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Latest Behavior Articles
Target Practice
By Lara Joseph
Training animals to target makes husbandry a lot less stressful and much safer. It is also a useful tool to have at your disposal in an emergency situation. But first, let’s define some of the terms:
Targeting is getting an animal (or human) to touch a predetermined body ...
Everything Was Fine Until…
By Suzanne Clothier
Does this sound familiar? "Everything was fine until... [fill in months, age, event]." It’s a statement that is common, and sometimes accepted without much thought. For example, a client might tell us that their puppy was a saint until he turned 7 months old. Or that ...
More Articles
Why is Empathic Practice Important?
While historically empathy has perhaps been seen as a fluffy, feel good emotion with little relevance to science, or science based practice, our lack of empathy has, arguably, led us into the dangerous territory we entered in decades gone by. ...
Progressive Zoos Never Use Aversive Punishment — Should You?
This series of blog posts recounts topics drawn from the Pet Professional Guild Radio Show, featuring Linda Michaels (2).
Question: What are some of the benefits of using Positive Reinforcement (+R)?
Answer: The benefits of using Positive ...
A Dog’s World
Do dogs see in color or black and white? How did my dog know that a thunderstorm was coming? Why does my dog bark when no one is there? How curious the dog’s world must be for them to respond so differently to their surroundings than we would ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...