Dr. Ian Dunbar

idunbar2.jpg

Dr. Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian, animal behaviorist, and writer. He received his veterinary degree and a Special Honors degree in Physiology & Biochemistry from the Royal Veterinary College (London University) and a doctorate in animal behavior from the Psychology Department at the University of California in Berkeley, where he spent ten years researching olfactory communication, the development of hierarchical social behavior, and aggression in domestic dogs.

Dr. Dunbar is a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the International Society for Applied Ethology, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, the California Veterinary Medical Association, the Sierra Veterinary Medical Association, and the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (which he founded).

Dr. Dunbar joined the Society for Veterinary Ethology (now the International Society for Applied Ethology) over 35 years ago, at which time he was the only member specializing in dog and cat behavior problems. Later he was involved in the establishment of the American SVE (now the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior).

He has written numerous books, including How To Teach A New Dog Old Tricks, the Good Little Dog Book and a series of Behavior Booklets—separate educational booklets on each of the most common pet behavior problems. Additionally, he has hosted eleven videotapes on puppy/dog behavior and training, including SIRIUS® Puppy Training, Training Dogs With Dunbar and Every Picture Tells A Story. All of his videos have won a variety of awards. The famous SIRIUS Puppy Training video (the first dog training video ever produced) remains the all-time best selling dog video. For three years running the SIRIUS® video has always been voted the #1 BEST DOG TRAINING VIDEO by the Association of Pet Dog trainers-the largest and most influential association of dog trainers in the world. His books and DVDs can be found at: James and Kenneth

Before SIRIUS® Puppy Training Classes there were simply no puppy classes-Dr. Dunbar developed them in 1981.

Certainly, the SIRIUS® Puppy Training video had a dramatic influence on the pet dog fancy, completely changing the way dogs are trained in a number of countries around the world. Dr. Dunbar’s unique lure/reward, off-leash training techniques provided a delightful alternative to inane and inhumane leash jerking. In a sense, SIRIUS took the jerks out of training. SIRIUS techniques have been adopted and adapted by most thinking and caring dog trainers worldwide. For more information go to: Sirius Puppy Training

Dr. Dunbar was invited to develop and write (for over seven years) the American Kennel Club's Gazette "Behavior" column, which was voted Best Dog Column for a number of years in succession by the Dog Writers' Association of America.

In 1993, Dr. Dunbar founded the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) APDT in the United States and organized the first two Annual Conferences. Dr. Dunbar's current project is the creation of the K9 GAMES®-an exciting spectator event featuring fast-moving, motivating, competitive games for dogs and owners.

He has been lecturing to veterinarians and dog clubs for over thirty years. In fact, since 1986 he has conducted over 800 days of seminar and workshop for trainers and veterinarians around the world. There are very few educated trainers who have not been strongly influenced by Dr. Dunbar's fun & games, from-the-animal's-point-of-view, dog friendly dog training.

Dr. Dunbar is peerless in his field; there is simply no other person who has his qualifications, experience, and expertise in the realm of modern psychological dog training and behavior counseling-fields which Dr. Dunbar has played a major role in developing over the past 25 years. 

Dr. Dunbar's books, CDs and DVDs are available from the DogStarDaily online digital store.
Also, many of Dr. Dunbar's multi-day seminars for dog trainers and
veterinarians are available on DVD from Tawzer Dog Videos, and
his "Give Them A Scalpet and They Will Dissect A Kiss: Dog Training
Past, Present and Future
" lecture is available from Dogwise.


Dr. Dunbar's Upcoming Seminars & Appearances

Products from Dr. Ian Dunbar

Blog posts by Dr. Ian Dunbar

Housebreaking A Puppy

Housebreaking Tips: Does rubbing a dog's nose in it's mess teach a dog where to eliminate?

I received a question today from one of my Udemy SIRIUS® Academy students: “What do you say when a client tells you, in regards to puppy housebreaking, "Well I rubbed my dog's nose in his poop and he knew he was wrong and he never pooped in the house again."

The Universe Verse on Kickstarter.com

Jamie's amazing Universe Verse Book - Get it now for free!

I love science, especially the behavioral sciences. That’s why I couldn’t be happier to announce that my baby boy, Jamie, has finished his epic ode to science, a project he’s been working on for over 7 years! 

10 Tips For Current and Future Puppy Owners That Want to Train the Perfect Dog

For a limited time you can use the promo code "10tips" to save 50% on Dr. Ian Dunbar's comprehensive Online Course How To Train a Puppy


General Dog Training Tips

1. Choose Wisely When Selecting Your Future Pup

Embedded thumbnail for A workshop with Ian Dunbar: Solving "impossible" off-leash, real-life behavior problems, real-time.

A workshop with Ian Dunbar: Solving "impossible" off-leash, real-life behavior problems, real-time.

In this vlog post Ian Dunbar describes one of his latest workhops and what he most enjoys about teaching people and dogs in this format. He loves bringing "impossible" problem behaviors into the workhop and resolving them in real time. He teaches handlers how to quanitfy progress, test reliability, and improve performace vastly. This put the responsibility of reliability and performance on the handler and on training, rather than on the dog.

 

Pet Food and Canine Nutrition: Best Brands

I just read the Independent Pet Food Nutrition Research Study by John Martinez based on a modification to Goldstein’s Wellness & Longevity Program — Natural Care for Dogs & Cats.

Puppy Classes And Canine Parvovirus

I have just read a paper in the March/April issue of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association describing a study that concluded, puppies vaccinated at least once prior to starting puppy classes at less than 16 weeks of age were at no more risk of being diagnosed with Canine Parvovirus infection than vaccinated puppies that did not attend classes.

The study comprised two parts:

Jack Russell Terriers Sitting

He Won't Sit Still for a Second: Quantifying Success in Dog Training

Years ago after a puppy class, a frustrated owner (of a Jack Russell Terrier) complained that her puppy wouldn’t sit still for a second. I got out my stopwatch and checked. She was quite correct; the puppy only sat for 0.2 of a second. I wrote the number on a sheet of paper and stuck it on the wall. On the fourth trial though, the JRT proved her wrong and sat for 1.2 seconds. I wrote the dog’s new personal best on the sheet of paper. Baby steps? Yes.

Embedded thumbnail for My Call To Action

My Call To Action

I've got a plan to help keep puppies from ever become shelter dogs in the first place. But I need your help to make it happen. In this vlog I explain how The SIRIUS Puppy Initiative works. 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUPPY TRAINING: TIME FOR ANOTHER PARADIGM SHIFT IN PUPPY RAISING

This January we celebrate the 30th birthday of off-leash puppy classes. Happy Birthday SIRIUS® Puppy Training! It’s hard to believe that I taught the world’s very first off-leash, puppy socialization and training classes thirty years ago at Live Oak Park in Berkeley (where SIRIUS classes are still held to this day). Basically, I started SIRIUS simply because I wanted a local puppy school for my Alaskan Malamute puppy, Omaha. After ten years researching dog developmental behavior at UC Berkeley, I was well aware of the critically important and permanent effects of early socialization and of science-based training techniques and I certainly didn’t want Omaha’s schooling to be put on hold until he was an adult. Little did I know that SIRIUS puppy classes would change the way that pet dogs are trained worldwide.

 

 
Ian Dunbar with his American Bulldog, Dune

The Force In Dog Training

What I find so fascinating about dog training is that even after 40 years in the field, I still get so thoroughly excited about new innovations. Animal training continues to be a rapidly evolving field. Off-leash puppy socialization and training classes caused a paradigm shift in obedience training — creating a new and separate field of pet dog training. Lure/reward techniques introduced science-based principles and the subsequent rapid rise in popularity of clicker training prompted many trainers to embrace the study of learning theory. And now, I think we are approaching an additional tipping point and are about to take yet another quantum leap that redefines dog training.

 

 

Pages

Subscribe to The Dog Blog
Need CEUs? Get 70+ CEUs for just $20/month