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Dog Training: Why I Do It


By Joanne Ometz Eight people enter the room with five puppies. I encourage whole families to attend my puppy classes. “Let’s get everyone on the same page,” I have told them, so parents, kids, couples, and single puppy parents arrive, leading or being led by their puppies. All take their places, sitting and immediately beginning to lower treats to the floor by their young dogs, who begin to slow down, sit, or lie down, to settle. Soon, we have a room full of quiet people with puppies lying at their… Continued



Treats that Beat Squirrels!


By Yvette Van Veen Treats that Beat Squirrels! What if I told you that tiny little treats could beat a high level distraction like a squirrel?  It doesn’t seem to make sense.  The distraction is clearly more desirable than a paltry pea sized biscuit. It would be like saying that people would choose to work for a strawberry rather than sloth by the pool with a six pack of cold ones.  The temptation to sip the more appealing beer holds greater value than a four calorie berry.  It seems reasonable to conclude that beers would… Continued


April 8, 2019: Shock Collars to Be Banned in Netherlands Next Year


Netherlands Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Carola Schouten, has announced the banning of shock collars for dog training from July 1, 2020. Schouten is also introducing new rules for breeding the Bambino Sphynx cat: “Research from Utrecht University shows that the breeding of these cats is often accompanied by health and welfare problems for the animals.” Read article. In Dutch


April 4, 2019: Study Finds Cats Can Recognize Their Names


A new study, published in Scientific Reports, has investigated whether cats could differentiate their names from four other words, including those with the same length and accent as their own names and the names of other cats living in the same  household or environment. The study also tested whether cats were more likely to recognize their own names when uttered by a familiar vs. unfamiliar human. Read study


Dispelling the Myths: Tuggy, Retrieve and Safe Play


By Sue McCabe I still regularly hear from clients that they have been told they shouldn’t play tug with their dog. It causes aggression; it creates a hard mouthed dog who will damage game (if you’re into that sort of thing); you’ll never get a decent hold if you teach tug. I still hear the only way to play tug safely is to make sure the human always win the game. Would you really want to play with someone who always wins?  Let’s get things straight. It is possible to play tug and allow… Continued


Portland Blog Competition: The Journey of a Crossover Trainer


By Nichola Marshall This is going to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech and it kind of is because I feel like I have won something very special – a change of perspective. So before I start crying I want to say, “thank you” to all of you for sharing your experiences and being supportive, thank you for being tolerant of my “noobie” questions and comments, thank you to the late PPG steering committee member Anne Springer and, most of all, thank you to whoever it was who said, “Don’t… Continued


March 27, 2019: Newly Published Review Debates Reliability and Validity of Behavior Evaluations for Shelter Dogs


The new paper, What is the Evidence for Reliability and Validity of Behavior Evaluations for Shelter Dogs? A prequel to “No Better than Flipping a Coin,” presents the following highlights:  Colloquial usage of scientific terms such as “validated” can be misleading. No shelter canine behavior evaluation meets accepted standards as being validated. Published error rates are too high to justify routine use in shelters. Behavior evaluations are heterogeneous and often not comparable with each other. A lack of face validity may explain the high error rate for behavior evaluations. The authors… Continued


Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Started Training Dogs – Gus, the Dominance Myth, An Alpha Roll, and a Damaged Relationship


By Don Hanson In a recent interview, I was asked a series of questions about how to choose a dog trainer. One of the questions was “What would you like to have known when you started training dogs?” In the spring of 1991, I had a new 12-week old Cairn Terrier puppy named Gus. I had no knowledge of dog training, but a desire to learn. I started to learn by reading two of the most popular dog training books at the time; How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend and Mother Knows… Continued


The ‘Quick Fix’ – Not So Quick After All


In today’s society, it seems everything has to happen ‘now.’  Results are expected instantaneously and I think, sadly, this notion has to a certain extent worked it’s way into how we think, feel, and live our lives with our dogs too.  Time is precious, and we haven’t always got space for ‘issues’ our dogs may throw at us or, if we have, there must be some quick solution. I am very fortunate in that the majority of dog owners I work with, truly understand that to achieve the results you… Continued


Teach Your Dog to Cooperate with Grooming and Vet Visits


By Debbie Bauer Brushing, combing, cutting toenails, being held for vet examinations and treatment – these things are a part of life for our dogs.  These aren’t events that will happen once and never again.  Instead, these are lifelong skills that our dogs will need to learn to deal with as ongoing events in their lives.  Yet these are also things that some dogs get very stressed about. The good news is that we can teach our dogs to think more positively about all of these activities, and we can… Continued


The Last Trip To the Vet: What If Your Pet’s Last Breath Is on the Operating Table?


Alex in the foreground, with Rusty and Andrew behind him—photo from 1993. Yes, they are in a bathtub. Many years ago I lost Alexander, my dear, dear cat to stomach cancer. This was before veterinary medicine had the technology that’s available today. It was also before I took as proactive an approach to my animals’ health and welfare needs as I do now. I knew nothing about training or socialization. My cats were not crate- or carrier-trained. I didn’t know to use counterconditioning, desensitization, and habituation to teach them that… Continued


Beating the Winter Blues


This winter has been very challenging, especially for those of us living in the northern half of the United States. Winter has behaved like a house guest who does not know when it is time to leave.  As I type this and look outside I still see thick snow and packed ice, with temperatures about 30 degrees below average. It is enough to give some folks cabin fever, and it is hard on pets too. About seven weeks ago a heavy ice storm covered my property, followed by repeated heavy… Continued


March 13, 2019: Shock-Free Coalition Launches Survey on Use of Shock Collars in Dog Training


The study will help the researchers understand various aspects of the use of electronic collars on canines and is being conducted primarily by the Shock-Free Coalition and Dr. Nathaniel J. Hall from the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at Texas Tech University. The survey takes a few minutes to complete and will provide important data for the Shock-Free Coalition. It is available until April 2, 2019 and is pertinent to anyone who shares, or has shared, their life with pet dogs, who works with dogs, or who has any other interest… Continued


Skipping Reinforcements? Rethink That


By Yvette Van Veen We’ve all heard it. “When do the rewards stop?” The knee jerk reaction by many, especially on social media is to cave, to placate, to give the client at least some of what. ” Variable reinforcement, skip rewards. It will actually make the behaviour stronger!” Not….so….fast. Skipping reinforcements (rewards) does make a behaviour more resistant to extinction. Think of constant pay as a soda pop machine. Put in coin. Get a soda. Broken machine? You walk off pretty fast. You’re unlikely to put in another coin, at… Continued


What Makes a Pet Fence Humane?


By Jennifer Smith of EasyPetFence.com, a PPG corporate partner Dog trainers, animal shelters and pet owners alike choose to fence-in yards for several reasons. For one, pet fencing allows dogs and cats to exercise; play; and socialize with other animals. Fencing is convenient for pet owners that may not have nearby dog parks to visit, or much time to take their dogs on adventure hikes or lengthy jogs. And, pet fencing keeps domestic animals secure and protected against potential wildlife attacks. While there are many types of pet fence on the… Continued


BARKS Podcast with DogBiz founders Veronica Boutelle & Gina Phairas: March 5, 2019


Guests: dogbiz founders Veronica Boutelle and Gina Phairas Topic: Is It Your Time to Go Full Time? A lively, informative discussion on starting a dog training business— the start up process, what it takes to be your own boss and make it as a dog trainer, avoiding common mistakes and sidestepping common misconceptions, and ethical entrepreneurship in an unregulated industry. If you’re dreaming about making your living as a full-time dog trainer, be sure to tune in for this inspirational podcast!  Register here to listen to the recorded Podcast


Portland Blog Competition: Changing a Dog’s View of the World


By Kathleen Godfrey  As a trainer, my goal is to help to help both dogs and their guardians have the best possible life together. New client Angie heard about me through a friend I’d helped the friend work with a rather “wild” foster dog (he was truly a good dog, he just had no idea what behavior was expected of him and so we had to teach him). The dog did a 180 degree turn and is now happy with his forever family. But back to Angie and her dog,… Continued


Giving Dogs Choices


By Stephanie Peters Many of the parents who invite me into their homes are swimming in a sea of misinformation, just trying to stay above water. They may have been told, or read on the internet, erroneously of course, that when their dog mouths or jumps on or steals food from their children, he is trying to “dominate” them. They may even have been told, again erroneously, that the dog must view children as superiors, not subordinates, and that the parents have caused the disruption in the hierarchy by not being a… Continued


Feline Behavior Unmasked: Wakefulness, Whisker Fatigue, and Water


By Paula Garber and Tabitha Kucera  Cats’ whiskers are very sensitive because they are filled with sensory collecting nerves that collect information about objects, vibrations, and wind currents around the cat. Whisker fatigue commonly occurs when a cat’s whiskers are regularly being squished and brushed up against food and water bowls…when choosing a place for water bowls, many cats do not like them placed right next to their food. In the wild, cats go out of their way to keep their food and water sources separate to avoid having the food contaminate… Continued


The Journey of a Crossover Trainer


By Nichola Marshall  My dogs are livestock guardian dogs and some people will tell you that they cannot be trained to be “obedient.” My old girl was trained “old school.” She is a very good girl and now I understand why – she has been conditioned to avoid an aversive (leash check) by responding to a verbal cue…It seems so obvious now, but mentally it was a total paradigm shift for me to reward behavior rather than “obedience.” Feed my dog just to make her happy? Yes.  Without her having actually… Continued


Canine Aggression: The Public Perception


By Hannah Blumenfeld I have spent a lot of time watching how people interact with dogs they don’t know. A handsome boxer was tied up outside a shop, and a woman went right up to him, got in his face, like mere inches away, and told him what a good dog he was. The dog tolerated it. He kept peering past her, toward the shop his person was in. He was pointedly ignoring the woman, but she didn’t notice. A friend of mine was visiting an apartment where I was… Continued


Putting the Social in Socialization


By Anna Bradley The goal of puppy socialization is to “convince the amygdala, that part of the puppy’s brain that reacts emotionally to his world that, in general, the best/most appropriate emotional responses are calm, relaxed and happy.” (Miller, 2014). Scott and Fuller (1965, cited by Overall (2013)) identified four main stages in a puppy’s development:• Neonatal• Transitional• Socialization• JuvenileOf most significance in terms of behavioral development is this socialization period. Read article  


Helping Owners, Helping Dogs


By Veronica Sanchez How many times have you nearly walked right into a tree while training a dog? Multitasking is hard even when you do not have a limitation. Keep in mind that for someone with a mobility impairment, simply walking can require more of their attention. Holding a leash, using a clicker and rewarding the dog while walking is a learned skill that requires quite a bit of multitasking and coordination. Asking clients to put these skills together too quickly can make it more likely that the client trips… Continued


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