by Eileen Anderson | Mar 2, 2016 | Training
“The dog decides what is reinforcing.” Positive reinforcement trainers frequently say that to their human students. What they mean is that people can easily be mistaken about whether something constitutes reinforcement. For instance, we may think praising or petting...
by Pam Hogle | Feb 28, 2016 | Animal Behavior, Training
In a class I’m teaching on dog communication, we recently discussed a study on how well people interpret dog body language. The study, Description of the behaviour of domestic dog by experienced and inexperienced people, was published in Applied...
by Carolyn Kocman | Feb 25, 2016 | Animal Behavior
Since humans are unable to ascertain the aspect of a disorder in an animal that deals with obsessing, animals are not generally given the diagnosis of OCD. However, it is completely possible that a pet can have a compulsive disorder.…
by Eileen Anderson | Feb 23, 2016 | Training
Thanks to Debbie Jacobs and Randi Rossman for their input on this topic. Any weird conclusions are mine alone. I have come to believe that most of us who thought we were using “choice” as a reinforcer were mistaken. Wait! …
by Louise Stapleton-Frappell | Feb 19, 2016 | Animal Behavior, Learning Theory, Training
How important is it to teach your canine companion what you would like them to do? I believe it is extremely important but what is even more essential is that you teach in a way that doesn’t cause any stress; …
by Daniel Antolec | Feb 14, 2016 | Advocacy, Animal Behavior, Learning Theory, Training
“Can I say no to my dog?” is a question I often hear from new clients. My short answer is “Yes, you can use any word or sound you please in training.” Pavlov proved that long ago. The problem is …
by Tonya Wilhelm | Feb 10, 2016 | Pet Guardians, Training
Brushing your dog on a daily basis has many benefits. Grooming or brushing your dog is more than just keeping his appearance spiffy. Brushing your dog’s coat every day not only keeps it free of debris but free of mats …
by PPGWorld | Feb 4, 2016 | Business & Consulting, Learning Theory, Training
One of my specialities is doing in-home training so that the human gets trained and then I highly recommend taking Fido to a group class to practice the new skills in a more distracting environment. And for puppies, this is...
by PPGWorld | Feb 1, 2016 | Animal Behavior
Jane Ehrlich examines the basics of feline body language. This article was first published in BARKS from the Guild, March 2015, page 26 Keep an eye on your cat’s body language to know what he/she is thinking and feeling....
by Pam Hogle | Jan 28, 2016 | Animal Behavior
It’s been a couple of years since Gregory Berns published his research that uses MRIs to show that dogs love their humans. Now, British and Brazilian researchers have published a paper showing that dogs recognize our emotions as well. Sure,...
