Working as a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT) has taught me a lot about the condition. It has also helped me hone whole new set of skills to train affected dogs. Separation anxiety trainers (CSATs) help dogs using different techniques from the ones we use to modify other behaviors. Before my separation anxiety (SA) work, I prided myself on working directly with dogs and their families. This included teaching them to make the right moves and notice important signals in their own ... continue reading...
Separation Anxiety – Would a Second Dog Help?
Your dog has separation anxiety… ouch. Maybe you’ve adopted a brand new puppy full of energy and innocence from a breeder. Perhaps you have a handsome adult dog with the soul of a comedian whom you rescued from the shelter and is coming up on their first “gotcha day” anniversary. You might even have a wizened old senior dog who's been in your home their whole life (where have the years gone?) and knows you better than you know yourself. However your best friend joined your family, you recently ... continue reading...
Separation Anxiety – It Takes Some Doing
I can’t imagine life without a dog (or maybe I just don’t want to). My wife Susan and I refer to Daisy as our “Labra-daughter” - she’s as dear to us as any daughter could be. Although she’s closing in on 12 years old (how can that be possible??), she still makes every day immeasurably better with her unfailing cheerfulness, intelligence, curiosity, enthusiasm for life, and goofy sense of humor. And… as with any dog, taking good care of her is a BIG commitment of time, energy and money. We walk ... continue reading...
Separation Anxiety – Can Dogs Tell Time?
A client recently asked how it’s possible for dogs to have such problems being alone given that they can’t tell time. Her perception was based on the idea that dogs are often overjoyed to greet family members as they come home no matter how short a time they were gone. Call to mind the single frame cartoon of a wiggling / spinning dog dancing around the feet of their best friend who explains gently, “I just went to the mailbox!” While it can be flattering coming home to ... continue reading...
High Maintenance, and Highly Rewarding
It’s music to my ears when clients tell me, “It’s really we humans who need the training.” Of course we do train dogs for the skills needed to get along peacefully in human society. But if humans don’t understand how their dogs process information and adjust their own behavior, nothing is going to change after I leave. The human perspective needed for living peacefully with dogs begins with acknowledging that dogs are inherently high-maintenance. This isn’t a flaw or a deficit, just a ... continue reading...
Take the Slow Train
For whatever reason, issues for which people ask my help seem to come in clusters. Sometimes I’ll have a handful of dogs struggling with OCD issues within just a few weeks of each other. Other times separation anxiety or difficult house soiling problems show up in groups of 3 or more in short order. Recently though, the trending issue was with clients who want or need their dog’s behavior to change in a hurry. I guess it’s not surprising. As I write this, the winter holidays are still close ... continue reading...
Thou Shalt Not Punish
I recently made the following observation during a consultation with a new client. “The less you punish your dog, the less you’ll need to punish your dog.” Among the most frequently repeated bits of advice I offer is to avoid using aversive punishment as a training method. It causes more problems than it solves, and doesn’t teach your dog any desirable behaviors. ... continue reading...
Clicker Expo 2018
This installment comes to you from St. Louis. I’m at the front end of “Clicker Expo,” a 3 day conference for dog trainers and others interested in applying behavior science to enhance our relationships with animals and improve their well-being - our own pets as well as those of our clients and neighbors and friends. It is exquisitely well organized and presented. It’s fun and interesting and inspiring, and thoroughly scientific. And... it’s dedicated to teaching our animals (and one another) ... continue reading...
Pardon the Interruption
There’s a tool in the kit of most force-free trainers that deserves more attention than it gets. In terms of training, I’m talking about interruption. Indulge me in an over-simplification; pet behavior falls into 2 categories: behaviors we like (or at least tolerate), and behaviors we don’t like / won’t tolerate. The more skillful the trainer, the better they become at rewarding (reinforcing) desirable behaviors, and preventing undesirable behaviors from being rewarded (reinforced). It’s that ... continue reading...
Positive Begets Positive
The term “positive training” has a couple meanings, and it’s worth understanding the nuances. Most people understand it first in the sense that “positive” suggests “desirable,” as in “we had a positive experience.” It suggests something we’d be glad to have more of; something we’d look forward to doing again. It’s quite correct to think of positive training that way. Positive trainers use games to help a dog (or cat, bird, rabbit, rat, lizard…) have fun while learning new activities like ... continue reading...
Can I Change My Dog’s Name?
Recently on WGLT’s “Animal House,” Laura Kennedy and I talked about naming pets. One of the things we discussed is a question I am often asked by clients who have rescued a dog that came with a name. “Is it is okay to change the dog’s name to something else?” You will be happy to hear that the answer is YES, absolutely, your pet can adjust to a new name, and it’s easier than most people think. Now for humans, our whole identity is wrapped up in our name – Bob Ryder – it’s been my name for ... continue reading...
Why is my dog barking?
Bob was on "Animal House" on WGLT with Laura Kennedy today - if you missed hearing it live, you can listen via the link below. Why is my dog barking? ... continue reading...
Less No, More Yes
We all get frustrated when our dog does something she isn’t supposed to do – like chasing the cat, raiding the trash, or jumping up to check out the counter (or our guests), etc. Our usual response is to get frustrated and tell our dog “NO!” in order to get her to stop. But there is a better way to reduce unwanted activities for both you and your best friend. First, resist the inclination to scold and reprimand by shouting, “No, no, no! Stop it!” Instead, we suggest you begin by gently ... continue reading...
It’s ALL Tricks To Your Dog
Bob was recently on WGLT with Laura Kennedy on "Animal House" to talk about the best way to train your dog to do fun tricks and good manners. Listen here. And watch the video of Bob and Daisy demonstrating some of her tricks! ... continue reading...
Winter Exercise Tips
It’s Cold - Keep Moving! As I mention often to my clients, one of my favorite training proverbs says, “A tired dog is a well behaved dog.” Conversely, a dog who is bored and bustling with pent up energy is a problem waiting to happen. Exercising our dogs can be challenging when it’s too cold to get outside for your usual games of fetch, playing at the dog park, or going for a long walk. So here are some ideas we use with our energetic Labrador during the winter. First, STOP feeding from ... continue reading...
Dominant – NOT!
“He thinks he’s alpha.” “We have to establish the dog’s rank in our family.” Let me persuade you what scientists have known for a while – it just ain’t so! No misunderstanding harms our relationship with our dogs more than “dominance theory.” Poorly done research in the mid-20th century mistakenly concluded that wolves fight to establish a pack-leader who rules with an iron paw. In the last few decades, much better science has shown wolves live as families - with parents leading based on ... continue reading...
Building Better Behavior
Here are two keys for helping your best friend be a well-behaved member of the family – management and exercise. Management – One of the most important behavior strategies is management - setting up the environment so that desirable behaviors are easy and problem behaviors are inaccessible. Whether as puppies or adults, dogs don’t arrive knowing the rules for living in your house – they need to learn what’s okay and what’s off limits. Baby gates, play pens, closed doors, tethers, leashes ... continue reading...
Pretty Tricky
Want to have a better-trained best friend? Want to have more fun with your dog? (Duh!) Here’s a big step in the right direction – approach all training as if you're teaching a fun trick. This is obvious for behaviors like “sit pretty” (up on her haunches), jumping through a hoop, or rolling over. It’s less obvious for behaviors like walking nicely on a leash, coming when called, or settling quietly inside a crate. Maybe this is because old-fashioned training still goads us to coerce our dogs ... continue reading...
Puppy Two-Step
Life with dogs is an adventure - that we share our lives so successfully with another species is amazing. Like any relationship, friendship with a dog calls for trust, good communication, self-control, and patience. Yet we humans bear the yeoman’s share of responsibility for ensuring that things smoothly. Most of the clients who hire me to help with behavior problems benefit quickly from two basic steps for raising happy, healthy and well-adjusted dogs. 1 - Management: Dogs have no sense of ... continue reading...
Pretend You Don’t Have a Dog
I work with a lot dogs that have aggression problems. The most common cause of aggression is fear, and one common cause of fear is attention from humans. Why? Sometimes dogs are afraid of human attention because they’ve learned from unfortunate experience that it means they’re likely to be yelled at or hurt. Other times dogs are afraid of human attention because they’re genetically shy, and anyone new/unknown feels threatening. Sometimes it’s both. Either way, if the fear is strong enough, a ... continue reading...
Multi-pet Households
Bob was on WGLT last month with Laura Kennedy to talk about multi-pet households. Click here to hear their interview. ... continue reading...
New Friends
Today on the beach, Bob and Daisy made some new friends. Tonya and her crew were doing a peace project for their Montessori School - cleaning litter on the dunes and beach at Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina. Daisy provided some entertainment by doing tricks and playing fetch with them to say thanks for doing such a nice good deed! What a pleasure to meet such nice young men and women being good citizens! ... continue reading...
Good Manners
Bob recently talked with Laura Kennedy on WGLT's "Animal House" segment about good dog manners. You can listen to the interview below. ... continue reading...
Pet Care When You Travel
Check out Bob's latest conversation with Laura Kennedy on WGLT's "Animal House" segment. ... continue reading...
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