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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…