Planet Canine, Cpdt-Ka

Planet Canine, Cpdt-Ka We emphasize positive reinforcement techniques to encourage good behavior and build trust.

11/27/2024

Bringing home a stressed rescue dog is difficult physically and emotionally. However, there is hope! Here are three simple things you can do to help your new dog become less fearful and more content.Stress is all-consuming, and abandonment (or losing their person some other way) followed by unsettle...

Black Friday is HERE! I am offering 4 special holiday pricing slots for in-home private obedience training! This sale on...
11/27/2024

Black Friday is HERE! I am offering 4 special holiday pricing slots for in-home private obedience training! This sale only happens once a year, so you don't want to miss out!

Are you struggling with pulling out on walks? What about begging at the table for those yummy holiday foods? Barking at guests at the door, or all those holiday gifts getting delivered?

This is the perfect package to tackle those naughty behaviors and start off on the right foot in the new year. Each session is one hour once a week with a custom tailored curriculum for you and your pup. This includes daily text communication for any questions you may have in between sessions.

Don't let those behaviors continue and build, let's stop the cycle together! Contact me at 302-265-4221 or send me a private message!

SLOTS:
1: Available
2: Available
3: Available
4: Available

11/27/2024
06/21/2024

September and onward bookings are now OPEN! These book up fast so don’t miss out!

🐾 Calling all dog lovers in the Milford, Harrington and Dover area! 🏠🐶

Tired of dealing with your furry friend's behavior challenges? Look no further! My expert in-home dog training service is here to help you and your pup find harmony together. 🐕✨

🔹 Personalized sessions tailored to your dog's needs
🔹 Experienced trainer with a passion for positive reinforcement
🔹 Convenient training in the comfort of your own home

Say goodbye to those pesky behavior problems and hello to a well-behaved, happy doggo! 🎉🐾 Contact me at (302) 643-2489 or plnetcanine.com to book your session today. Let's embark on a journey to a well-trained and joyful pup! 🐾❤️

06/15/2024

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

But it’s facts and evidence, not personal opinions that do matter, especially when you are a professional who teaches others.

With positive reinforcement there is an abundance of evidence that it’s the most effective, ethical and comprehensive approach. I happily provide such evidence to any of my clients who wish to broaden their knowledge.

So if someone tells you to use force, dominance, fear or pain (that includes the use of prong, choke or e collars) ask them to give you scientific evidence that states that those are absolutely necessary to train a dog.

They can’t? Well, there’s a surprise …

Happy Pride month everybody! 🌈✨ We’ve got some collars in stock for those interested❤️ 🧡💛💚🩵💜
06/05/2024

Happy Pride month everybody! 🌈✨ We’ve got some collars in stock for those interested❤️ 🧡💛💚🩵💜

05/24/2024

THE LOOK AWAY
Looking away is one of the calming signals in dog body language.

Just like a hard stare or prolonged eye contact may be a sign that a dog’s about to react, looking away is meant to calm a situation down.

The head position when looking away will vary – from side to side, holding in one position or subtle quick turns are all common variations, all while avoiding direct eye contact.

I have often watched in fascination when one of my dogs uses this form of communication with an insect! Her favourite thing to do is to hunt, catch and then play with a Parktown Prawn (King Cricket).

She means them no harm (I think) and just wants to engage in a game of how high can you jump before I can catch you.

She will carefully carry the cricket in her mouth without hurting it to the middle of the garden where there are no bushes where it may escape to.

After a quick play bow (from her, not the cricket!) the games begin. The game can go on for some time and when the cricket gets tired or plays dead, she will stop playing, sit quietly, avoid eye contact and keep looking away before starting the game again.

By this time, I usually feel really sorry for the cricket, will rescue it and put it out of reach, but I think this is a good example of how she uses the body language of looking away to try to calm the situation down, even if her intentions are completely selfish! I have no idea if the cricket understands what she is trying to communicate.

Body language can be subtle and fleeting, but with careful observation and knowing what to look for most of us can learn to recognize and interpret what our dogs are saying.

It’s always important to look at the context, the situation and especially what the rest of the body is doing when deciphering this amazing language.

Being able to understand a dog’s emotional state through their body language helps us to predict behaviour, prevent potential problems or allows us to just enjoy observing their language.

Hi all! I’m a professional dog trainer serving Sussex County! I offer obedience and behavior modification in home privat...
03/09/2024

Hi all! I’m a professional dog trainer serving Sussex County! I offer obedience and behavior modification in home private training. In anticipation of the nice weather

I’ve opened up some extra slots & have also now offer payment plans! 😊

I’d love to work with you this summer!

Teach confidence and curiosity with compassionate guidance and proven techniques. Say goodbye to anxious pacing and hello to tail-wagging!

02/21/2024

Working with dogs or in some sort of dog-related industry is a dream come true for many people. Unfortunately, an incredibly small percentage of those people take the time to learn about the dogs they love and work with. Instead, they rely on exposure to dogs as their expertise.

If you work or volunteer in a dog-related business, you should have a basic understanding of the following:

1. BODY LANGUAGE. If your description of body language is limited to dominant or submissive (or calm-assertive and the like), it's time to learn more about body language. Here’s a DVD I consider required viewing:

https://amzn.to/2vciSSS

Without it, you could be missing the signs that tell you a dog is frustrated instead of stubborn, afraid instead of dominant, or dangerously close to biting instead of “fine.”

2. HOW DOGS LEARN. I don’t care what methodology you subscribe to or what equipment you use, you damn well better understand the science behind what you're doing. This includes both classical (learning by association – affecting emotions) and operant conditioning (learning via consequences – affecting behaviors), which are in effect regardless of the method.

https://amzn.to/2OFMRKT

http://www.scienceofconsequences.com/

3. STRESS AND LEARNING. If you think a dog is dominant and not food-motivated because he “doesn’t listen,” and ignores a treat waved under his nose when encountering other dogs on walks, you need more information on how stress affects concentration and learning.

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/pets/dog-behavior/how-to-tell-when-your-dog-is-stressed

4. CHANGING BEHAVIOR. It doesn't take any knowledge or skill to drag a dog across a linoleum floor, but if you believe that a dog “gets used to” something by being exposed to or immersed in it, now is the time to learn what desensitization and counter-conditioning actually are.

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/introduction-to-desensitization-and-counterconditioning/131

5. How HEALTH affects behavior. Because sometimes a dog's refusal to sit or lie down is not defiance, but pain. And pain and discomfort increase stress. You don't have to be able to diagnose (nor should you, unless you are a veterinarian) a medical condition, but if you are giving training or behavior advice, you should be able to spot a potential health problem and/or recommend a veterinary exam.

6. MODERN METHODS. If you think that clicker training means carrying a clicker to get the dog to listen. If you think that dogs trained with food must see food before they will respond, it's time to learn how to use food rewards with skill. If you claim to use “whatever works,” then you should be open to adding capturing and shaping techniques to your training toolbox.

http://a.co/gfms5tx

STREAMING KNOWLEDGE

You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to attend days-long seminars like I have (and still do). The following organizations offer free and low-cost webinars on all of these topics and more:

www.4pawsuniversity.com

www.apdt.com

http://caabchats.com/list-of-chats/

www.centerforshelterdogs.com

http://www.dog-ibox.com/

www.petprofessionalguild.com

There is a service that delivers DVDs of seminars by top experts right to your door. Just like Netflix. They recently added 500 streaming titles to their collection, as well.

www.tawzerdog.com

KEEP LEARNING, DO BETTER

I've been in the world of dog training for fifteen years. I have worked with over 4,000 dogs and over 150 breeds. I've used "balanced" training. I've used prong collars and e-collars/shock collars, alpha rolls/dominance downs, collar grabs, scruff shakes, hard stares, leash corrections, verbal corrections, and more.

I don't use those methods any more. I don't need to. And the reason I don't need to is because, in spite of my belief that those methods and equipment were absolutely necessary with some dogs and in some cases, I loved learning and kept attending seminars, webinars, online courses, and workshops, as well as reading new books on learning and behavior.

And just when I think I'm at the top of my game, I read or watch something by animal trainers like Ken Ramirez, neuroscientists like Dr. Jaak Panskepp, biologists like Dr. Robert Sapolsky, and experts in psychology and learning like Dr. Susan Friedman. And I realize just how much more I can learn.

I made plenty of mistakes in my career. I look back on some of the things I wrote and recommended and cringe. We all do the best we can with the knowledge we have in the moment. The key is to keep expanding our knowledge so we can continually improve.

Choosing to maintain ignorance of these subjects only serves the ego. And egos don’t make for good dog trainers, vet techs, shelter directors, daycare employees, or rescue volunteers. More importantly, egos tend to become a priority over a dog’s quality of life. It’s hard and sometimes painful to admit that your knowledge may be outdated, that advice you’ve given could have been harmful, or that you’ve made life/death decisions about dogs that might have been wrong. I've done it. Any positive reinforcement trainer who has been in the business for over 10 years has done it.

You have a choice. To stay where you are and trust that your knowledge is sufficient, or to admit you might have more to learn. If you choose to move forward, try to forgive yourself as you learn. You can’t change the past, only the choices you make going forward.

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” ― Maya Angelou

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
This post is free to share on Facebook via the “Share” link. Downloading for redistribution online or in print form is strictly prohibited. ©2015 Lisa Mullinax. All rights reserved.

Introducing ✨Doberman Fields’ Mischief Managed “Kuromi” TKN VHMA✨Did you know you can earn titles right from home? 🏆💞Kur...
02/17/2024

Introducing ✨Doberman Fields’ Mischief Managed “Kuromi” TKN VHMA✨

Did you know you can earn titles right from home? 🏆💞

Kuromi earned her VHMA (Virtual Home Manners) and her TKN (Trick Dog Novice) last weekend and her ribbons just came in the mail! Her VHMA is not pictured but how CUTE is her TKN! Working towards titles are a great way to not only challenge your dogs brain but also build your bond! 🏅

Simply check out your desired titles checklist and filming rules & contact a AKC evaluator like myself!

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/sports/akc-titles-programs-can-home/

01/22/2024
01/22/2024

There are lots of videos appearing online at the moment showing 'trainers' who clearly do or know none of these things. Let's join together to be better. Let's be educated and NICE to dogs.

talk to us about joining NICE!

01/20/2024

Two weeks ago I had the privilege to witness the defense of a PhD thesis at Utrecht University, written by a dear friend, Elian Hattinga van 't Sant. Her deep research (years of hard work!) concerned the origin and the evolution of the construct of 'dominance' and its role in scientific study of Animal Behaviour (especially of dogs, monkeys and apes.)

I just finished reading her entire thesis (almost 500 pages, it's a thick book) and I was so impressed. It was also a little bit unsettling to have confirmed just how accurate this cartoon of mine (that I drew in 2015) turned out to be.

I hope many people are going to be able to read her entire thesis in the future. It is pretty mind blowing.
The scientific abstract can be found here: https://doi.org/10.33540/2057
I'll copy the abstract here:

Title: The myth of the alpha male. The dominance of dominance in the behavioural sciences, 1920-2020. A historical reconstruction

The idea that dominance hierarchies structure and rule the social lives of animals is currently a widespread concept/theorem in the behavioural sciences. The terms ‘alpha male’, ‘pack leader’, ‘top dog’, ‘pecking order’ and ‘fights for dominance’ recur endlessly to describe animal behaviour. The chimpanzee and the wolf in particular figure as the role models for the ideal human alpha male and leader of the pack; in the public domain mostly cheered upon for their vigorous masculinity, courage, loyalty, confidence, survival abilities and leadership qualities.

This PhD thesis aims at answering three questions from a historical and contextual point of view. Firstly, why and secondly how has the concept of dominance become dominant in a plethora of behavioural sciences. And thirdly, why is it still going so strong?

It is shown that the concept of dominance came into being in the 1920s. It was created, not by nature or evolution as is widely believed nowadays, but by eugenecists and scientists looking for answers to social – human – problems. The concept was a human invention, a postulate, used to prove the god-given superiority of the upperclass white elite in order to legitimize their power as rulers over other people of ‘lower classes’ or ‘inferior races’.
Projected on animal behaviour, the dominance hierarchy was proved to exist in animals with the help of experiments on social animals, kept in captivity under very unnatural circumstances, as it was widely believed that the animal’s instinctive behaviour was no different in captivity from their natural behaviour. In the late 1930s and the 1940s the concept was transformed into a naturally evolved principle, a law of nature, and used to explain animal and human behaviour.
In the 1960s more and more ecologists and ethologists – well schooled academics – took to the field to study animals and their intraction with their environment, armed with scientific objectivistic ideals of the ‘modern synthesis’ movement. As a consequence, mental distance was created, still more enlarged by the taboo on anthropomorphization. Spurning the more unmethodic and often anthropomorphic descriptions of the naturalists before them as being unscientific, the ethologists, ecologists and paleontologists looked at scientific principles for guidance, such as the concept of dominance. No longer confined to the laboratory, it now became a confirmed part of the natural world. Standing alone, believed to be firmly rooted in evolution, it held a firm appeal to scientists and the public no longer familiar with its origins and its historical context.
However, the concept of the linear dominance hierarchy with an alpha at the top does not meet the objectivistic ideals and standards of the scientists who use or defend it. In fact, these ideals, together with the taboo on anthropomorphic descriptions, came to conceal that it was a the invention of a scientific elite that often adhered eugenics. Therefore, the conclusion must be that there is no reason to hold on to the concept, as it is unfounded and includes a threat to human and animal welfare.

Written by Elian Hattinga van 't Sant
Publisher © Utrecht University | dec 2023
https://doi.org/10.33540/2057

Cartoon made by © LotsDogs| www.LotsDogs.com​

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01/19/2024

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