New Content
The Right Choice
Anna Bradley discusses learning environments for puppies, explaining why classes may not be the best option for all puppies and why one-to-one training can be far more beneficial – depending on the dog
BARKS Podcast with Claire Staines of Lothlorien Dog Services: January 22, 2021
Join Niki Tudge as she Chats and Chuckles with Claire Staines of Lothlorien Dog Services in Linlithgow, Scotland, UK about all things UK dog training and behavior.
Listen to Podcast here on a ...
Banking the Positive
'Banking the Positive' is actually a comment I wish I could take credit for, but it's actually something one of my clients said. She came up with it during a conversation we were having about ...
Latest Articles
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 ...
Pet Professional Guild – A Message From Niki Tudge
BARKS January 2015 Presidents Message
Fetch your copy here
Dear Fellow Force-Free Advocates,
Another year has gone by and I ponder whether to review all of the great things we have achieved together over the past year or to focus on what we are planning for 2015. Since I am writing this in ...
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 ...
We Can Argue over TV. Our Dogs Have to Put Up with It
To take this photograph I have been searching for a football match on TV - a first!
Most of my PPG blogs arise from the stories of dogs I have been working with that have got me thinking.
Many of the people I visit have their TVs on all the time, whether or not they are watching anything. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Pet Professional Guild Opens Registrations; Announces Impressive Speaker Line-Up for First-Ever Force-Free Convention
Tampa, FL – The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) has opened registrations for its inaugural educational convention, The Force Free Summit - Reaching for a Higher Standard, to take place at the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk Hotel in Florida on November 11-13, 2015.
Aimed predominantly at pet ...
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 ...