October 15, 2018: Study Investigates Blue Eye Coloring in Dogs
Author summary: “The genetic underpinnings of many phenotypic traits in domestic dogs remain undiscovered. Although two genetic loci are known to underlie blue eye color in dogs, these do not explain all cases of blue eyes. By examining > 3,000 dogs…we have shown that a region of canine chromosome 18 carrying a tandem duplication near the ALX4 gene is strongly associated with blue eye color variation, primarily in Siberian Huskies. We also provide evidence that this duplication is associated with blue eye color in non-merle Australian Shepherds.” Read study.
The Effects of Declawing
By Bridget Lehet It is estimated that “the vast majority (80 percent) of declawed cats have at least one complication resulting from surgery, and over a third develop behavior problems after undergoing the procedure.” (Becker, 2014). According to Becker (2014), after declawing, “behaviors such as biting and urinating outside the litter box are often pain related.” Dr. Craig Tebeau, a 1996 graduate of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, director of the Washington Paw Project, and owner of The Cat Doctor Veterinary Clinic in Federal Way, Washington, states:… Continued
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 suppress body language and can create a more dangerous dog that no longer gives any warning signals. The client hesitates and then says, “So I can’t use the shock collar anymore?” For a split second I held my breath, then responded, “Exactly! Let’s plan for what you will do instead.” Read more.
Halloween and Pet Welfare
I confess that Halloween is my favorite holiday. I enjoy the creative costumes, haunted house attractions and horror films. For me, the creepy nature of the holiday is fun. Behaviorally healthy dogs may accept Halloween activities like trick-or-treat visitors in costume as just another silly thing humans do. For many other dogs Halloween celebration can be truly frightening. Years ago I trained a cute Dachshund puppy named Manny. I was a rookie trainer and he was a star student who excelled in the group training environment, but when he later… Continued
A Lure By Any Name is Still a Lure
By Yvette Van Veen Luring a dog towards something he fears is a problematic practice most recognize. Regardless of whether you use aversives in training or not, it’s an issue because it can create a slew of problems. From the dog’s perspective, luring into scary is a ‘gotcha.’ The first few times, they happily follow the food only to face something nasty. Animals aren’t stupid. Fool them once…they learn. After a couple repetitions, they realize that food can lead to nasty things. Food motivation may decline. Food snubbing may start… Continued
The Challenge of Breed Discrimination
By Kim Iffert It was finally a beautiful day in Chicago so I grabbed my bag, my leash, a pocket full of treats and tennis ball and set out for a walk. The neighbors were out and it was the perfect opportunity for a social outing – but not for me and my dog. As we walked down the sidewalk, others may have looked, some would wave, a few may have offered a smile… and then crossed the street. Social pariah? No, just me and my Rottweiler out for a… Continued
Five Rules for Humans Living in Catlandia
By Daniel “DQ” Quagliozzi Humans and cats have been trying to peacefully coexist for centuries, and for the most part, we are doing okay…with a little room for improvement. Our relationship with cats has definitely changed over time, with technology allowing us to connect with the masses and disconnect from the very place our cats try their best to meet with us; the present moment, or as I like to call it: “The Meow”. Modern convenience also allows humans to have very specific ideas about how they want their homes to… Continued
Pet Tutor…My Hero
By Smart Animal Training (A letter from Malena DeMartini-Price CTC CDBC) Dear Wes & Amanda at Smart Animal Training, I wanted to tell you about a client that I have been working with for a little while now that has been absolutely wonderful and of course, the Pet Tutor was my hero in this case! The client contacted me about separation anxiety however upon further investigation it really wasn’t quite separation anxiety, but more anxiety surrounding the guardians leaving the house, particularly Mom. Once gone, the dog in question was a… Continued
October 4, 2018: New Study Reveals Verbal Cues May Not Be Most Effective Way to Train Dogs
A new study involving the examination the brains of 19 awake dogs via fMRI to measure reward-related learning via visual, olfactory, and verbal stimuli revealed that: “Visual and olfactory modalities resulted in the fastest learning, while verbal stimuli were least effective, suggesting that verbal commands may be the least efficient way to train dogs.” Read study.
BARKS Podcast with Jane Bowers: October 2, 2018
Guest: Jane Bowers of Dogs of Distinction Canine Training in Vancouver, British Columbia. Topic: Bowers’ article in BARKS, Reducing Conflict, and Assessing and Interpreting Dog Behaviour, a training course hosted by the Canadian Police Knowledge Network for law enforcement personnel and others who meet unfamiliar dogs in the course of their duties. Listen to the Podcast here.
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 (American Pet Products Association, 2018). Cats are our number one pet because we usually have more than one, but more of us have dogs. That makes 60 million dog-owning families with 90 million dogs at home and 47 million cat-owning families with 94 million cats at home. With so many pets in so many doggedly… Continued
Conditioning Confidence
By Vicki Ronchette Whether or not you are bringing home a new baby bird, a rehomed adult bird or just want to upgrade your current bird’s cage, it is important to put some thought into your cage set up. There is a lot to consider when putting together a bird’s cage. This not only includes the size and shape of the cage, but what it is made out of, how you will outfit it and where it will go in your home. If you have done any research on how… Continued
Successful Cage Set-Ups
By Vicki Ronchette Whether or not you are bringing home a new baby bird, a rehomed adult bird or just want to upgrade your current bird’s cage, it is important to put some thought into your cage set up. There is a lot to consider when putting together a bird’s cage. This not only includes the size and shape of the cage, but what it is made out of, how you will outfit it and where it will go in your home. If you have done any research on how… Continued
From the Horse’s Mouth
By Dr. Lisel O’Dwyer Since I began clicker training, I have observed horse owners have a few misconceptions about clicker training, such as:• Hand feeding is dangerous, making the horse mouthyClicker training is the best way to deal with a mouthy horse because it clarifies the expectations the handler has for the horse’s taking food.• What happens if I don’t have a clicker with me? Or I don’t want to carry a clicker and treats with me when I am riding. Or I want my horse to do as he… Continued
Notacatperson
By Caroline Kocman When one knows and understands how an animal communicates, it becomes easier to appreciate that creature. Cats have their own communication system that is both similar and disparate from that of other animals. Cats communicate with eyes, ears, mouth, whiskers, tail, body position, and vocalizations. Communication is expressed in actions as well. While, then, one may perceive a cat’s actions as being “aloof,” there may be far more that is being communicated. In an effort to understand the feline better, it is essential to separate fact from fiction.… Continued
Don’t Believe the Hype
By Eileen Anderson A typical product description for an electronic fence will say it is safe and simple. Its references to the collar will make it seem like it is comfortable for the dog. It will highlight the dog’s enjoyment of his yard. When describing the deterrent effect, it might say the dog will hear a sound as he approaches the wireless fence and then receive a static correction, avoiding the word shock, and implying that what the dog feels is a mild sensation. The implication is that the product… Continued
When Food Toys “Fail”
By Eileen Anderson How many of us have heard about food-toy failures from our friends and clients? “I tried the Kong with my puppy, but she didn’t like it,” or, “My dog is not smart enough for those puzzle toys!”…The most common problem with food toys is that the dog lacks the skills to get to the food and the owner does not understand how to teach him.Many food toys come with no instructions for the naive dog. For instance, toys that have a cavity that can be filled with… Continued
Five Days from Fear to Fun – Classical Counterconditioning
By Yvette Van Veen I decided to spend some recent holiday time working on a whistle recall. This is when a dog learns to come to the sound of a whistle. Pamela Dennison has a number of resources on how to teach this skill for anyone who might be interested. Unlike other whims, I remembered to grab my camera. When I blew the whistle for the first time, Karma tucked her tail and ran. I probably should have been a bit more thoughtful in my introduction of the whistle. However,… Continued
Dogs CAN Learn That … and That, and That!
Do you know anyone who has more than one service dog because “one dog couldn’t be taught to do all the tasks” that person needs? Have you ever heard a dog owner (or worse, trainer) claim that dogs “can’t learn” to distinguish similar commands or tasks or learn multiple related tasks — for instance, detection of more than one type of drug or contraband or … the list of things that people claim dogs “can’t learn” is endless. And mostly wrong. “Our conservation detection dogs are agile, portable, and endlessly… Continued
September 25, 2018: New Study on Canine Communication Says More Investigation Still Needed
New study aims to “provide an overview of the recent literature about dog communication, describing the different nature of the signals used in conspecific and heterospecific interactions and their communicative meaning” and concludes that: “Dogs have a vast repertoire of visual, tactile, acoustic, and olfactory signals that they use for an expressive and fine-tuned communication with both conspecifics and humans. Nevertheless, the communicative importance of the different body parts in social interactions still remains poorly investigated.” Read study.
The Power of Desensitization
Desensitization is a tool I use in my armory virtually every day – it’s ultra powerful, versatile and it works well, that is IF it’s applied correctly! Here I’m going to take a look at this ‘behaviour fixer’ in a bit more detail because if it’s worked with in the right way, you’re just not going to get the results you want and even worse, the dog may relapse. What’s Desensitization Anyway? I have a definition that I use for Desensitization or (to give it it’s full name) Systematic Desensitization.… Continued
Ringing the Bell to Go Out: Avoid These 4 Common Errors!
Zani learns to ring the bells This post is for the people who have tried–and failed–to teach their dogs to ring a bell to go outside. I suspect there are a lot of bell ringing failures out there. Not that it’s so hard to teach a dog to poke a bell with his nose or paw. But it can be tricky to teach him when to do it, to let him know that this is a way to communicate with you about a certain thing. I went through the top hits… Continued
September 19, 2018: Pet Professional Guild Celebrates Shock-Free Coalition with Photo/Video Competition Showcasing Force-Free Training
By Pet Professional Guild The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) has marked November 17, 2018 as the International Day of Advocacy to celebrate the first anniversary of the official launch of its international advocacy initiative, the Shock-Free Coalition. The focal point of the celebration will be Let’s Celebrate +R, a photo and video competition where pet professionals and enthusiasts can showcase the best of positive reinforcement-based pet training and education. Let’s Celebrate +R will run from seven days prior to seven days post November 17. Entry will be via both PPG’s North America/International and Europe websites with prizes issued… Continued
Targeting Like a Pro
By Lara Joseph I have worked with several birds that have been labeled aggressive. One of the first things I teach them is to target. If I ever find myself in an accidental or uncomfortable situation, I can quickly rely on the former target training to guide that bird’s beak, or animal’s mouth or feet away from me so I can get myself out of a compromising position. This works very well and prevents the need to use force in trying to avoid anything worse occurring. Before targeting a raptor or… Continued
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