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The Art and Science of Consent Testing
By Angelica Steinker
Consent testing is the process of observing a dog’s body language to see if he is fine with whatever environmental change has been presented to him. It can be used informally or formally. Informal use would be during play or social interactions, when two dogs or a dog ...
Once More, with Feeling
By Andrea Carne
A friend gave me a coffee cup some time ago which reads, “Cats know how you feel…they don’t care, but they know.” Well, recent research reveals that such comical turns of ...
BARKS Podcast with Julie Brewer of Little Tykes Dog Hub: January 8, 2021
Join Niki Tudge as she Chats and Chuckles with Julie Brewer of Little Tykes Dog Hub in Grimsby, UK about positive reinforcement training and the way to best engage and educate clients.
Listen ...
Latest Articles
We Are All Individuals, BSL or Not
Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) categorizes a dog as dangerous simply because of what breed he/she happens to be. This is the same as if we were to say, for example, that all people with long blond hair should be put in prison. A few people with long blond hair have indeed acted aggressively ...
Thumbs and Empathy
By Bob McMillan
I spotted it driving down a rural road in Tennessee just before dawn one morning on my way to work. At the edge of my headlights, strolling nonchalantly down a driveway, was a coyote, unperturbed by my passing car. My first thought was, “You lucky dog. You go where you want to ...
Why is Colin Growling?
Understandably we don’t like our dogs to growl and it can be embarrassing, but growling is GOOD.
Growling tells us what our dog is feeling. Growling gives us the key to open the door to the dog’s emotions. When we know what he is feeling, we then know what to do about it.
Colin is a ...
L-Bo’s Dog Blog: Making Memories
On the morning of May 24 I walked the Woodford Wag 2K in Versailles, Kentucky. The dog walk and accompanying 5K run benefit the Woodford Humane Society. My walking partners were my senior rat terrier Zip and his wire fox terrier buddy Clever Trevor. We had a good time. We did not walk the ...
How to Talk Dog
Dogs and humans have been friends for thousands of years. In fact based on some of the latest studies, it is estimated that dogs evolved from wolves almost 40,000 years ago. But what is most incredible is that science, until the last decade, hadn’t been interested in studying dogs; after all ...
If I Knew Then What I Know Now
By Bob McMillan
If the Hound of the Baskervilles ever needed a stand-in, my dog Cuchulain would have pushed to the head of the line. A Scottish deerhound/Irish Wolfhound mix, he was a 130-pound guided missile of shaggy black fur, crazy long legs and very big teeth. The day he started rushing ...
Heading for the Dog Park? Remember the Parable of the Gorilla and the Human in the Lion Park
Gaining some insight into how their dog might be feeling can be a big motivator for people who implement methods of force with their dog-reactive dogs, and can potentially make all the difference.
People may commonly label their dog 'aggressive' and resort to using force, which makes matters ...
Never Look Back: How the Switch to Force-Free Changed My World
Like so many of us, I got involved in dog training thanks to a dog who entered my life. While I had always had dogs, my only attempted at formal training was a failure. Back in the early 80s, the methods were forceful. My dog hid when I got the training collar out for class 2. I took note of ...
The Clicker versus Yes!
I have recently seen and heard discussions on message boards and dog training forums about the use of clickers versus verbal markers such as using ‘yes’. I actually use and recommend both, not at the same time as this weakens the conditioning effect through either blocking or overshadowing, ...