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Latest Behavior Articles

How to Become a Better Animal Trainer

How to Become a Better Animal Trainer

By Karolina Westlund Ph.D. of PPG corporate partner Illis Animal Behaviour Consulting It took me years to realize this, but there are some approaches that really propelled my learning about animal behaviour management in general, and animal training specifically. Here are the four tactics ...
Managing an Aggressive,  Fearful, or Reactive Dog

Managing an Aggressive, Fearful, or Reactive Dog

By Don Hanson When you have a dog that is exhibiting aggressive behavior, you have a responsibility to keep yourself, your family, your pets, and your community safe. A dog that is behaving aggressively is experiencing some form of emotional stress, so it is your responsibility to identify ...

More Articles

Santa Claus May Scare Dogs

People around the world enjoy the winter season and many nations celebrate a version of Saint Nicholas. In the United States I witnessed an increase in commercialization and marketing hype since I was a child and Christmas decorations now ...

An Open Letter to Pet Industry Representatives Regarding the Use of Shock in Animal Training, Management and Care: We now know enough to stop shocking our pets

Shocking pet dogs remains a common, if controversial, training practice worldwide. In this open letter, Pet Professional Guild (PPG) combines decades of research, the opinions of certified animal behaviorists, and the question of ethics to ...

Making Peace with Muzzles

I’ll give you the moral of this story first: Make peace with muzzles. Be OK with dogs who wear them, applaud owners who use them, and put one on your own dog if the situation warrants it. Now I’ll tell you the story. It’s about mistakes I made ...

How to Teach Your Deaf (and Blind) Dog to Wake Up Gently

By Debbie Bauer There is a myth that deaf dogs can be "dangerous" because they will bite when they are startled or woken up. Could this ever happen? Yes, it could. But it could also happen with a dog that can hear just fine. Does it happen ...

Clicker Training for Cats (1/6)

By Paula Garber and Francine Miller Why train a cat? Why indeed. Myths about the trainability of cats abound: “Cats can’t be trained because they’re too independent.” “Cats are difficult to train because they are not food motivated.” “Cats ...

Why do food rewards win, but not for separation anxiety?

By Julie Naismith Rewards-based training is the best. Dogs love it because it’s fun and it doesn’t involve fear or pain. And best of all, it works. In fact, research shows that it works better than any other method.  Hands down, the best ...

Rehomed Dogs – Expectations and Reality

Everyone knows that worldwide there are millions of dogs in the most awful predicament.  The lucky ones are rescued, rehabilitated and await homes in shelters - so, why not be their saviour?  Rehoming a dog is a richly rewarding experience ...

Dogs Are Better Partners to Humans Than to Other Dogs

The New York times recently published an article describing a study that compared dogs’ and wolves’ ability to perform cooperative tasks. The article, and the short accompanying video, are somewhat disdainful in their assessment of the dogs, ...