Blog Archives

I’m a woman and I love dogs – am I neurotic?

One out of five women score high in neuroticism. Anxiety, fear, worry, envy, frustration, jealousy, moodiness, anger and depression characterize people who score high in this personality dimension. They are more easily stressed out, have a higher tendency to being

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Posted in Dog/human relationship, emotions, Misc, Psychology

Calming signals- Are they truly signals or calming?

Calming signals is a term brought forth by Norwegian dog trainer Turid Rugaas (2005) to describe behaviors that dogs display when trying to calm down a situation. In animals living in groups, it’s important to have ways of communication that

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Posted in Dog behavior, Educational, Fear, Misc, Psychology, science

2014 – The first Pet Technology Conference

Just 10 years ago, who would of thought we could hold an entire conference on technology in the pet industry? We have crossed the Rubicon earlier this month in Silicon Valley, home of many of the largest technology corporations. Innovations

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Posted in Dog training, Dog/human relationship, Misc, Positive Animal Training, science, Separation anxiety, Technology, Training tools

10 steps to getting a great dog from the shelter

I train service dogs for a living. Where do I get my dogs? From the local shelters! 100% of the dogs that we train and place as service dogs come predominantly from the local Humane Societies and rescue groups and have

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, Misc, Resource, Shelter

Animal Madness – A review of Laurel Braitman’s insightful new book

“Given my choice, I would almost always choose to be a feral dog. Maybe you don’t live as long, maybe you don’t have shots, maybe you have mange, but I would choose that in a hot second over waiting for

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Posted in Dog behavior, emotions, Misc, Psychology, Separation anxiety

The rise of Petnologies

The 21st century has certainly marked a turn in the development and use of technology. Most of us carry in our pockets a miniaturized computer allowing us everything from calling others, to checking our email, our stocks and the weather

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Posted in Misc, Positive Animal Training, science, Technology, Training tools

The Insider’s Secrets to Teaching Words to Dogs

For as long as humans have lived with animals, we’ve fantasized about being able to hold conversations with them. Throughout much of the traditional literature we can find people and animals talking together, from Eve and the serpent in the

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, Learning theory, Misc

5 loving ways to pet a dog

We’ve all heard of the many health benefits of owning a dog; from reducing our blood pressure and heart rate to increasing our immune system. Being in the presence of a dog or better, touching and petting a dog is

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, emotions, Misc, Psychology

Acts of punishment are stronger than rewards

We sometimes assume that choosing punishment or rewards in training is merely a matter of personal preferences. We use the tools that we deem the most effective, and that we have grown proficient with. If we can teach a dog

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, emotions, Fear, Misc, Positive Animal Training, Psychology

Shelter dogs: studies highlight why some are adopted, others aren’t

The leading cause of death of our companion dogs is euthanasia in shelters. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), about 60% of dogs entering shelters are euthanized (ASPCA 2011). Some of these dogs

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Misc, Shelter
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