New Content
Rethinking Your Use of Canine Scent Knowledge and Skills
A few years ago, we hosted Dr. Robert Hewings from the UK College of Scent Dogs to present a couple of back-to-back workshops at our training business in Tampa, FL. One of these workshops was the five-day Canine Scent Instructor Certification workshop. To be honest, at the time I was eager to ...
The Art and Science of Consent Testing
By Angelica Steinker
Consent testing is the process of observing a dog’s body language to see if he is fine with whatever environmental change has been presented to him. It can be used ...
The Art of Teamwork
By Gail Radtke
In a previous article I wrote about how my dog, Lanie, became a St. John Ambulance (SJA) therapy dog in British Columbia, Canada (see The Miracle Mutt, BARKS from the Guild, ...
Latest Articles
How to Make the Transition to Full-Time Dog Pro
By Veronica Boutelle of PPG corporate partner, dogbiz
If your dream is to work with dogs for a living but you’re still toiling full time outside the dog industry, or juggling a part-time business alongside your “real” job, you need a transition plan: A plan to get you from where you are now ...
How Long Does It Take to Train a Dog?
By Sue McCabe
At puppy class recently, we started retrieve training. Students were shown this video (below), with the steps needed to train a reliable retrieve to hand. The video compresses quite a bit of learning (weeks of short sessions) into just under 2 minutes of demonstration. ‘How ...
10 Ways To Improve You and Your Dog’s Behavioral Relationship
Sometimes we get a little stuck in a rut, same old, same old - its easy, life is fast, time is hard to come by. Have you ever sat and thought about your relationship with your dog? Too often it's only when things go wrong that we contemplate uh oh..what can I do here to change things! How ...
Confessions of a Dog Trainer. Part 1: Feeding from the Table!
By Sue McCabe
I have a confession. I sometimes feed my dogs from the table. When I go out to eat with my dog we are sharing quality time, and a meal together. So as long as my dog is quiet and calm and settled, he gets to share my food or he gets a Kong of his own to enjoy. Below is a ...
BARKS Recorded Podcast with Alexandra Kurland: April 17, 2019.
Guest: Alexandra Kurland, a graduate of Cornell University where she specialized in animal behavior, whose area of particular interest is the development of a horse's balance: physical and emotional.
Alexandra Kurland is the author of "Clicker Training for your Horse"; "The Click That ...
The “Invention” of Cues in Training
Once upon a time, there was a girl who decided to teach her dog some tricks. She figured out that if she gave her dog something he liked after he did something she liked, he was liable to do the thing again. So she taught him some simple tricks using food and play as reinforcement.
As she ...
Does Your Animal Have Control?
By Karolina Westlund Ph.D. of PPG corporate partner Illis Animal Behaviour Consulting
Many animal trainers, veterinarians and pet owners highlight the importance of controlling animals. Controlling them, as in restricting the animals’ movement, their choices and their opportunities to ...
For a Healthier Life, Don’t Let Your Pet Get Overweight
Years ago my wife and I adopted a wonderful yellow Labrador named Charlie.
At first, he had normal weight, at around 75 pounds. He steadily gained weight until he reached 100 pounds. A veterinary exam determined Charlie had a thyroid problem. With daily medication his weight returned to ...
The Reality of TV Dog Training
By Niki Tudge and Susan Nilson
In recent years, much creditable scientific study has been given to dog training and behavior modification methods and their respective efficacy and consequences. The preponderance of the evidence shown by these studies indicates that the implementation of ...