The magazine for force-free pet professionals

No results found.

Visit our pet owner publication!

Filter by Categories
Animal Behavior
No results found.

Latest Behavior Articles

Stumbling through Puppy Socialization

In 1983 my wife and I moved into our first home on a ¾ acre lot in a small city and could finally have a puppy.  She was a black Labrador Retriever whose AKC registration name was Monona Midnight Melody, but we called her Samantha. We knew nothing about raising a puppy and there were not ...

Bath Time

By Robyn Lowe of PPG corporate partner Canine Arthritis Management After coming home from our walk the other day, Daisy needed a bath. It got me thinking… Daisy is 2kg (4.4 lbs)… yes 2kg! (that’s not Daisy in the picture, just in case you wondered!) She can be bathed in the bath, ...

More Articles

Advocacy is Where You Look for It

In April 2016 I attended the 11th annual Applied Animal Behavior Conference hosted by the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Each year veterinary professionals and students gather to learn about animal behavior, a ...

Human Attitudes

I’m sure others might feel the same way as I have recently so I have decided to share this as I have found a positive way forward if one is feeling somewhat burned out… The last few months I’ve been feeling slightly overwhelmed with what I ...

The Game Of Know, Not No!

Many years ago when I was first learning this “new” method called positive reinforcement training, even though my dog was learning in huge leaps to do all the behaviors I asked him to do, I had this nagging question: But how can I tell him when ...

Scent Tracking as Part of Your ABC

When consulting on canine behavior problems, you will be looking at your ABCs - Antecedent - Behaviour - Consequence - as part of your functional assessment. The immediate antecedents, such as direct environment, setting the dog off doing ...

Do Docked/Missing Tails Lead to Miscommunication in Dogs?

Are dogs with docked or missing tails vulnerable to miscommunication or misunderstanding by other dogs? Or do they learn to rely on other body language communication? I have a little rescue dog (right) who came to me from Romania with her ...

The Benefits of Keeping Cats Indoors

By Paula Garber, MEd, CATEP, CFTBS Some cat owners believe it’s “natural” for their cat to be outdoors, or that their cat won’t be happy unless given the opportunity to roam. These days, most pet cats aren’t as suited to outdoor life as one ...

Socialize Your Puppy but Let Him Play, too!

Fifty years ago not too many trainers or owners talked about socialization. Not because puppies did not need it, but because for the most part puppies ‘self-socialized’, they wandered and roamed the neighborhood, accompanied children to ...

Quick Fix or Never Fix

When someone first calls me for help, they usually hope their pet behavior problem will be resolved in a couple of weeks. They have tried everything they can think of for themselves, watched TV trainers and scoured the internet. Now they have ...