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…
Blog Archives
Reactivity and Aggression in dogs – Managing and Treating
Tagged with: Animal training, dog aggression, dog reactivity, Dog training, dog walk, dogs, Jennifer Cattet, leash walking, reactivity, Smart Animal Training Systems
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, emotions, Fear, Positive Animal Training, Psychology
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, emotions, Fear, Positive Animal Training, Psychology
Behavior momentum: increasing efficiency in training
Regardless of what species we’re referring to, whether human, dog, horse, dolphin or bird, when teaching something new, the easier we can make the training session, the better the results. If a dog or a child feels successful, their desire…
Tagged with: Animal training, Behavior, behavior momentum, Behaviorism, clicker training, Dog, Jennifer Cattet, Smart Animal Training Systems
Posted in Dog training, Learning theory, Misc, Psychology, science
Posted in Dog training, Learning theory, Misc, Psychology, science
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…
Our dogs love us – the proof is in the nose!
Dogs and humans live together, play together, show affection, communicate and love each other. We develop deep bonds with one another and feel that we understand each other fairly well. Yet, when we look closely into the world of senses,…
Tagged with: dog love, dog MRI, dog nose, dog sense, dog smell, human dog bond, Jennifer Cattet, olfaction, Smart Animal Training Systems
Posted in Dog/human relationship, Psychology, science
Posted in Dog/human relationship, Psychology, science
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
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…
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…
Tagged with: Animal training, clicker training, do as I do, Dog, Dog training, imitation, Jennifer Cattet, Smart Animal Training Systems
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Positive Animal Training, science, Training tools
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog training, Positive Animal Training, science, Training tools
Dominance and pack leadership in dogs – Controversial and still misunderstood
If there is one subject that has been beat to death in the dog world, it’s certainly the notion of pack hierarchy in dogs! For the longest time everything was about leadership. Most dog behavior problems were interpreted as a…
Tagged with: Dog, dog behavior, Dog GPS, Dog study, dog walk, dog walking, dogs, dominance, Jennifer Cattet, leadership, Smart Animal Training Systems
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Psychology, science
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, Psychology, 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
Social referencing: we influence how our dog sees the world
When we’re unsure about a novel situation, our first response is to look around and check how others are reacting. This behavior is easy to spot when watching hidden camera TV shows where a person faced with an ambiguous situation…
Tagged with: Animal training, Dog, human dog bond, Jennifer Cattet, Smart Animal Training Systems, social referencing
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, emotions, Fear, Psychology, science
Posted in Dog behavior, Dog/human relationship, emotions, Fear, Psychology, science