New Content
The Click Starts the Behavior
By Yvette Van Veen
A common expression used in clicker training is that the click “ends the behavior.” Rarely do we stop to think what this really means but it bears closer examination.
Typically, the phrase indicates that dogs get reinforcement post-click, even if they ...
BARKS Podcast with Geek Week Presenters Dr. Lisa Radosta, Melissa Taylor, Alexandra Santos and Louise Stapleton-Frappell
Join Niki Tudge and Denise O'Moore as they Chat and Chuckle with Dr. Lisa Radosta, Melissa Taylor, Alexandra Santos and Louise Stapleton-Frappell about their planned sessions for Geek Week 2021. ...
Building a Feline Behavior Volunteer Program…from Scratch
By Melissa Taylor and Alese Zeman
There’s no way we at Friends For Life Animal Shelter can handle all of Houston, Texas’s feline behavior needs, but sometimes it seems like there’s no ...
Latest Articles
A Change in Routine Can Be a Shock to the System for Dogs too
By Julie Naismith
Dogs and novelty don’t always mix. Although many dogs breeze through change, anxious dogs can be thrown by it. If it could talk, the stressed dog would probably say: “Ok, I was feeling good about everything, but I worry when I don’t know what’s round the ...
Teach Old Dogs New Games
A team of researchers at the Clever Dog Lab (oh, how I'd love to work there ...) at the Messerli Research Institute in Vienna suggest teaching older dogs to play brain games on touchscreen computers and tablets.
The articles describing the related study don't go into details on what these ...
Give Me a Break!
A little too often I think we may demand too much of our dogs. It's about expectations. If we push too much, we may ultimately push too far, and this is not good with an animal who soaks up what we give him like a sponge and internalizes everything around him.
Manage Expectations
I ...
Quality of Life for Blind/Deaf Dogs
By Debbie Bauer
I receive a lot of great ideas for new blog posts - Thank you so much for those. I'm always looking for ideas to write about that will be useful to each of you as readers. One idea that truly intrigued me was to discuss what quality of life a blind and deaf dog can have. I ...
Why Every Cat Needs a Place to Hide
By Dr. Lynn Bahr
Has your cat ever gone MIA in your own home? I lost an entire litter of kittens once in a small 1 bedroom apartment. All five furballs disappeared while I was out running errands. Imagine my panic and the frantic search that ensued to find them. Where could they have ...
The Opposite of Force
I think I’ve figured something out.
I continue to see the concept of choice bandied about the positive reinforcement-based training world. It can be a code word for a setup that includes negative reinforcement. “I’m going to do something physically unfamiliar or unpleasant to you and you have ...
Zoophilia*: A Hidden Horror for Animals
I entered law enforcement at 20 years of age. When I retired 30 years later I thought I had seen the full spectrum of human abuse, violence and degradation. The cruelty of humankind no longer shocked me, though it wore me down.
Through the years I never investigated a single case of sexual ...
An Open Letter to Veterinarians on Referrals to Training and Behavior Professionals: Recommended Best Practices
Dear Veterinarian,
There are numerous professional organizations that offer membership and credentials in the field of animal training and behavior. Few, however, hold their members to a strict code of conduct which involves the application of their trade through scientific protocols and the ...
New Puppy – What Now?
We're getting a puppy! How amazingly, brilliantly, wonderfully exciting.... then puppy arrives! No, really - having a puppy is an incredibly enriching period of our lives and we are indeed privileged to share our lives with these wondrous, funny, all absorbing beings.
Truth is though that ...