Greta Kaplan, CPDT Of all the education I’ve experienced in becoming and being a dog trainer, the one that stands out most is what’s known as “Chicken Camp.” More properly called “Cross-Species Operant Conditioning Training Workshop” (you can see why people prefer to call it Chicken Camp), this workshop teaches advanced, high-quality clicker training skills… [Read More]
Dog Training & Behavior
The Art of Dog Training
Greta Kaplan, CPDT, CDBC Most animal training is a mechanical skill. We can take some basic scientific knowledge about learning, about operant and classical conditioning, as well as about the relevant instinctive behaviors and motor patterns of the species we are working with, and we can accomplish most of our training goals with good timing,… [Read More]
Cat Litter Box Problem Solved: Texture Aversion
Katherine Ayres, PhD Eva came to us at 3 months after being a “stray at large” in Lynnwood, WA. She was sweet, extremely social, fun to play with and of course had a healthy obsession of watching birds out the window making that amusing chatter noise. Her litter box habits for the most part were… [Read More]
Kitten Socialization
Jim Ha, PhD, CAAB Cats, like all mammals, are social creatures. While cats are far less social than dogs, to think of cats as asocial is wrong. The degree of social behavior and the ability of an individual to adapt to a changing social environment varies with species (certainly cats are less social than dogs),… [Read More]
Cat Behavior & Training
Indoor Cat? Outdoor Cat? Why Choose?
Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KA, Katherine Ayres, PhD We know that outdoor cats live shorter lives subject to disease and injury, yet many cat owners believe that their cats cannot be happy unless they go outside. I think one of the reasons people believe this is that many cats suffer from environmentally deprived environments without their… [Read More]
I Have Four Cats, One Dog, and Two Pet Peeves
Louisa Beal, DVM I like to consider myself a fairly non-judgmental person. People may do things to their pets that I think are horrible, but I cannot judge them, since, in the past, I have done most of those things myself. We all grow and learn and change. However, there are two things that get… [Read More]
Cat Litter Box Problem Solved: Texture Aversion
Katherine Ayres, PhD Eva came to us at 3 months after being a “stray at large” in Lynnwood, WA. She was sweet, extremely social, fun to play with and of course had a healthy obsession of watching birds out the window making that amusing chatter noise. Her litter box habits for the most part were… [Read More]
Urine Trouble
Louisa Beal, DVM Wally was a nine-year-old male Persian. His owner was dismayed because he had recently begun urinating in the house. He was destroying her carpeting. Wally had not only missed the litter box several times, but had urinated on the owner’s bedspread, her clean clothes in the laundry basket and the rug in… [Read More]
Pet Health
Rehabilitation Therapy for Dogs
Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KA Many of the medical treatments that have been available to human patients are more commonly becoming available for our pets. In fact, some research being done at veterinary schools like Purdue and research centers in veterinary oncology are furthering human research and treatments. When I got curious about water therapy and… [Read More]
Do You Dread Going to the Veterinarian?
Christine Hibbard, CPDT-KA and Anna Baxter, LVT Do you dread trips to the veterinarian with your dog or cat? Do you wonder if the veterinarians and vet techs dread your visit as much as you do? The veterinary staff needs to be able to perform thorough examinations, provide treatments and perform procedures. How can they… [Read More]
Western Veterinary Conference 2011
Guest Blogger: Anna Baxter, BA, LVT Recently I attended the Western Veterinary Conference, one of the largest gatherings of veterinary practitioners in the world, for some continuing education. My focus was Behavior, where I went to all 20 hours of scientific programming by some of the best in the industry. Some of the speakers (DVMs)… [Read More]
Don’t Touch Me There!
Louisa Beal, DVM Mario, a West Highland White Terrier had snapped at a two year old girl. If Mario couldn’t be trusted around children, his owners would have to get rid of him. The knee jerk response to this would be to try to modify the behavior of the dog. Mario’s behavior is definitely unacceptable. … [Read More]