New Content
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, October 2014, pp. 36-39).
Lanie was a year old at the time and had a beautiful, friendly temperament. ...
Pet Professional Accreditation Board launches French language option for training and behavior credentials
LECANTO, Fla. - March 9, 2021 - The Pet Professional Accreditation Board (PPAB) has completed translation of its study guides and instructions into French in a move that will make a force-free ...
Straight from the Horse’s Mouth
By Dorothy Heffernan
With a growing interest in ‘least intrusive, minimally aversive’ (LIMA) training methods and the ‘least intrusive effective behavior intervention’ (LIEBI) model, many ...
Latest Articles
Defining Empathy
Over the last decade there has been an increasing awareness of the need to think, and act, empathically within healthcare settings; this information could be very useful for us.
Helen Reiss MD of Harvard Medical School reports a variety of benefits to both patients and clinicians by ...
The Mad Hatter
As a dog trainer, I wear my “professional hat” when I patiently educate my clients to help them resolve their dog’s behavioral issues. The joke is that when I get home, the last thing I want to do is start training my own dogs. I think the saying, “The cobbler’s children have no ...
Please Go Away: Dog Body Language Study
One of the things I am very grateful for in my life with dogs is that my current three get along. They don’t adore each other, but two of them, Clara and Zani, actually play together and are comfortable in each other’s space bubbles. Zani helped “bring up” Clara, even though Clara got pretty ...
Pet Professional Guild New Advocacy Videos
Advocacy Videos
1. Calling Veterinarians & Pet Professionals. Let's Work Together!
2. A Call For Change. Say No To Prong and Choke Collars!
Checkout the link to our PPG Advocacy Page. Click here
Get Healthy, Get a Dog
I was excited when I read about Get Healthy, Get a Dog, a new report from the Harvard Medical School that describes the connections between life with a dog (or dogs) and better health. The article I read was very enthusiastic, and I immediately purchased a copy of the report, a collaboration ...
Pet Professionals: Keeping It Objective
A dog’s behavior can many times cause the owner to experience feelings of embarrassment or even failure. Such feelings can be detrimental in the trainer/behavior consultant-client relationship and can certainly adversely affect the outcome of any training protocols that are put into place. ...
What Does Citronella Really Do to a Dog?
My 'Paws for Thoughts' blogs are just what they say - thoughts. I don't profess to be an expert on my subject matter or feel that we should believe everything we read, but it should always make one think.
This train of thought started with an email I received the other morning from a man ...
Confession of a Professional Dog Trainer
My name is Daniel H. Antolec. I am a professional certified force-free trainer…and I own a shock collar.
Not only do I own a shock collar, but it is among my most prized possessions and is proudly displayed in my library of 45 books and 25 DVDs on training and behavior.
You see, once upon a ...
The Impact of Using Shock to Train Recall
This series of blog posts recounts topics drawn from a recent guest segment by Linda Michaels on the Pet Professional Guild Radio Show.
Question: Can you tell us if you think training an emergency recall with P+ (positive punishment such as a shock collar) could, in any way, be preferable to ...