With the “dogs-disguised-as-wolves” model of understanding dog behavior still unfortunately a popular one, we thought it would be interesting to take a quick look at domestication and how dogs and wolves are different. It is commonly agreed that do...
All of us who have been around dogs have encountered the following: The dog down the street begins to bark at who knows what, and within seconds, every other dog within hearing is barking his head off as well; Two dogs begin to play chase at the lo...
Anyone who has ever had a puppy has been told about the importance of “socializing” the pup. To most, this implies taking the puppy out and about and allowing her to meet people, other dogs, and experience a variety of environmental settings....
There was a news article* a few months back about a 4 year old girl killed by the family’s Rottweilers. It was a truly sad situation and our hearts go out to the parents and family of this young child. Dogs kill between 10 and 20 people a yea...
Since the 1950s, behaviorists have known that exposing puppies to good experiences with other dogs, people and even other animal species can help them be better adjusted pets as adults. Dogs that receive such early socialization are better able to form a...
The July/August issue of the APDT Chronicle hits subscribers’ mailboxes the last week in June. Our article “Safety and Ethics in Working with Dog-to-Dog Aggression Problems” will appear in that issue. It is the first in a series t...
In our membership site, www.BehaviorEducationNetwork.com, (BEN) we’ve recently posted a few videos of interactions between dogs and kids and between dogs, given our analysis of them, and asked for member comments. These videos have generated a bit ...
This is a cliché we’ve read and heard numerous places, including in on-line articles from prominent veterinary schools. If veterinary schools and a wide variety of respected trainers maintain this is true, then does that mean it IS true?&nbs...
We’ve spent the last several weeks preparing for a two day seminar we’ll be giving with colleagues Dr. Marc Bekoff and Ms. Nancy Williams for Professional Animal Behavior Associates, Inc., in Guelph, Ontario Canada. The theme is Dog-Dog Inter...
A number of years ago friends of ours rescued a 4 month old puppy from an abusive situation. Although her heritage was unknown, the puppy appeared to be a pit-bull type mix of some sort. She was a sweet and friendly pup, both wit...
