by Susan McKeon | Nov 1, 2016 | Animal Behavior, Learning Theory, Training
..may break my bones, but words will never harm me” This, or one of its variations, is a childhood phrase that most of us are familiar with. We know that physical violence hurts and, as is suggested by the rhyme,...
by Pam Hogle | Oct 28, 2016 | Animal Behavior
Oxytocin is a hormone that plays a role in social bonding, as implied by some of its nicknames: the love hormone, cuddle chemical, or bliss hormone. It’s also something that dogs and humans share. Studies published in 2009 found that,...
by Barbara Hodel | Oct 24, 2016 | Animal Behavior, Training
I got told a couple of times lately: Shellbe (my German Shorthaired Pointer who I compete with in Agility) really covered you there! It was in competition or training when I made a mistake and Shellbe did everything she possibly …
by Pam Hogle | Sep 28, 2016 | Animal Behavior
It’s easy to forget that most people don’t know things that we might consider obvious about dogs. A friend was recently chatting with an experienced service dog trainer. The trainer, who will remain anonymous to reduce the potential humiliation, commented...
by Barbara Hodel | Sep 25, 2016 | Animal Behavior, Learning Theory, Pet Guardians, Training
Isn’t it frustrating, we try to train our dog to not jump up but it gets worse? It is the ‘behavior chain syndrome’. We train behavior chains all the time, sometimes on purpose and sometimes by mistake. Behaviour chains can …
