Latest Advocacy Articles
What Do You Do When You’re the Only Force-Free Professional in Town?
by the Pet Professional Guild Advocacy Panel
This article was excerpted and edited from the PPG Advocacy Panel discussion on January 18, 2023.
Moderator:
Don Hanson: Chair of the PPG Advocacy Division and Shock-Free Coalition, board member of the Pet Professional Guild, and owner ...
Abusive Dog Training Practices and Informed Consent, Ethics and “Do No Harm”
by Niki J. Tudge
Dog trainers who use punishment-based approaches and equipment designed to work by causing fear and/or pain commonly market themselves under a variety of verbiage and marketing slogans such as “balanced,” “positive relationship,” “natural methods,” “relationship ...
More Articles
What Do Dogs, Cats, Cars and Chairs Have in Common?
The Need for a New Legal Definition of Living Property
by Niki J. Tudge
Are Pets Family?
According to The Harris Poll (2015), “nearly all pet owners (95%) … consider their pets to be members of the family.” Yet, legally, ...
Why Not Debate Somebody in Real Time?
by Niki Tudge
Two years ago, I was asked to debate a controversial figure on a podcast, and for several reasons, I turned it down. I was asked repeatedly, bordering on harassment, even though I gave what I believed to be a sufficient ...
How Writing a Book on Canine Behavior Changed My Life
by Annie Phenix
When my publisher’s acquisition editor called me out of the blue in July 2021 to ask if I would write a second edition to my first canine behavior book, The Midnight Dog Walkers, my immediate response was a firm “no.”
I had many ...
20 Problems With Punishment in Animal Training
by Dr. Karolina Westlund
Recently there was a video post in my Facebook feed that caught my attention.
Typically, on Facebook, I’m a bit of a lurker. I’m not very active, and when I do watch videos I often don’t share, like or comment – ...
PPG Advocacy Panel: What Do You Do When You’re the Only Force-Free Professional in Town?
Join the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) Advocacy Panel for a discussion on What Do You Do When You're the Only Force-Free Professional in Town?
Pet guardians and pet professionals, listen as panel members share their expertise in a fun, ...
Pets, Emotions and Anthropomorphism
by Don Hanson
Emotions are complicated and messy. So much so that as a youngster watching Star Trek in the 1960s, I was attracted to the Vulcan ethos of suppressing all emotion and replacing it with logic. However, I eventually learned that ...
Advocating Together—The Mission, Vision and Values of the Pet Professional Guild
by Niki Tudge
Each of us wants to bring about change in our industry. We yearn for a day when pain and fear are no longer used in the training and care of pets. We have a mammoth job ahead of us, and it most certainly is not a sprint but a ...
Chat & Chuckle with Jeanette Davis of Feline Rescue Association and Silver Whiskers Animal Rescue
Join PPG Feline Division Chair Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison, also with the PPG Feline Division, as they chat and chuckle with Jeanette Davis of the Feline Rescue Association and Silver Whiskers Animal Rescue in Baltimore, ...