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BARKS Podcast with the PPG Advocacy Panel: Discussion #4 – “Being Nicer” While Advocating
"Being Nicer" While Advocating
Join the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) Advocacy Panel for a discussion on "Being Nicer" While Advocating.
Pet guardians and pet professionals, listen as panel members share their expertise in a fun, free-flowing format.
Your Moderator: PPG Advocacy Committee ...
8 Pawsome Autumn/Fall Tips for Dog Guardians
It seems like no time since the year was just beginning and the trees were coming into bud. And yet somehow, despite the scourge of COVID-19, this year has whipped through and we're almost ...
Feline Litter Box Problems: The Needs of the Many
By Andrea Carne
The Star Trek character Spock once said: “Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.” (Meyer, 1982). This movie quote popped ...
Latest Articles
How to Talk Dog
Dogs and humans have been friends for thousands of years. In fact based on some of the latest studies, it is estimated that dogs evolved from wolves almost 40,000 years ago. But what is most incredible is that science, until the last decade, hadn’t been interested in studying dogs; after all ...
If I Knew Then What I Know Now
By Bob McMillan
If the Hound of the Baskervilles ever needed a stand-in, my dog Cuchulain would have pushed to the head of the line. A Scottish deerhound/Irish Wolfhound mix, he was a 130-pound guided missile of shaggy black fur, crazy long legs and very big teeth. The day he started rushing ...
Heading for the Dog Park? Remember the Parable of the Gorilla and the Human in the Lion Park
Gaining some insight into how their dog might be feeling can be a big motivator for people who implement methods of force with their dog-reactive dogs, and can potentially make all the difference.
People may commonly label their dog 'aggressive' and resort to using force, which makes matters ...
Never Look Back: How the Switch to Force-Free Changed My World
Like so many of us, I got involved in dog training thanks to a dog who entered my life. While I had always had dogs, my only attempted at formal training was a failure. Back in the early 80s, the methods were forceful. My dog hid when I got the training collar out for class 2. I took note of ...
The Clicker versus Yes!
I have recently seen and heard discussions on message boards and dog training forums about the use of clickers versus verbal markers such as using ‘yes’. I actually use and recommend both, not at the same time as this weakens the conditioning effect through either blocking or overshadowing, ...
Reality Check for Carers/Owners of Dogs with ‘Issues’
LOSING HEART
Why do so many clients with fearful or reactive dogs, who often have started off so well, lose heart?
The reason is because they just don’t fully accept the time and work that changing fear-based or guarding behaviors in particular can take.
Teaching people is the easy bit. A ...
How Did The Aversive Get There? A Call for Honesty
I am mystified by one particular argument of those who use protocols for fearful or reactive dogs other than desensitization/counterconditioning (DS/CC). These other protocols often use negative reinforcement; if not that, then sometimes desensitization without counterconditioning; sometimes ...
Understanding Canine Body Language Essential to Preventing Dog Bites
The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) is promoting education and a better understanding of canine body language as paramount in reducing the number of dog bites this National Dog Bite Prevention Week, taking place 18 – 24 May, 2014.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association ...
A Dirty Big Secret – Get With The Program
A basic strategic marketing plan is paramount as a small business owner, no matter how good you are at what you do, says Niki Tudge
First published in "Barks From The Guild" (Spring 2014), the official publication of The Pet Professional Guild.
For many small business owners, taking the ...