By Angelica Steinker When a dog is leaning into a person to initiate closer contact it indicates a “yes” © Can Stock Photo / miss_j Consent testing is the process of observing a dog’s body language to see if he is fine with whatever environmental change has been presented to him. It can be used informally or formally. Informal use would be during play or social interactions, when two dogs or a dog and a human are interacting. All the tester needs to do is observe if each party wants to interact. Formal consent testing is when a situation is staged and whereby the tester determines the dog’s de ..read more

By Gail Radtke Lanie’s calm temperament made her an ideal candidate (now retired) for the St. John Ambulance (SJA) therapy dog program in British Columbia © Gail Radtke In a previous article I wrote about how my dog, Lanie, became a St. John Ambulance (SJA) therapy dog in British Columbia, Canada (see The Miracle Mutt, BARKS from the Guild, October 2014, pp. 36-39). Lanie was a year old at the time and had a beautiful, friendly temperament. A friend suggested that we apply to the SJA program and I thought it would be the perfect outlet for her natural abilities. Although Lanie and I had alread ..read more

By Lara Joseph “Almost all aggressive behaviors I have seen in pigs have started out with the pig defending himself from humans or another animals. The signs of fear are subtle and the aggression that follows is preventable.” © Lara Joseph Mini, pocket and teacup are all adjectives used to describe pigs and are specifically designed to impart a certain image to any potential pet pig owner. What might one think of when one hears the word “mini?” ‘Something weighing under five pounds’ might come to mind, or ‘something that fits into a purse.’ While both considerations might be correct, when refe ..read more

Some dogs may be happier in a quiet area of the house during busy holiday festivities © Can Stock Photo / Gordo25 It can be so easy in all the madness and mayhem to overlook our dogs’ needs over the holiday period. Certainly, I always have an influx of inquiries at the beginning of a new year because a dog’s behavior has regressed in some way. Of course, we can’t expect ourselves to be ‘on it’ 100% of the time, every single second of the day – especially over periods like the holiday season. That’s only natural. But at the same time, there are things that we can do, small and easy steps that c ..read more

By Susan Nilson PPG launched its Advocacy Panel in August with the aim of supporting pet guardian education and making it accessible to a wider audience © Pet Professional Guild The Pet Professional Guild (PPG) Advocacy Panel was launched in August and has already held its first three sessions, where the panel discussed How To Best Advocate for Positive Reinforcement Methods, How to Reach and Work with Your Local Veterinarians, Your PPG Advocacy Panel at Work! Advocating to Let Dogs be Dogs, Cats be Cats, Equids Be Equids, and “Being Nicer” While Advocating (links to all podcasts and videos be ..read more

By Morag Heirs Shep’s owners were too busy for an energetic, intelligent border collie. His deafness was only part of the issue © Can Stock Photo/cynoclub Within my day to day life as a canine professional, I am regularly asked for advice on cases where standard training approaches seem to be failing. In some of these cases, deafness or visual impairment is also part of the picture. The case* I will talk about here illustrates a situation where deafness is just a single component in the jigsaw puzzle of any dog’s behavior, rather than the main explanatory variable. * Note: All names and any id ..read more

By Melissa Taylor  (Left to right) Owner Kate, Blake the dog, and behavior volunteer Laura practice cooperative vaccination, reducing stress associated with the procedure and making restraint unnecessary © Friends For Life Like many shelters, my shelter, Friends For Life Animal Shelter in Houston, Texas, relies heavily on volunteers to meet the needs of program animals. In 2019, our volunteers donated 21,046 hours – enough to replace 10 full-time employees. Every day, these generous individuals spend shifts walking dogs, playing with cats, and cleaning kennels, but they also devote much o ..read more

A little foresight goes a long, long way when it goes to welcoming a new puppy © kavita Welcoming a new pup into your household should be a time of absolute pure joy – he or she is a new family member after all, but sometimes it just turns into something akin to pure chaos, which is a shame. In many cases, the reason for this is simply not enough planning, a rash decision, or the heart ruling head. A new puppy is a living, breathing absolute commitment for, let’s say at least 12 years and, hopefully, a lot longer. So many times, I wish I could un-pick a few choices or decisions that have been ..read more

By Rachel Brix Truly dog-social dogs are usually the best fit for dog parks and it is important for owners to objectively assess and make decisions based on what type of dogs they have whether or not they would be successful in that type of environment © Rachel Brix The Experimental Dog Park at Ohlone Park in Berkley, California, which is generally acknowledged as the first leash-free American dog park, was created in 1979. Since then dogs parks have grown exponentially in popularity. According to the most recent report issued by the Trust for Public Land (TPL) (2019), dog parks “are among the ..read more

By Angelica Steinker Counterconditioning can only be successful when a dog feels safe and relaxed © Can Stock Photo/damedeeso A common criticism of counterconditioning is that it does not work. While there can be many reasons why a behavior modification protocol based on counterconditioning fails, it is, in fact, almost always user error. Here are four common reasons that cause counterconditioning to fail: Lack of a Global Safe Zone Counterconditioning is only successful when the dog who is supposed to be counterconditioned feels safe. There are two basic ways to know a dog feels safe: 1. The ..read more