From Auspicious Beginnings to a Hard-won Solution – Malena DeMartini My second client ever (circa 2001) was a separation anxiety case. The dog’s name was Guinness, like the beer, and his guardians had found him sickly and tattered, scavenging for…
Blog Archives
Separation Anxiety: The Forgotten Stepchild We Can No Longer Ignore
Separation Anxiety: The Forgotten Stepchild We Can No Longer Ignore Each morning when I fire up my computer, the eager ding of incoming emails greets me and I know to expect at least one new inquiry — if not three…
Tagged with: Dog training, separation anxiety, Technology, Training
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, Educational, emotions, Positive Animal Training, Psychology, Separation anxiety, Technology, Training tools
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, Educational, emotions, Positive Animal Training, Psychology, Separation anxiety, Technology, Training tools
Why getting your dog excited may affect your training session
“Rover, come!” shouted in a high pitch excited voice is likely to get a faster and more enthusiastic response than the same words expressed in a monotone, low key fashion. Most trainers rely at least at certain times, on how…
Dog play: what’s the purpose?
While most species gradually stop playing as they grow into adulthood, our beloved pooches never seem to stop playing no matter how old they are. My 10 year old German Shepherd, Nala, still reacts like a puppy when an opportunity…
Tagged with: Dog, dog behavior, dog play, human dog bond, Jennifer Cattet, Pet Tutor, Smart Animal
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Misc, Psychology
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Misc, Psychology
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…
Tagged with: Animal training, Dog, dog owner, Dog training, dogs, human dog bond, Jennifer Cattet, neurotic, neuroticism, Pet, Pets, Smart Animal Training Systems
Posted in Dog/human relationship, emotions, Misc, Psychology
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…
Tagged with: calming signals, Dog, dog behavior, dogs, Ethology, Jennifer Cattet, Smart Animal Training Systems, stress signals, Turid Rugaas
Posted in Dog behavior, Educational, Fear, Misc, Psychology, science
Posted in Dog behavior, Educational, Fear, Misc, Psychology, science
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…
Tagged with: abandonment, Animal Madness, animal shelters, Behavior, Dog, dog behavior, dogs, fear, Jennifer Cattet, Smart Animal Training Systems
Posted in Dog behavior, emotions, Misc, Psychology, Separation anxiety
Posted in Dog behavior, emotions, Misc, Psychology, Separation anxiety
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…
Tagged with: Dog, dog behavior, dog petting, Dog physical contact, human dog bond, Jennifer Cattet, Pet Tutor, petting, petting a dog, Smart Animal Training Systems, touching a dog
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, emotions, Misc, Psychology
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…
Does the concept of dominance apply to dogs? Science says it does
Is there a behavioral concept that we can describe as dominance between dogs or between dogs and people? As I had mentioned in a previous blog “Dominance and pack leadership in dogs – Controversial and still misunderstood“, there seems to…
Tagged with: Cesar Millan, Dog, dog aggression, dog behavior, Dog training, dominance, hierarchy, Jennifer Cattet, Smart Animal
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Educational, Psychology, science, Wolves
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Educational, Psychology, science, Wolves