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AN OPEN LETTER TO THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT REGARDING THE USE OF SHOCK IN DOG TRAINING

    AN OPEN LETTER TO THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT REGARDING THE USE OF SHOCK IN DOG TRAINING To download this as a PDF Click here   The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) believes unequivocally that the pet-owning general public needs - and deserves - to have increased access to better ...

Shaping without a Clicker

Most trainers agree that if there is one thing that the tool called a clicker is useful for in particular, it is for shaping behavior. Shaping consists of marking and reinforcing successive approximations towards a goal behavior. When shaping, the trainer can find herself needing to mark very ...

Learning by Observation

This is a really exciting time to be a canine professional. Dogs have come to the forefront in research, giving us new information about how they learn as well as their cognitive abilities. This new data allows trainers and behaviorists to influence canine learning and explain behavior using ...

Hello, May I Have Your Attention?

We’ve all been there, sitting in the audience waiting for the guest speaker to come on stage. Or it could be at a wedding or even a classroom. The crowd is talking, laughing in a collective rumble, when suddenly someone notices that the speaker is on stage, waiting patiently for everyone to ...

Six Ways to Prepare Your Dog for Fireworks

Oh no. Noisy holiday rolling around again, and your dog is scared of fireworks? Even though it’s just a few days before the holiday, you can make a plan and take action to help your dog be a bit less afraid of the unpredictable scary sounds of fireworks, firecrackers, whistles, and even ...

Misconceptions of Counterconditioning Leash Reactive Dogs

Misconception #1 – Feeding a dog when they are barking or fearful reinforces the fear. Absolutely not true. You can only cause more fear by implementing more fear or pain. Fear trumps food, so if the dog is taking the food, they are not that fearful. The food is not the focus of the on leash ...

Wanna Play?

Humans and dogs love to play together; from recent research, it seems that this shared love for play has been a key element in shaping our close bond. While there is still a question as to whether shared play creates a solid relationship between a person and a dog or it merely adds to an ...

Not All “Choices” Are Equal

Shout-outs to Companion Animal Psychology for the post, The Right to Walk Away” which covers the effects of offering that particular choice in animal experiments, and encourages us to apply the concept to our animals’ lives. Also to Yvette Van Veen for her piece,  “A” Sucks “B” Stinks What ...