Another great article by eileenanddogs, I decided a while back to teach my dogs to cross their paws as a trick. I followed the instructions on one of Emily Larlham’s excellent videos: Dog Tricks Tutorial: Cross Your Paws. But I didn’t end up making the neat, quick progression shown in the movie when I tried it with my dog Summer. I think that besides my rather clumsy [...]

by Annie Phenix, CPDT-KA A good dentist makes me feel safe and keeps his word that he will not cause pain -- and that's exactly how a good trainer teaches a dog. Like many of you, I hate going to the dentist. I actually like my current dentist as a person, but I hate what his profession represents to me: pain. His name is Dr. Greg [...]

by Susan Nilson At times, with all the cruelty and destruction in the world, it can seem disheartening for pet professionals who are trying to make a stand for animals, to be their voice and ensure they get the best care possible and are never subjected to pain and suffering along the way. While there is still great resistance from many quarters regarding the power [...]

A great blog by The Dog Zombie We don’t actually know how behavior medications work. We know how they change the operations of cells — for example, we know facts like “this medication makes cells slower to recycle this particular chemical.” But we don’t have a good idea of how those cellular-level changes result in behavior-level changes. We don’t know how these medications make individuals [...]

By Eileen Anderson What if your dog’s cue for a behavior is not what you think it is? Can you be sure–absolutely sure–that the dog really understands what you want? That’s another place where punishment based training can really go awry. How often are dogs punished for failing to perform when they just don’t understand? I think it’s much more often than most people realize. My dogs [...]

Here is a fascinating blog by Professional Trainer Pam Hogel hosted by the Pet Professional Guild! New research on play is analyzed and discussed. "Dogs’ play behavior has, over time, been attributed to a variety of factors. It provides puppies practice for adult behaviors. Play with humans is about “dominance.” Play with other dogs is about “dominance” or “status.” It’s a replacement behavior for hunting [...]

By Brenna Fender The Canine Good Citizen (CGC) title has been around for many years, but the American Kennel Club has also created additional levels to this very practical title. AKC Community Canine (CGCA) is considered to be the “advanced level” of the CGC, and the AKC Urban Canine Good Citizen (CGCU) “requires that the dog demonstrate CGC skills and beyond in an urban setting,” [...]

Here is another fantastic blog by Eileen and Dogs. As usual Eileen Anderson does a great job explaining a complicated concept. Natural vs. Contrived Negative Reinforcement Posted on July 30, 2015 by Eileen Anderson I read the following online the other day: People shouldn’t object to the use of negative reinforcement! It’s just stuff like washing my hands when they are dirty or drying them when [...]

Today we are recommending a blog called Dog Zombie which contains fascinating info. Click here to subscribe Happy blog reading!