Nicole Wilde

Nicole Wilde is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) who specializes in behavior issues. She is a professional member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT), the recipient of the prestigious Ian Dunbar Member of the Year Award for 2006, and a popular speaker at the organization’s national and international conferences. Nicole is also an Instructor and on the Advisory Board for the Companion Animal Sciences Institute, the educational branch for the International Institute for Applied Companion Animal Behavior.

Nicole is an internationally recognized author and lecturer. Her 11 books include So You Want to be a Dog Trainer, Help for Your Fearful Dog, and Don't Leave Me!. She has presented seminars both domestically and internationally for APDT conferences, training clubs, and other groups.

Nicole writes training and behavior articles for various newspapers and magazines, including an ongoing training column for Modern Dog Magazine. She co-stars in the DVD “Train Your Dog: The Positive Gentle Method,” co-hosted the “Dog Talk” radio show, and was featured in the Paul Owens DVD “The Dog Whisperer.”

Nicole’s experience includes a position as Volunteer Coordinator for the City of Los Angeles’ Animal Services, where she instructed volunteers in canine handling and behavior, handled hundreds of dogs, and served as adoption counselor. She served as Executive Director for Villalobos Rescue Center, a sanctuary for rescued wolves/wolf hybrids, pit bulls and exotic animals. Nicole’s specialty was socializing fearful wolves who were to live out their lives at the center. She also trained wolves and other canines at the center, and presented seminars for animal control officers, schools and specialty groups. Nicole’s experience is rounded out by having worked at a doggy daycare (supervising 40-50 off-leash dogs daily!), a veterinarian’s office, as Editor/Chief Writer for a Get-A-Pet magazine, and teaching group classes as well as private instruction.

Nicole owns and operates Gentle Guidance Dog Training in Southern California. With warmth, humor and positive techniques, she trains owner to train their dogs. Nicole continues to teach seminars for professional dog trainers, rescue and shelter workers, veterinary groups and others, and to educate the public on canine behavior issues.

Nicole's books and DVDs can be purchased through Phantom Publishing. 

You can find Nicole on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NicoleWildeAuthor

and follow Nicole on Twitter at https://twitter.com/NicoleWilde

Nicole's Upcoming Seminars & Appearances

Products from Nicole Wilde

Blog posts by Nicole Wilde

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make me a Match...

Nicole Wilde  |  Sun, 07/15/2007 - 09:50

I recently visited a client who was very concerned about her new puppy, and rightly so. The nine-week-old corgi was an adorable bundle of energy that belonged in a working environment, not a pet home. She was born to be a ranch dog; or perhaps, living in a city environment, an agility dog. What she was not ever going to be was the docile, cuddly fur-child the woman had longed to snuggle with and coo over. It just wasn’t who this rambunctious herding breed pup was.

Within mere seconds of my stepping over the kitchen gate, the puppy launched herself at my pants legs, pulling at them with a surprising amount of tenacity and strength. When verbally reprimanded, she would growl and back off for a split second, then go right back to what she had been doing. When the woman tried to cuddle her, her “sweet baby” squirmed, vocalized, and sank her teeth into the woman’s hand. She showed me a number of tiny scabs that made her look like a human pincushion.

 

Dog on the Loose! Part Deux

Nicole Wilde  |  Fri, 06/29/2007 - 17:13

Ironically, this morning, just days after posting my blog about what to do in an emergency “dog on the loose” situation, I encountered one. On my way to see a new dog training client, just around the corner from the woman’s home, a Viszla ran across the road in front of my Jeep. I saw the dog in plenty of time not to hit her, but I kept an eye on her as she ran onto a nearby lawn and began to sniff the grass. She was wearing a bright blue collar with ID tags. With a sigh of acknowledgment that I was surely going to be late for my appointment, I pulled over, figuring I could at least phone the owner and hold on to the dog until the owner could claim her.

 

Emergency! Dog on the Loose!

Nicole Wilde  |  Fri, 06/22/2007 - 07:33

Regardless of how careful we are to keep a watchful eye, doors secured and gates closed, life happens. Dogs get loose. Even the most responsible owner may one day find herself with heart pounding, frantically chasing her beloved fur-kid down a busy street, pleading with the dog to stop and come back.

Of course, having your dog reliably trained to come when called under any circumstances is ideal, and is a goal that is well worth working toward. But in the meantime, here are a few tips and tricks for a “dog on the loose” emergency situation:

 

Modern Muttly Monikers

Nicole Wilde  |  Fri, 06/08/2007 - 16:42

See Spot. See Spot run. See Spot run out of steam as a popular dog name, along with Fido, Rex and Lassie. Today’s muttly monikers are creative, humorous, and sometimes downright odd. Consider the following categories:

Playing Against Body Type: At a rescue center I worked with, we had an enormous white German shepherd/wolf mix. His name was Tiny. At the other end of the spectrum, a training client’s teacup Chihuahua was named Goliath. And a perfectly proportioned, pert and cute teacup yorkie I trained is named Quasi Modo.

Human Names: Bob. Bill. Hank. Sadie. Are they your friends? Co-workers? Nope. They’re dogs. Somehow I find watching someone instruct their poodle, “Bob, stay!” a bit disconcerting. Then again, I once dated a guy named Spike. Who am I to question anyone’s taste?

 

Gimme Shelter

Nicole Wilde  |  Mon, 05/28/2007 - 14:19

In the 90s, I spent many hours each week at the Los Angeles city shelters. I began as a volunteer and eventually became a volunteer coordinator, training other volunteers. One comment I heard over and over from the visiting public was, “How can you stand to be here day after day? It’s so depressing!” Well, it’s true that there are aspects of shelter work that can be upsetting and even depressing. But I cannot express how fulfilling volunteering at a shelter can be, on so many levels.

 

Soko's Addiction

Nicole Wilde  |  Fri, 05/18/2007 - 08:31

I have a confession: Soko, my German Shepherd who passed away last April at the age of 13, was an addict. Yes, friends, if she could have stood on a dog house in a yard filled with her canine peers, she would have barked out, “My name is Soko and I am a tennis ball addict.” No doubt the malamutes would have woo-woo’d a warm, “Welcome, Soko!” The other Shepherds would have nodded knowingly. The Border Collies, of course, would simply have stared.

 

You Get What You Reward

Nicole Wilde  |  Tue, 05/08/2007 - 09:01

I just returned from a training appointment with one of my favorite clients. Cory and Carol are a forty-something couple who have a twelve-year-old son and a Golden Retriever named Vinnie. Perhaps it’s my Brooklyn roots, but the dog’s name strikes me as funny and adorable. The dog is both.

 

Protein Requirements in Senior Dogs - You Might be Surprised

Nicole Wilde  |  Thu, 04/26/2007 - 12:11

As a dog trainer, enthusiast and dog-mom, I try to keep up on the latest developments in canine behavior and health. In fact, I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to researching the latest findings. So imagine my surprise when I learned that what I and so many others had believed about older dogs needing less protein in their diets is untrue.

 

Dogs: The Pawsitive Force that Connects Us All

Nicole Wilde  |  Tue, 04/17/2007 - 14:20

I’m headed back to L.A. on a cross-country flight after presenting a seminar in New Jersey. It was great fun, and featured two other speakers as well, one of whom was Dog Star Daily’s own “International Roving Reporter,” Roger Abrantes. The audience was mostly made up of trainers, but also included shelter and rescue workers, petsitters, a few owners, and a veterinarian. We all had one thing in common—a love of dogs and a desire to help them.

 

Puppy Prodigies

Nicole Wilde  |  Tue, 04/10/2007 - 07:59

I am blown away. I have just come from visiting a web site that showed videos of very young puppies being trained. You’re probably thinking “young” means four months old, maybe even three. But nooo! These puppies started their training at the age of 20 days. For those of you just waking up and not wanting to do the math, that’s just under three weeks!

 

Pages

Subscribe to The Dog Blog
The Behavior Problems Crash Course. Free on Dunbar Academy