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BARKS Podcast with Toni Clarke of Well Done Charlie Dog Training
Join Niki Tudge and Rebekah King as they Chat & Chuckle with Toni Clarke of Well Done Charlie Dog Training, about how to develop and execute training plans to prepare pets to fly.
Listen to the Podcast with Toni Clarke here on your choice of platforms.
Or just stay on this page ...

Happy Holidays…for Dogs too!
It can be so easy in all the madness and mayhem to overlook our dogs’ needs over the holiday period. Certainly, I always have an influx of inquiries at the beginning of a new year because a ...

BARKS Podcast with the PPG Advocacy Panel: Discussion #5 – Meeting People Where They Are to Facilitate Change
Meeting People Where They Are to Facilitate Change
Join the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) Advocacy Panel for a discussion on Meeting People Where They Are to Facilitate Change.
Pet guardians and ...
Latest Articles
Dogs and ‘Digging In’
I work with many owners of rescue or re-homed dogs and one topic I've thought about many times, sometimes raised by owners themselves and possibly a little controversial, is do we sometimes give up on our dogs too easily? Of course, an important aspect of this is whether we have the ...
Portland Blog Competition: Canine Aggression – The Public Perception
By Hannah Blumenfeld
“Not a nice dog,” says the woman on the sidewalk. Lucy and I had just walked past her, and although I was shoving treats in Lucy's mouth, the woman locked eyes with my beautiful beast. This scares the bejeezus out of Lucy, so she barks. And, yes, sometimes lunges. I do ...
My Dog Is Afraid of the Clicker. What Should I Do?
I wrote this article especially for people who are either new to using a clicker or have not dealt extensively with a fearful dog.
If your dog is scared by the noise of the clicker, slow down. Switch to a verbal marker for now. Don’t immediately focus on trying to achieve softer clicks. ...
Managing Dog-Dog Greetings
Recently I attended a dog event and observed about 30 dogs and their handlers come and go in the course of three hours. Most of the dogs were taken to one another for greetings. Call it the curse of knowledge, but I see such interactions through the lens of human handling skills and canine ...
Choose Professional Development Conferences Wisely, or the Return on Your Investment May Disappoint You!
We all have limited time and resources so choosing which conference to attend each year is an important decision for all professionals. There are several things to consider when making your choice to ensure we make the most efficient and effective use of our precious time and resources. The ...
When Day Care Is Bad for Your Dog
By Danette Johnston
If your dog currently attends dog day care or you are thinking about starting, here is some food for thought…
I have owned and operated a dog day care and training facility for over 18 years now. I have a lot of experience in this arena, have learned a ton (thank ...
Litter Box Victory
By Jennifer Van Valkenburg
In this post, I am going to talk about a very basic feline need – going to the litter box. Cat owners may wonder, when there is a perfectly good litter box, why does their cat think it is preferable to use the floor, the laundry basket or maybe even the bed to do ...
Portland Blog Competition: Aggression by Any Other Name
By Stephanie Peters
“Help, my dog is aggressive!” This is often the first thing that I hear from potential clients when they contact me for a training or behavior consultation. They may be troubled by certain behaviors their dog is demonstrating, and are either panicked that they have ...
Dogs Are Exceptional, Despite Attempts to Argue Otherwise
Headlines like this really bother me: Dog intelligence 'not exceptional.'
Compared with what? How are you defining 'intelligence'? Seeking answers to these questions, I downloaded and read the full study, which is available for free. It's 20 pages, plus 8 pages of references. It's primarily ...