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Buyer Beware! On Abusers in "Expert's" Clothing

Casey Lomonaco ...  |  Sat, 10/10/2009 - 22:22

"Thank you for calling Rewarding Behaviors.  This is Casey, how may I help you?"

"Hi Casey.  I have a small breed rescue dog.  I'm hoping you can help us.  She screams whenever we put the leash on her."

"When did you start noticing this behavior?"

"About three or four months ago.  We've had her for nine months now.  When we first got her, we would clip the leash on her and she wouldn't move.  She would just freeze in place, put her butt down on the ground."

"So what changed three or four months ago?"

The answer to my question reminded me of all the many times I've heard the phrase "don't ask questions if you would rather not know the answer."

The client informed me that three or four months ago, she had hired a "behaviorist."  She employed this behaviorist specifically to address the issue of her dog freezing on the leash, not moving forward.

 

Assessing a Social Interaction

Nicole S. Silvers  |  Fri, 10/09/2009 - 07:37

Social interactions seems to generate significant anxiety among dog owners, and even some trainers.   Reducing anxiety is not an easy task, whether in humans or dogs!  I believe (though I have no research yet to support this claim) that the anxiety of the human can be misread by the dog.  Humans under stress exhibit a few physiological "tells" that dogs may be able to identify:  increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, increased perspiration, as well as unique patterns of movement -- stiffer, more awkward, more hesitations. 

Unfortunately, very rarely will you get to observe your dog in a social situation without YOU! 

When a leashed social interaction takes place, there are at least 4 variables, not the commonly recognized 2.  There are at least 2 humans, and at least 2 dogs.  ALL of these components are present.

 

DSD is becoming very popular in Ireland

Tara Choules  |  Wed, 10/07/2009 - 10:47

Denise Cox owner of Irish Animals on the net is an Email Newsletter Specialist and has extensive knowledge in email marketing - from best practice, marketing know-how to writing content that works. Named a Net Visionary in 2002, Denise has been involved in email marketing since 1996 and provides practical consultancy to Newsweaver's clients, enabling them to maximise their investment in email.

Denise has her own email marketing blog email matters! and also publishes The Business of Email – one of Europe's leading email newsletters specialising in email marketing. She is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars, as well as a contributor to publications on the subject of email marketing.

 

What It's Like to be my "Dog" during Salsa Dancing

Lisa Spector  |  Wed, 10/07/2009 - 08:01

It’s not like I dress in a dog costume or anything silly. But, I was reflecting on my salsa dance class (probably my favorite 90 minutes of the week aside from my dog agility class) and what it’s like to be a “follower”. In salsa dancing, it’s called “leader” and “follower”. In dog agility, it’s called “handler” and “dog”. Since I’m female, I’m the follower in salsa, which makes me the equivalent of a “dog” in agility. Both activities require partnership with clear communication, yet very little of it being verbal. While agility and salsa dancing couldn’t be more contrasting, because of salsa dancing, I gained some awareness of how my dog thinks.

 
A little angel

Six ways to change your dog's behavior now

Eric Goebelbecker  |  Wed, 10/07/2009 - 04:53

Is your dog making you crazy? Are you dealing with jumping up, chewing, barking or pulling on leash? Maybe all of the above? Or are those four things just the tip of the iceberg?

Here's 6 things you can do right to change your dog's behavior now:

 
Karen wild dog trainer

'Special Dog' Blog - The Coco Academy

Karen Wild  |  Sat, 10/03/2009 - 00:30

I’m in a classroom with 5 teenagers, one other adult and a faintly bemused Chocolate Labrador. Each of us (apart from the dog of course) has a highly scented, wine-coloured plastic bag over one hand. Giggles ensue as we attempt to collect an object from the table using the bag-covered hand with minimum effort, maximum dexterity. The bag is then turned inside out, without dropping the contents, and is tied at the top with equal concentration. Welcome to ‘The Coco Academy’.

 

ANIMAL TRAINING DIARY - SHEDDS AQUARIUM – Part 2

Chirag Patel  |  Fri, 10/02/2009 - 13:23

Goosebumps, The rest of my Shedd experience was AMAZING!!!!

In my last blog I talked about some of the fantastic training that was taking place at the aquarium. During the rest of the course I got to see and learn more about these.

Imagine teaching one dolphin to jump 6 foot out of the water, now think about teaching three dolphins to do this all together (at the same time) and if that wasn’t enough now consider how you would teach these dolphins to do the above in addition to teaching them all to faced one direction (the audience) and to always remain a certain distance from any physical barrier so that they would not injure themselves.

Mind-boggling???

What was even more inspiring and wonderful was to watch and understand the training methods & philosophies that the aquarium takes to animal training and care. I get goosebumps just thinking about it!

 

Is NILIF Nasty?

Kelly Gorman Dunbar  |  Thu, 10/01/2009 - 17:54

Recently I read a piece that lumped NILIF into the “nasty” category of dog training tools. My initial response was, "that’s preposterous"! But then I got to thinking…

The article mentioned, among other things, that using NILIF is stressful “because the dog loses all predictability and routine in his life, and loses all control of access to all of the rewarding elements of his life”.

The article also unhappily implied that NILIF is a rank reduction program based on the (faulty) belief that dogs need humans to be a surrogate “pack leader” or alpha in order to respect us enough to “follow our orders”.  

You may ask, what is NILIF?

 

On The Road Again

Dr. Ian Dunbar  |  Wed, 09/30/2009 - 14:39

This year, I have resumed giving multi-day seminars in the States. During the course of my protracted (ten-year) retirement from the US seminar circuit, I gave my very first last multi-day seminar in Orlando way back in 2001. Between 1998 and 2008, I gave only five multi-day seminars — three of them in Orlando and each one billed as my very last and final US retirement seminar. But now I’m back…

Between1986 and 1997, I gave hundreds of dog behavior and training seminars all over the States and around the world. During that decade, I averaged over 200 nights a year in hotels. The schedule was a bit grueling and my pets at the time, Phoenix, Oso, and Mittens thought I was a stranger.

 

Open Paw - Prevention, Possibilities and Public Education

Cindy Bruckart  |  Wed, 09/30/2009 - 13:56

 

We all know that there are too many dogs and cats in too many shelters across the country.  There is an army of volunteers trying to take care of these animals.  There are pet owners constantly adopting.  There are those of us with full houses who give our time and money to support shelters and adoption.  Yet, the animals keep coming in.

Monday night I had the great pleasure of talking to Kelly Gorman Dunbar about Open Paw on my weekly podcast.  It's my feeling that Open Paw is a truly unique program.

Open Paw seeks to not only help those animals in the shelters, but address the problem BEFORE a dog  or cat is relinquished by educating the pet-owning community and those who are thinking of becoming pet owners.

 

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