by Joshua | Oct 4, 2016 | Parrot
According to the 2015-2016 American Pet Products Association survey, 6.1 million American households own an estimated 14.3 million birds, making birds the fourth most common pet following dogs, cats, and fish. Despite the popularity of birds as pets, there have been...
by Joshua | Oct 3, 2016 | Shelter, Rabbits, Small Animals, Parrots
Animal shelter staff members often find themselves caring for (and rehoming) many animals besides cats and dogs. Though many of us have come to realize the importance of enrichment for the small and exotic animals in our care, it is often left on the back burner...
by Joshua | Oct 2, 2016 | Dog, October 2016, Shelter
Chiquita was living with two other under-socialized dogs in the previous home. Their owner was starting cancer treatment, and could no longer care for all three dogs. We ended up getting Chiquita and Ramon both surrendered to us. All dogs were fearful when we met...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Shelter, Dog, Case Study, October 2016
Case Information Dog’s name: Raisin Sex: Spayed female Age: 1 year Breed: Terrier mix Other people involved: Cindy Lowrey, Megan Hewes, Sylvia Brink, Collin Stevens, and various volunteers. Location Animal shelters in Jacksonville, Florida. To help the community and...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | contents, Other Topics, contents
The concept of compassion fatigue (CF) has received increased attention in the animal care and welfare professions in recent years. This is a positive trend. Today, thanks to courses such as IAABC’s Animal Behavior Consulting: Principles & Practice, which contains...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Dog, Case Study, Applied Behavior Consulting
Case information Client’s name: Linda Dog’s name: Joe Breed: Dutch Shepherd Age: 3 years Additional animals in household: Two dogs The first part of this case study, covering Joe’s initial presentation, background, and history was presented in the June 2016 issue of...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Dog, Applied Behavior Consulting
A dog barking and charging at the front door is by no means a new or unexplained phenomenon. Many of them do it with encouragement from their owners as “protectors,” and some breeds were specifically bred to be guard dogs. However, as a behavior consultant living in a...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Cat, Sciences
Over 10 years after the release of the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (CBARQ), cat owners finally have a feline version of this behavioral assessment tool available online. The Feline Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (FeBARQ)...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Horse
The New Forest pony is a native breed of the British Isles. Many of them are domestic horses that are ridden and worked, but free to roam and graze across a large area of “common” land, which has a varied terrain with a diverse range of plants and trees. Horses have...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Sciences, Interviews, Shelter
“I was actually planning to be a veterinarian.” And so were declared the earliest professional aspirations of Alexandra (Sasha) Protopopova, PhD, a scientist whose work is finding a varied and eager audience in the animal welfare world these days. With a doctorate in...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Interviews, Sciences, Other Topics
Complementary and alternative veterinary medicine is a multimillion-dollar industry that encompasses everything from reiki to nutritional supplements, and offers treatments for a full range of medical and behavioral complaints. From the five-dollar “calming treats” we...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | October 2016, Cat, Sciences
If you were to ask me to spend the day searching a remote, wilderness area like the Cascade Mountains for a missing person, but you gave me no details about why they were out there, I would have a very difficult time knowing just what tools to use and where I should...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Business of Behavior
The Internet has offered us a wonderful means of communicating with each other. Whether you want to write for pet dog owners or other dog trainers, or even produce more scholarly articles to explore the frontiers of science as it relates to dogs and behaviour, the...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Horse, October 2016, Dog, Husbandry
It has been a very busy and exciting time since the inaugural journal issue. Video submissions have been pouring into my email from talented trainers and veterinary professionals from around the world. Inspiring stories enhance each video, documenting the journey of...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | October 2016, Sciences, Other Topics
There are approximately 3 billion bases—represented by the letters G, C, T, or A—in a dog genome. A majority of these are the same across all dogs—these are the bits of DNA that make your dog a dog. But what makes your dog an individual? What makes your dog different...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Shelter, Dog, Case Study
Each year, millions of pets are surrendered to humane societies, county pounds, and private rescue groups. While a survey of the research shows broad variation nationally, it is fairly well accepted that somewhere between three and four million dogs per year are...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Dog
As far as I can tell, training a dog to sit originated in regulations formed for competition obedience around the 1920s. Before then, dogs were primarily used for sporting and herding, or were shown in conformation trials, and a sit was not often trained. Unlike our...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Other Topics, Small Animals, Rabbits
The domestic rabbit is a popular choice among keepers of small and exotic companion animals. Their appeal to the pet-owning public includes the potential to be spayed or neutered and litterbox trained, and that they stay a relatively small size yet possess big...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Working Animals, Dog
This is the second part of Barbara Handelman’s series on the ethical issues around service dogs, which started in our Spring 2016 edition. A persistent myth exists that service dogs have been granted rights to access places where pets are not allowed. No government...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Other Topics, News
IAABC works to promote evidence-based best practice in behavior consulting for all species of companion animals, in homes or shelters. We provide certification and education for consultants all over the world, with the goal of helping clients prevent, manage and...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Interviews, Other Topics
It’s simpler to ask Tara Gifford what type of animal she hasn’t trained—from dogs and horses to sharks and tigers, Tara has worked with them all. Currently, she owns a behavior consulting business, Ohio Animal Training LLC, which focuses on zoo animals and horses. She...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Other Topics, October 2016, Sciences
A Facebook group shared this video claiming the deer “intuitively” knew to keep still so that the man could rescue it. /wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Pawsimony-Deer.mp4 Given that the vast majority of interactions between deer and humans involve hunting, somehow it...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Dog, October 2016
It was a second training session with an adorable Labradoodle puppy and his family. He lay patiently at their side while we began talking through solving the issues that come with bringing a young, energetic companion into their home, one with sharp teeth and an...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Dog, Cat, Husbandry
You have—or your client has—a dog who is completely non-reactive to the household cats; in fact, she may even appear to love them. She might engage in mutual grooming and cuddling, and not mind the occasional cat-slap when she tries to sniff a butt. Does this mean...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Case Study, Dog, October 2016
Dog’s Name: Benji Breed: Collie mix Sex: Neutered male Age: 3 years Other animals in the home: None Background A three-year-old neutered collie mix dog had recently aggressed to a level three bite onto two other dogs while in a home boarding facility. The family also...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Working Animals
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou One of the very first things I learned when I started visiting hospitals with a therapy dog was that...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Horse
Understanding body language is one of the core skills anyone living with animals needs in order to make the best decisions about their care. If you can see that what you’re doing is making your animal uncomfortable, that’s important information to help make...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Horse, October 2016
Clicker training is slowly gaining ground in the equine world. Please join me in a series of videos that discuss and demonstrate foundational lessons for both horse and human. In this edition, we will explore an essential skill for trainers as they begin their...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Parrot, October 2016
I adopted a male cockatoo from an animal shelter in February 2007. His name was Charlie, and he had obviously been neglected physically, emotionally, and socially. At that time, his diet consisted solely of Cheerios. He was plucking his feathers and fearful of people....
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | October 2016, Dog
Canine problem behavior can stem from issues related to anxiety, impulse control, and boredom. Applied animal behaviorists often prescribe mental stimulation exercises for dogs to treat some of these problems. A unique way to provide this level of treatment is...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Horse
Clicker training is one of the recent success stories of equestrianism. It makes use of a bridging signal to indicate the moment of the desired behaviour, followed by positive reinforcement. We are told that training with positive reinforcement is more ethical than...
by Joshua | Oct 1, 2016 | Sciences, Other Topics, October 2016
Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” – Mark...
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