Blog Archives

When science and dog training come together – SPARCS 2014

Dog lovers from all walks of life are often convinced that they have a fairly strong understanding of dog behavior. From the dog guardians to the dog professionals, most feel confident about interpreting canine behavior and are quick at dispensing

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, Educational, Misc, science

Is your body language helping or confusing your animal?

Humans and their pets understand one another on many basic levels. We can even extend this statement and recognize that we are capable of a certain level of interpretation of the intentions of wild species. We can identify most expressions

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, emotions, Horse, Misc, science

Dog barking: different types and treatments

Barking is loud, obnoxious, irritating and is very hard to tolerate. It’s meant to be! When a baby cries, we feel an insurmountable urge to do something about it. In the same way, when our dog barks, we’re compelled to

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, emotions, Fear, Misc, Psychology, Separation anxiety

Reactivity and Aggression in dogs – Managing and Treating

It’s hard to enjoy a walk in the park, when we know our beloved companion can suddenly turn into Cujo at the first sight of a strange dog or a jogger. Not only do we have to face the challenge

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, emotions, Fear, Positive Animal Training, Psychology

Learning theory basics – Part 2: Operant conditioning: if it works do it again!

Just waking up from a nap, the 2 month old puppy is now replenished and full of energy. Since he’s locked up in a crate, little Jake starts vocalizing and scratching at the door. Thankfully, Coleen, hearing her pup in

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Posted in Bob Bailey, Dog behavior, Dog training, Educational, Learning theory, Psychology, science

Learning theory basics, part 1- Classical conditioning in dogs: beyond the training session

Most of us have heard of classical conditioning. Pavlov demonstrated how a neutral stimulus could become meaningful to a dog when followed by something that elicits a natural response. So when a bell, meaningless in itself, is consistently followed with

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Posted in Bob Bailey, Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, Learning theory

Training ‘Do As I Do’: Fun and Efficient!

Through interactions with the world, animals learn that certain actions lead to pleasant or unpleasant consequences. Most of our training theory revolves around our ability to manipulate the animals’ environment to reinforce certain behaviors rather than others. However, not all

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Positive Animal Training, science, Training tools

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

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Psychology, Resource, Technology, Training tools

Generalization in dogs and humans – the difference is in the brain

My dog sits perfectly during the training sessions, but looks at me with a blank stare when I ask her to sit when we’re in the park. Why is it that dogs can’t figure out that ‘sit’ in my house

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Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Educational, Psychology, science

When is controlling our dog too controlling?

When teachers, psychologists and parents are asked which methods are more acceptable when teaching our children, they consistently prefer a positive-reinforcement based approach over the use of punishment. A punitive approach to behavior is not only less effective, but it

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Posted in Children, Dog behavior, Dog training, Dog/human relationship, Positive Animal Training
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