Perths Pooch Pal

03/10/2024

Thought this was funny.

31/10/2018

This could be the best piece I've read on the Dominance Theory and why it continues to persist:

Alpha dog. Alpha roll. Pack leader. Pack hierarchy. Pack rank. Our intrepid blogger Tanya Hawkes from Wales, UK, takes on the controversial topic of Dominance Theory. Why is this outdated and harmful theory still around? Tanya discusses where it came from, how it harms our dogs and why it persists.....

15/08/2018

My latest blog:
https://randomdogblog.wordpress.com/2018/08/15/unintended-consequences/

11/07/2018

My latest blog entry:

Oh boy!! There’s an issue every dog training instructor and behaviourist has had to struggle with. After all, we’re supposed to know how to fix all and every problem out there, aren& #8…

10/07/2018

"Look At That" is a protocol that I've been using since we developed our Reactive Rover course at The Ottawa Canine School. It is a natural follow-up to the initial "open bar - closed bar" exercise that introduces pure counter conditioning to the reactive dog and its handler. I have recently taken into account the Ken Ramirez observation that the Look At That protocol does not provide a complete behavioural approach on its own. So, now I have started adding an operant (or a piece of learning) for the dog to perform once he/she has looked at the trigger. Targeting is a great tool to use for this. Asking for any calm or stationary behaviour might also work, although I'm still experimenting a little with these.

Last week, I told you about Toni’s relaxation blanket that helped him stay calm around visitors. Today, I’m going to share how we tackled the second behavior his owner wanted to change: lunging and…

10/04/2018

This is cool. Watch it until the end.

31/03/2018

Yeah, that’s gonna work.

26/03/2018

Very cool. I often hear that a dog will not come back and that everything has been tried. Tying the best positive consequence to the recall works for all !!!

14/03/2018

This is a good one......

08/03/2018

This is an interesting method to help owners move at the right speed with their dogs.

Academy students are taught to train using empirical criteria change.
Rather than using intuition, we standardize when we move to the next step in a plan (Push), go back to the previous step (Drop) or do another set of repetitions at the current step (Stick).

This helps ensure that our criteria is always clear and do-able. If we are unsure of our criteria, we can bet the dog will be!

If you're interested in learning more about our program, visit our website:
https://www.academyfordogtrainers.com/the-academy/the-program-in-detail

01/03/2018

Latest blog entry.

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while but, well, you know, we often just don’t do all the things we should. I’m a huge fan of positive reinforcement and use that style of wo…

21/02/2018

More good Reactivity information.

Thanks so much for joining us for "Leash Reactivity 101".
And thanks to Allison Wells of I Love Your Dog​ for the blog post that inspired them.

Any time we can unpack terms and describe clearly what's happening for dogs, we are in a better position to help clients achieve their goals.

https://www.academyfordogtrainers.com/blog/on-leash-etiquette-management-and-reactivity