Education for Animal Trainers with Raising Canine

Down to the Wire for Coppinger and McCort!

2008-02-11T07:56:00.000-08:00

This is the big week - we are down to the wire on our Ray Coppinger and Ken McCort seminar on the Evolutionary Development of Dogs! It's not too late to hop on a plane and join us in Austin, Texas for this not-to-be-missed event.

Sue

I want to Become a Dog Trainer, What Should I Look For When Picking a School?

2008-01-27T14:41:00.000-08:00

It's hard to know what to look for when choosing a school to become a professional dog trainer. Here are a few of the things that I think are important to consider before choosing your professional dog trainer school:

Does the professional dog trainer school provide verifiable, science-based education in learning theory, ethology, and animal husbandry rather than "personal recipe" or myth-based training
Will the professional dog trainer school teach me methods I feel comfortable applying or will they teach me force-based methods that I may not comfortable using?
Will the professional dog training school allow me to speak one-on-one with my instructors or will all of my learning take place in books and online without any personal attention?
Does the program at the professional dog training school include the opportunity for hands-on work such as an apprenticeship and if so, will this hands on work actually be sufficient to prepare me for the work that I want to do?
Are the instructors at the professional dog trainer school certified professional dog trainers with the experience and knowledge to teach others?
Will the professional dog training program give me all of the information and tools I will need to prepare for the certified professional dog trainers' examination?

There are a lot of things to consider when looking for a professional dog trainer school but following the above tips and asking a lot of questions before making your decision will serve you well!

Susan Smith, Raising Canine

Review: Crate Games with Susan Garrett

2008-01-14T07:24:00.000-08:00

I'm always on the lookout for new educational tools for animal trainers and I think we've found a winner with Susan Garrett's fun and effective approach to crate training. Garrett's method is not only aimed at making your dog tolerate being in its crate, it is designed to make going to its crate REINFORCING for your dog! I have a friend who owns a dog daycare and, after watching Susan Garrett's new DVD Crate Games for Motivation and Control, she'll be trying this with all of their daycare dogs. If you are a dog trainer looking for a new way to train dogs to kennel up or looking for some fun and inspirational training methods to add to your toolbox, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Susan Garrett's newest DVD! And, if you're a parrot trainer and you want some creative ideas for teaching parrots to return to their crates, you'll find a lot of useful and new ideas in the video too. You'd need to modify them to be appropriate for parrots, but I could see this method working with parrots and many other small animals!

Susan Smith, Raising Canine, Education for Animal Trainers

Science based dog training

2008-01-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

Although many of the top-notch professional dog trainers have used the science of learning theory in the training for decades, more and more behavioral research is being done on dogs. For a great overview of some of the cutting -edge cognitive research projects read this article on canine cognition. And, if you are a professional dog trainer or you want to be a dog trainer, get with the program and get into the science!

Susan Smith, Raising Canine, Education for Animal Trainers

Is there professional help for Ferrets? Parrots? Cats? Donkeys?

2007-12-29T07:45:00.000-08:00

You betcha! Just because your pet is not a cat or a dog doesn't mean there isn't professional behavior assistance out there for you. Raising Canine has had the pleasure of working with professional animal behavior consultants in the dog, cat, parrot, and horse species. Many of the animal behaviorists or animal trainers who teach our animal training teleclasses also work with zoo animals or exotic animals. If you're having trouble with your pet, no matter what the species, take the time to consult with a good animal trainer or behavior consultant. You can begin your search at www.IAABC.org or contact your local exotic pet store and see if they have a referral for you. You might also contact a local dog behavior consultant or trainer and see if they have a contact for someone working in your animal's field.

Susan Smith, Raising Canine, Education for Animal Trainers

Dogs & Cats

2007-03-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

The Prey Drive
Bringing a new animal into your home can create many problems -- especially if one of the animals is a dog and the other is a cat! Always remember that dogs are predators and they look on a small animal, such as a cat or rodent, as prey. Dogs are very attuned to quick movement, and nothing is as irresistible to them as a small, running animal. Cats often seem to instinctively understand this; an experienced cat will usually sit still when a strange dog approaches. However, an inexperienced cat may run which will trigger the dog’s predatory instinct.

More than half of adult dogs that haven’t been socialized to cats will show some signs of predatory behavior. Finally, when two or more dogs are together, they may acquire a “pack mentality” and spur each other on to chasing smaller animals.
Some dogs tend to have a higher prey drive than others, and some breeds also tend to have higher prey drives. If you are considering getting either a dog or a cat, research the breed of dog you have or are thinking of getting to see how that breed interacts with cats in general. You may have trouble finding such information in breed books, but there are many breed lists on the Internet, and the members are usually very happy to answer such questions.

Social Patterns
Dogs are social animals and, unless they have behavioral problems, will actively attempt to make friends with a new member of the household. They may appear jealous at first, but their natural instinct is to live in peace and harmony. Cats, on the other hand, are not necessarily social animals, and may have no innate desire to make friends with strange animals. Cats living entirely inside a house have different social rules than cats that spend time outdoors; cats living with other cats have different social rules than cats living without other cats; feral cats living in a group, may have very different social relationships than feral cats living in another group, so it is very difficult to predict how cats will behave in any given situation.

Another huge factor is whether or not cats and dogs were socialized well when they were very young. Cats that grew up around dogs will tend to be less fearful, and dogs that grew up with cats will be less likely to show predatory behavior -- although all dogs will chase a running cat, regardless of socialization history.

Introducing Cats & Dogs
You must ultimately take responsibility for your animals’ safety when living in a multiple-pet household. Regardless of which animal was in the household first, when bringing a new cat or dog into the home, some good, basic rules to follow are:

· Do not force the new house mates to interact;
· When they are in the same room, have the dog under control -- either in a crate or leashed;
· Allow the cat to approach the dog at his own pace;
· Always have safe areas for the cat to retreat to; and
· Don’t be surprised or disappointed if your dog and cat never become friends.

Stress
Be aware of the stress levels in both the cat and the dog. If either animal is constantly under stress, it is very bad for the animal’s health.

A simple way to tell if a cat is under stress is by whether or not she’s eating. If you have food and water in a safe area where the cat is confident the dog can’t get to her, she should eat normally. This may take a couple of days, but once the cat is secure in this area, she will relax. You can watch the area, or set up a video to see what your cat is doing while in her safe area.

Introduction Techniques
There are some techniques for introducing dogs and cats which may ease the transition. First, make sure your cat has a safe area. High places that the dog can’t get to should be available in all rooms, but setting aside one room as “the cat’s room” will give the cat a reliable resting area. Her food, water and litter pan should be in this room, as well as toys for her to play with.

A baby gate across the doorway to the cat’s room can serve a dual purpose: First, it will keep the dog out of the room (you may have to train your dog not to jump the gate); secondly, it can act as a cue to the cat. When the gate is up, the dog is in the house; when the gate is gone, the dog is out of the house. This will allow the cat to safely explore the house. If you use this method, be sure to always have the gate up when the dog is in the house -- if you lie to the cat, she may never feel secure enough to get out and explore. When the cat feels comfortable in the house with the gate gone, you might try crating the dog and taking the gate down.

Another method is to take a towel or blanket and rub the dog with it. Then let the cat smell the towel and perhaps use it as a blanket for the cat to sleep on. Eventually the cat will be familiar with the smell, and that will ease the transition. You can use the same technique in reverse -- rub the cat and let the dog get used to the smell.

In the end, patience and management are your best tools. A cat and dog will not like each other simply because you want them to. They will make that decision for themselves. They may become great friends, they may tolerate each other, or they may never relax in each other’s presence.

Early To Bed, Early To Rise . . .

2007-03-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

My friend Cara, who owns Buddy's Chance Dog Training and Day Care (www.buddyschance.com), had an early morning appointment and asked me to open the day care for her this morning. Well! I had to get up at 5:30am to be there at 7:00am and Katie, one of the day care dogs, peed all over me! Now I know why I don't run a day care -- and why I feel so much empathy for those who do!

If you take your dog to day care, do something special for the staff to show your appreciation!

Sue

Today's Obedience Class & Pitt Play

2007-03-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

We had a great class today -- we have a new dog, Sampson, who livened things up. Sampson's a Pittie, but is good with other dogs -- loves to play! He's got two great new buddies -- Tybee and Buddy.

With all Pitts, you need to keep any eye on their play. Pitts are bred to ignore other dogs' cut-off signals (signals indicating they do not want to play/fight, etc.), and they can get aroused quickly and tip over from play into aggression. However, if you interrupt them regularly, and keep a close eye on them, they can be very effective "players!"

Sue

Dr. Ian Dunbar is in Town

2007-03-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

I had the honor of picking Dr. Dunbar up at the airport and transporting him to his hotel yesterday afternoon. Because we were in the middle of rush hour traffic (and I took a route I wasn't familiar with!), we had almost 2 hours to chat - most people pay big bucks for that privilege!

Check out Raising Canine's audio telecourse if you'd like to hear Dr. Dunbar speak without having to travel to a seminar. http://www.raisingcanine.com/Professionals/Green/Pro_audio.htm

Sue

LLP-Tele - A GREAT Class!

2007-03-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

Whew! Tonight we finished the 2nd half of LLP-tele -- an 8 hour telecourse on applied behavior analysis! This was, altogether (parts 1 & 2), an 18+ hour course covering the basic principles of behavior analysis and it was fabulous! I think of Dr. Susan Friedman as the Bob Bailey of behavior. She has sooooo much great information to share -- she really knows her stuff and is extremely generous about sharing.

This is not your average telecourse. You have homework and a final exam. However, it's under the mastery model, which means you keep working on it until it's perfect! The learning experience is unsurpassed. I can't speak highly enough of this course. I've taken it before, and I still learned more than my head can contain!

Sue

Order Out of Chaos - Taking a Canine Separation Anxiety Behavioral History

2007-03-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

We just finished Dr. Myrna Milani's telecourse on taking a behavioral history for separation anxiety. This was a three-part course which focused on the various questions which should be asked while taking a history. Dr. Milani comes from an ethological background (vs. behavioral), so it is an interesting perspective on the interpretation of particular behaviors.

Dr. Milani will be presenting another three-part series on actually working with separation anxiety in May.

Click here to purchase the audio version of Order Out of Chaos.

If you'd like more information on telecourses or audio telecourses, click on these links.

Sue

Day 2

2007-03-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

I've changed my home page to my blog, so I will be reminded to post something every day! For those trying to optimize their websites, this is a great way to add unique content on a regular basis. If you have a blog, it should be hosted under your domain name -- this way, all that unique content will be part of your website instead of the blog host's website!

Sue

My first blog post!

2007-03-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a new experience for me. I'm working with Amy Dunphy on an e-workbook for optimizing websites, and one of the things that can help is a blog. So, I've created my own blog!

I'll see how it goes -- no guarantees that I'll keep it up. But, I'm going to to my best. Also, I hope you'll comment when you've taken a telecourse or purchased a product that you think is particularly helpful.

Stay tuned -- I'm going to try to "blog" every day!