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 tool for training is food. But, despite the ...
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 for both parties, but there is a caveat - know what ...
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, who did not perform as well as the wolves on the ...
With Her Tail between Her Legs
Most of us know that a dog’s tail can be a fairly good indicator of mood. We can observe whether the tail carriage is low, medium, or high and whether it is loose or stiff. Whether and in what manner it is wagging. We can often draw some pretty good conclusions from those observations, keeping ...
Being Your Dog’s Best Advocate
In 2012, my wife and I enrolled in a therapy dog training class which led to a Pet Partners evaluation process for therapy animal teams. I partnered with Buddha and my wife partnered with Gandhi. It was only by working closely together for our mutual benefit that we truly became teams and ...
An Open Letter to County Commissioners re: Consumer Transparency – the Methods Used in Animal Training, Care and Management Will Protect Pets, Their Owners, Local Residents and the Public at Large
By Susan Nilson and Niki Tudge
Introduction: The Importance of Transparency between Clients and Service Providers
Frieden (2013) states that: “Free and open information empowers people to make informed choices and reduces the likelihood that misinformation or hidden information will endanger ...
Why Become Credentialed?
Louise Stapleton-Frappell B.A. Hons. PCT-A. CAP3. CTDI. DN-FSG1. DN-CPCT2 – Wow that’s a lot of letters and I recently added some more: PCBC-A! (Professional Canine Behavior Consultant – Accredited) So why do I feel the need to continuously further my education in the field of force-free, ...
Case Study: Introducing a New Dog to Resident Cats
I used clicker training to help introduce my newly adopted dog, Ness, to the four cats in my household. Ness was under-socialized and had no experience with cats prior to adoption. The cats had only occasional exposure to visiting dogs during family holidays. During those visits, I provided ...