Latest Articles
Harassment in the Workplace
…so much more is needed in terms of education, reporting procedures and protection for individuals not shielded by corporate harassment policies. How, then, does one get help as an independent and small business owner when predatory behavior flies just below the legal radar or when an ...
Teaching Recall: A New Standard
A favorite expression amongst pet trainers is that we should aim to have a “constructional approach” to changing behavior. This means we should be working to build the most appropriate behaviors rather than focusing on a punitive approach toward what humans consider to be annoying or ...
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A Lesson in Compassion
By Angelica Steinker
As the consult progressed, I made a casual remark about the importance of avoiding aversive stimulation. I was specific about what this means, given that such stimulation functions to ...
Behind the Scenes
By Frania Shelley-Grielen
Americans love pets. We love them so much that most of us, or 68 percent of us, live with them. That’s 85 million families according to the 2017-2018 National Pet Owners’ Survey ...
The Human Impact
By Anna Bradley
As dog owners, trainers, and behavior consultants, we have a deep empathy with our dogs and, consequently, we understand how troubling struggling to cope with a given situation, context, event ...
Reading Humans
By Angelica Steinker
Canine communication is at the heart of dog bite prevention and behavior consulting. Learning the art and science of reading dog body language is what keeps professionals safe. However, ...
Ask the Experts: Optimizing Your Website
By Veronica Boutelle
If people are finding your site but not reaching out once they do, you’ve got either a messaging problem or a usability issue. Studies suggest that people take two to three seconds to ...
Ask the Experts: But I Hate Marketing!
By Veronica Boutelle
Part of the distaste around marketing for most positive reinforcement dog professionals is the seedy feeling of selling ourselves. But with strong content-based marketing like a ...
Dogs Don’t Write Checks
By Mary Jean Alsina
I think it would be fair to say that most trainers get into dog training because they adore dogs and want to spend as much time as possible with them. However, unless dogs acquire credit ...
Canine Professionals and Court Testimony
By Daniel Antolec
“Overaggressive marketing of training services can result in liability based on false expectations about a trainer. If you hold yourself up to possess special expertise in an area, then you ...