New Content
Cat Sitter or Cattery?
Andrea Carne highlights ways feline behavior professionals can help cat owners decide on the best pet care option when they’re away from home
BARKS Podcast with Debra Millikan and Lucie Malouin: February 5, 2021
Join Niki Tudge, Debra Millikan of the Pet Professional Guild and Lucie Malouin of Complètement Canin in Québec, Canada as they chat through the process of becoming accredited through the Pet ...
Itchy Dog or Stressed Dog?
By Dr. Naomi D. Harvey
The relationship between stress, behavior and animal health is complex and varied. Chronic, long-term stress interacts in various ways with personality type, behavior ...
Latest Articles
Taming the Beast
Written by Diane Garrod BSc, this article was originally published in BARKS from the Guild, June 2014.
Managing an aggressive dog is a permanent commitment but it is most definitely possible.
Owning an aggressive dog creates immediate liability. It is critical to use prevention and ...
Pet Professional Guild Launches First International Chapter, PPG Australia
Tampa, FL – The Pet Professional Guild has announced the establishment of its first overseas chapter in Australia where, on April 4, 2015, members of the Delta Professional Dog Trainers Association (DPDTA) voted overwhelmingly to become PPG Aust
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. -- In its previous format, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
The Far Side Of Behavior Solutions
One of my favorite Gary Larson, Far Side cartoons, is a drawing of a girl reading a book about equine medicine with the caption, “Doreen breezes through her first semester of veterinary school.” The page shows a long list of possible horse ailments and only one antidote...shoot ...
Are We Meeting Our Pets’ Needs?
I think it's part of our American culture to love the idea of having a pet. Whether it's a dog or cat or a pocket pet, many of us enjoy our lives more when we share it with a companion animal.
There is another side to the equation. And that is how is our companion is enjoying their life ...
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 ...
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 ...