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…
Blog Archives
10 steps to getting a great dog from the shelter
Tagged with: abandonment, animal shelters, Dog, human dog bond, Jennifer Cattet, Smart Animal Training Systems
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, Misc, Resource, Shelter
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, Misc, Resource, Shelter
How Do Dogs Think? The Scientific Revolution in Dog Intelligence
When I first started to study dogs from a scientific perspective, finding research on canine behavior was a long and difficult task. It wasn’t just because at the time we didn’t have Internet and most of the publications had to…
Tagged with: Dog, dog cognition, dog cognition center, dog cognition labs, dog research, dog studies, Jennifer Cattet, Smart Animal Training Systems
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Educational, Psychology, Resource, science
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Educational, Psychology, Resource, science
Enrichment – 8 easy ways to increase your dog’s quality of life
When we compare the lives of wild animals to that of our pets, there is a striking difference in their activity levels. Dogs, cats, birds, hamsters and gerbils of all sorts, spend a large part of their days just lying…
Tagged with: Animal training, Dog, Dog training, enrichment, human dog bond, Jennifer Cattet, Smart Animal Training Systems, Technology
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Psychology, Resource, Technology, Training tools
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Psychology, Resource, Technology, Training tools
Animal Abuse, Training and “The Dark Triad”
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
Posted in Dog training, News, Psychology, Resource
Dog crates dens or prisons?
Over the past decade or so, dog crates have become a must have piece of equipment for all dog owners. Trainers and pet stores have done a great job at promoting its use and most dog lovers today have adopted…
Tagged with: crate training, dog crate, Dog training, Jennifer Cattet, leaving dog alone, puppy crate, separation anxiety
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Positive Animal Training, Resource
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Positive Animal Training, Resource
Confidence – the key ingredient to successful training
When the dog pays attention, a walk in the park or a training exercise are easy, fun and rewarding. When the dog spends the majority of the time looking for anything else to do besides focusing on the human, the…
Tagged with: Animal training, clicker training, Dog, dog handling, Jennifer Cattet, leash walking, reward based training, Smart Animal
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Positive Animal Training, Resource
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Positive Animal Training, Resource
Yielding to pressure – From horses to dogs, an example of negative reinforcement
When teaching dogs new behaviors, we mostly focus on positive reinforcement, in other words, on adding something to the situation that will increase the chances of a particular behavior or aspect of a behavior to occur. Giving the dog a…
6 ways to prepare your dog to meet the new baby
Dogs are a wonderful addition to any household and growing up with a dog provides a child with valuable learning experiences about respect and care of another being. Most of all, growing up with a dog can be fun and…
Tagged with: Animal training, baby, Behavior, dog and baby, dogs, Jennifer Cattet, reward based training, Smart Animal
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Positive Animal Training, Resource
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Positive Animal Training, Resource
10 effective ways to help our dogs feel safe
Barking, aggression, destruction, separation anxiety, resource guarding, … Many behavior issues that directly affect the dogs welfare can be attributed to stress and fear. These emotions dominate the dog’s life experience and are often responsible for the human/dog relationship breakdown.…
Tagged with: aggression, Behavior, Dog, dog aggression, dogs, fear, human dog bond, Jennifer Cattet, reward based training, stress
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Positive Animal Training, Resource, science
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Positive Animal Training, Resource, science
Punishment affects both the dog and the owner
Reward based training methods are slowly gaining in popularity among dog professionals including: trainers, veterinarians and behaviorists. But popular beliefs about the value of punishing for so-called ‘bad’ behaviors still run strong. In a society where we justify scolding, handing…
Tagged with: Animal training, clicker training, Dog, dogs, Jennifer Cattet, prison dog training, reward based training
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Positive Animal Training, Resource, science
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Positive Animal Training, Resource, science