward: simply allow puppy to eat in peace. If you have more than one dog, feed them separately and teach them that the presence of a human near their food bowl always means they are there for the sole ...

A Problem Like ‘Down’!
In a training class, I always find that a significant number of dogs (and their guardians, of course) have some trouble when it comes to learning/teaching how to lie down on cue.
Why Teach Lie Down Anyway?
If we can ask our dogs to lie down on cue, it can be really useful in terms of helping ...