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The Harness Is Coming – Run for the Hills!
I often wonder why some of us expect our dogs to miraculously accept collars, harnesses, leashes, and the like. After all, dogs are not born with these alien contraptions attached to their person!
But some of this gear must feel restrictive, worrying, anxiety-provoking, or ...
BARKS Podcast with Dr. Karen Becker, Author of ‘The Forever Dog’: January 14, 2022
Join Niki Tudge and PPG Canine Committee chair Judy Luther for a very special Chat and Chuckle with Dr. Karen Becker.
Dr. Becker is discussing her New York Times bestseller, The Forever Dog - ...
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 ...
Latest Articles
A Lure By Any Name is Still a Lure
By Yvette Van Veen
Luring a dog towards something he fears is a problematic practice most recognize. Regardless of whether you use aversives in training or not, it’s an issue because it can create a slew of problems.
From the dog’s perspective, luring into scary is a 'gotcha.' The first ...
Five Rules for Humans Living in Catlandia
By Daniel “DQ” Quagliozzi
Humans and cats have been trying to peacefully coexist for centuries, and for the most part, we are doing okay…with a little room for improvement. Our relationship with cats has definitely changed over time, with technology allowing us to connect with the masses ...
Pet Tutor…My Hero
By Smart Animal Training
(A letter from Malena DeMartini-Price CTC CDBC)
Dear Wes & Amanda at Smart Animal Training,
I wanted to tell you about a client that I have been working with for a little while now that has been absolutely wonderful and of course, the Pet Tutor was my hero in ...
BARKS Podcast with Jane Bowers: October 2, 2018
Guest: Jane Bowers of Dogs of Distinction Canine Training in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Topic: Bowers' article in BARKS, Reducing Conflict, and Assessing and Interpreting Dog Behaviour, a training course hosted by the Canadian Police Knowledge Network for law enforcement personnel and ...
Five Days from Fear to Fun – Classical Counterconditioning
By Yvette Van Veen
I decided to spend some recent holiday time working on a whistle recall. This is when a dog learns to come to the sound of a whistle. Pamela Dennison has a number of resources on how to teach this skill for anyone who might be interested.
Unlike other whims, I ...
Dogs CAN Learn That … and That, and That!
Do you know anyone who has more than one service dog because "one dog couldn't be taught to do all the tasks" that person needs? Have you ever heard a dog owner (or worse, trainer) claim that dogs "can't learn" to distinguish similar commands or tasks or learn multiple related tasks --- for ...
The Power of Desensitization
Desensitization is a tool I use in my armory virtually every day - it's ultra powerful, versatile and it works well, that is IF it's applied correctly! Here I'm going to take a look at this 'behaviour fixer' in a bit more detail because if it's worked with in the right way, you're just not ...
Ringing the Bell to Go Out: Avoid These 4 Common Errors!
Zani learns to ring the bells
This post is for the people who have tried–and failed–to teach their dogs to ring a bell to go outside. I suspect there are a lot of bell ringing failures out there. Not that it’s so hard to teach a dog to poke a bell with his nose or paw. But it can be tricky ...
Ideas for Touch Signs to Use
By Debbie Bauer
You can give touch cues in many ways - you can use your hands, your feet, your body, your breath, the equipment you use with your dog, an extended touch stick, etc. Any way that you can make contact with your dog's body to provide information can become a touch cue.
The most ...