Category: Behavior Issues

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How to Select a Dog Trainer Guide for Veterinarians

On By Joyce KeslingIn About Responsible Dog, Animal Behavior, Animal Welfare, Behavior Issues, behavior problem, behaviorist, Bradenton FL, cat behavior, dog behavior, dog trainer, dog training, Dog Welfare, FYI, puppy training, Sarasota FL, Training dogs

Information owners should obtain before choosing a dog trainer * It is advised that clients call and interview a trainer prior to hiring them. If the trainer you are considering using falls into any of these categories, you should pick another trainer. · If the equipment recommended for basic obedience includes or is focused on choke collars, prong collars, or shock collars. · Trainers who ban head collars of any kind may rely unduly on force. · If the trainer instructs you to manage your dog’s behaviors by pinching toes, kneeing the dog in the chest or abdomen, hitting the dog, forcibly holding the dog down against their will, constantly yelling at the dog, frequently yanking the collar constantly, or using prong, choke, pinch or shock collars or electronic stimulation. · If the trainer believes most or all training is about encouraging the person to be “alpha” and teaching the dog to “submit”.

Defining dog behavior problems

On By Joyce KeslingIn Behavior Issues, behavior problem, Bradenton FL, dog behavior, dog training, Human-Animal Bond, puppy training, Sarasota FLLeave a comment

Typically, there are several ways to approach and define a problem dog behavior. First, a behavior consultant should have a clear understanding of what normal behavior patterns are for any particular species and that normal behavior may be expressed inappropriately depending on the environment. Second, the behavior consultant should consider a clients “…cultural and personal preferences and normative judgments” since they may impact the client’s “attitudes and expectations, scientific understanding, societal mores [customs] about animal behavior, and costs…associated with the dog’s behavior” (Lindsay, 2001).

Why dogs do what they do; is it important to know why?

On By Joyce KeslingIn Animal Behavior, Animal Cognition, Behavior Issues, Training dogsLeave a comment

Why as means of explaining a behavior problem might be important and should not be neglected for more simplistic means for correcting unwanted/undesirable dog behavior. Certainly we as dog trainers concentrate our efforts on teaching dogs what we want them to do, however, if we ignore why a dog is performing or not performing a …

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What does an aggressive dog look like, some examples? What do we look for when evaluating an aggressive dog?

On By Joyce KeslingIn Animal Behavior, Behavior Issues, Training dogsLeave a comment

What does an aggressive dog look like, some examples? What do we look for when evaluating an aggressive dog? The origins of ethology are deeply rooted in the works of Charles Darwin.  In his book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872/1965), he “described and catalogued” the most common social displays exhibited …

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Housetraining, using a signal indicating need to eliminate

On By Joyce KeslingIn Behavior Issues, Training dogsLeave a comment

Unsuccessful housetraining is a leading cause why dogs end up in shelters. House training is not an individual process, all dogs benefit from the same housetraining strategies. However, dogs may independently learn, depending on breed, size, early exposure to acceptable substrates and beginning at the breeding location. I am discussing training a new puppy, not training an adult dog with incomplete housetraining. However, the same strategies apply. If you have potty trained a child, you know, you need to be there during the early stages. Sometimes we are there to encourage, teach the location, patience and perhaps even model the behavior. During this process, the child had to learn to hold it or wait, at some point during the potty training.