by Pet Professional Guild Cat Committee | Dec 6, 2017 | Animal Behavior, Learning Theory, Pet Guardians, Training
By Paula Garber and Francine Miller Why train a cat? Why indeed. Myths about the trainability of cats abound: “Cats can’t be trained because they’re too independent.” “Cats are difficult to train because they are not food motivated.” “Cats don’t...
by Pet Professional Guild Cat Committee | Nov 6, 2017 | Animal Behavior, Pet Guardians, Training
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 …
by Daniel Antolec | Jul 13, 2017 | Animal Behavior, Business & Consulting, Learning Theory, Training
Recently I worked with an adolescent dog that I trained as a puppy. Like many adolescents he suddenly forgot several of his training skills and got stuck offering two behaviors in specific circumstances. When greeting people he climbed upon them …
by Eileen Anderson | Aug 13, 2016 | Animal Behavior, Training
What do the following training descriptions have in common? “My dog’s afraid of strangers. But when she stops barking and makes eye contact with me, I give her a treat.” “I hold her foot. Then I give her a treat …
by Eileen Anderson | May 2, 2016 | Training
The “yelling” question comes up regularly for positive reinforcement-based trainers. “Am I a bad person if I yell at my dogs?” “Is it positive punishment to yell at my dogs?” And the accusatory version, “Do you NEVER yell at your …