Blog Archives

New findings on shock collars: why the UK wants to ban them

Posted on by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D. — 97 Comments ↓

In the dog world, few subjects are as controversial as the debate on shock collars (electronic or e-collars). Advocates for their use claim that such devices don’t hurt but mostly emit an unpleasant vibration. They’re often the last resort for dogs…

Animal Abuse, Training and “The Dark Triad”

Posted on by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D. — 2 Comments ↓

I was recently reminded of how insensitive and cruel some people could be with the account of a trainer who had muzzled and hung a dog in order to teach him to accept his toenails trimmed. Despite criminal sentences for…

Tagged with: Animal abuse, animal cruelty, Dark Triad, human dog bond, Jennifer Cattet
Posted in Dog training, News, Psychology, Resource

Could we soon have a conversation with our dog?

Posted on by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D. — 1 Comment ↓

As dog lovers it’s quite obvious that we communicate with our dogs. At the very least, they react to our body language and emotions in ways that indicate they understand our intentions and moods. How much and what we actually…

Tagged with: Dog, dog cognition, dog communication, Jennifer Cattet, Technology
Posted in Dog behavior, Educational, News, Resource, science, Technology

Blah, blah, blah… Do dogs understand anything we say?

Posted on by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D. — 1 Comment ↓

‘Do you want to go out for a walk?’ ‘Sit, sit, sit, I know you know how to do this, SIT, good boy, good doggy’. ‘Did you take my shoe? Rover, fess up! I know you did it!’ ‘Stop jumping…

To use or not to use high value treats…

Posted on by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D. — 3 Comments ↓

Most owners and trainers frequently rely on high value treats when working with their dog. We may use them to get better focus during dog classes, more motivation when working outdoors and they generally help us work through the more…

The importance of preparing animals for the vet

Posted on by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D. — 12 Comments ↓

Until recently, it was believed that animals didn’t feel pain or that they felt it differently than we do. In the past decade, research has shown that this simply isn’t true. Our pets definitely feel pain! We have stress when…

We just can’t resist puppies! Why?

Posted on by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D. — 2 Comments ↓

Puppies are like gremlins. They bite everything in sight, including our hands, pant legs and favorite shoes. They pee all the time, chase after every moving object, and just like human toddlers are a ton of work! Yet, for some…

Tagged with: cute, Dog, dog cognition, Ethology, Jennifer Cattet, Konrad Lorenz, puppies, puppy, Smart Animal
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Fun, News, Resource, science

The joy of shaping

Posted on by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D. — No Comments ↓

There are few things more exciting for a trainer than working with a dog on shaping a new behavior through clicker training. From teaching the dog to lie down on his bed, to retrieving objects, or flipping a light switch…

Easy Potty-Training Instead of Housebreaking.

Posted on by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D. — 2 Comments ↓

Teaching a dog good potty habits as well as house manners in general, is about making sure he’ll develop the habits of behavior that we’re looking for(the opposite approach of ‘housebreaking’ uses punishment). Building strong habits is no different than…

Spatial navigation – how dogs find their way

Posted on by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D. — 1 Comment ↓

Vanessa Woods and Brian Hare surprised me the other day with the drawing they had published in their book ‘The Genius of Dogs’, about one of the experiments I had worked on with the Geneva University in Switzerland (fig.1). I wanted to write about those experiments for…