Search Results: Dog Behavior

In preparation for a talk I’ll be giving soon in Madison, WI about the mental lives of animals, I’ve been reading Subliminal, by Leonard Mlodinow. I highly recommend it; Mlodinow elaborates on our increasing, and sometimes unsettling knowledge about the power of our unconscious. Here’s a talk given by the author himself about the topic.…

An alert Facebook reader sent in this video of two dogs posturing over some kibble scattered on the ground. Oh my, oh my, so much to say about what goes on here, but I’m going to hold my comments until you have had a chance to look at it. Here’s my suggestion: Watch the entire…

Today, it’s all about the farm. I had a blog written about the effect of acoustic environments on us and our dogs, some new products available for us to use to calm our dogs, and some new results of “calming” music that Katie and I have seen with our dogs. And then I erased it…

Earlier I wrote about Willie’s extreme and fearful reaction to a visiting man about a month ago, speculated about its causes and discussed how to respond. Here’s an update, and a few things I that might be helpful for anyone dealing with a behavior problem. The good news (yeah good news) is that Willie is…

I just finished reading a review copy of Karen Pryor’s new book, Reaching the  Animal Mind (Scribner). I don’t know when it’s coming out, I’ll let you know as soon as I hear (but you can pre-order it on Amazon now). It’s an inspiring book, especially for those that haven’t yet used clicker training on…

We’ve been talking about markers and secondary reinforcers, and there have been some great comments about using clickers in some contexts and not in others. Like many readers, I use clickers for some training, and not for others. Your comments got me thinking about why I use them sometimes, why I don’t use them others,…

The paperback version of The Education of Will is coming out next month (release date is February 27th) and I’m thrilled with the new cover. You might remember that I wasn’t a big fan of the hardcover’s photo, even though Willie’s exuberant face always makes me smile. I LOVE the new cover… more fitting for…

Well, so far there have been 40 comments on this question, and what interesting ones they have been. I’m going to summarize what folks have said so far (and also am sending this question out to a list of Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists and some professional trainers in different fields. If you are on any…

There are two great new books out, one I have mentioned before that I drank up like a cup of hot chocolate on a warm day: Scent of the Missing, by Susannah Charleson is out, and I just loved it. I liked it so much I contacted her PR rep with the publisher and said…

Wheeee! I’ve been working on an updated version of the Puppy Primer for six months now, and it feels SO good to finally hold the finished product in my hot little paws. In it, co-author Brenda Scidmore and I emphasize the benefits of positive reinforcement, of letting dogs initiate the correct action themselves when possible,…

A short post today, but with a pithy question generated from the last post on play. We all agree that different breeds of dogs tend to have different play styles, with herding dogs, for example, more likely to engage in run/chase games and bully breeds more likely to wrestle and body slam. Wrestling can include…

My eagle-eyed conference coordinator, Katie, asked me to remind you all the early bird pricing (about 10% off) for the Madison Seminar on October 29 and 30th is over at midnight on Friday, September 30th.  The host hotel also has a special conference rate that expires on Friday too, and space for the seminar is…

I mentioned “The Model-Rival Method” earlier when talking about training dogs to associate words with objects, and I thought it’d be fun to illustrate what I was talking about. The video at the bottom of the post is an example of this method, famously used by Dr. Irene Pepperberg to train Alex the African Grey…

Okay, the photo is of a chicken not a turkey, but still, it’s a roasted poultry item. I love Thanksgiving. How could I not? The culture has collectively given all of us permission to over indulge and it is the beginning of a chance to slow down, reflect and . . . eat some more.…

In For the Love of a Dog I wrote about how Luke’s daughter and I grieved for him after his death for almost a year. Finally— “Last night Lassie and I played her favorite game together. Again and again, I tossed her favorite toy across the rug. Each time she leaped after it, then came…

I’m just back from the Association of Writers and Writing Program conference in Tampa, FL, and I’m stumped for words to describe the panel I participated in. Best approximation = Powerful. Stunning. Brilliant. Here’s the description of the panel in which I was honored to be included: About Grief, Trauma, Loss: The Facing, the Writing,…

Lots of dogs go through a “what’s in it for me?” stage (and this stage lasts longer in some dogs than others, right?). Mr. Hope is dancing around it right now, especially when I ask him to come into the house. Several of you asked about ways to handle it; not surprising, since most dogs…

As many of you know, I’ve been working on a memoir for, uh, well, a long time. (Actually, it’s been over five years.) In early November I finally declared it finished, and sent it to my literary agent to be shopped around for a publisher. Lucky, lucky me, my editor for The Other End of…

Now that winter is here, it seems like a good time to talk about some good books and DVDs to keep us busy during those long, dark evenings. Here are a few books and DVDs that I’ve enjoyed, some dog related, some not. AWAY TO ME DVD: First, check out the trailer for a new…

We’re working on a new website, and anyone who has been there knows that it’s like building a house: the number of decisions needing to be made becomes ridiculous after awhile. That’s the bad news, but here’s the good news: I have the luxury of your feedback to help us make one of the decisions.…

Last  Saturday my teenage ewe, Butterfinger, had her first lamb. I found her in the barn pen, licking off a slippery package of skin-covered bones covered with tiny whorls of wool and placental slime. Even though she was a first-time mom, she was a good one. She attended to her lamb just as she should,…

If you’re in the area, I hope to see you on Thursday night at the Wisconsin Humane  Society for a fund raiser and talk, “Dogs Have Owners, but Cats Have Staff.” I don’t get asked to talk about feline behavior as much as I’d like to, so this is a special treat for me. I…

With virtually no objectivity what so ever, I’m excited to announce that registration is open for a completely new seminar, to be held in Madison, WI on October 29th & 30th. I’ll be working much of the summer on creating an up-to-the-minute summary of what we know about canine behavior and cognition for Saturday, and…

VIDEOS ON BEGINNING PUPPY TRAINING Teaching a Beginning “Heel” Watch and listen as Trisha works with a young Border Collie on her “heeling.” Trisha uses a “marker word” to mark the exact behavior she is looking for, then follows with a treat.   Teaching a Beginning “Stay” Watch this video and learn to teach your…

RELATED BLOGS FROM “THE OTHER END OF THE LEASH” “Intelligent Disobedience” – Thank Heavens for It  August 2024 Less is More (When It Comes to Training) November 2016 Pets and Holiday Visitors  Decemeber 2009 Behavior Modification vs. Management  July 2009   ARTICLES ABOUT MANAGING DOG BEHAVIOR Peace, Patience & Pack Politics. Forget “Alpha”–the rules of…

BLOGS FROM TRISHA’S TRAVELS Africa, August 2009 Come to Africa with Me Leaving for Africa Tomorrow! Pride of 9 Lions! Dogs in Africa Commuter Dogs, Brilliant Crows African Wild Dogs YES! Gnus from Africa The Illustrated African Wild Dog Story Be Glad our Cats are Small Comparative Canid Behavior New Zealand, November 2010 Wooo Hooo!…

RELATED BLOGS FROM “THE OTHER END OF THE LEASH” Misty & Gypsy’s Visual Signals to Us, Part Two March 2021 What are Misty and Gypsy Telling Us About Stress Signals? March 2021 Aggression, Fear and Gut Health. . . Joined at the Hip? May 2019 Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself March 2019 Dogs and Psychological Trauma February 2017…

I often write about what I’m thankful for throughout the year, but a holiday titled “Thanksgiving” focuses a person’s attention. I’ve spent a lot of time swaddled with thanks since last Thursday, and I don’t want to give it up. So I’m asking you to grace us with your list, understanding that lists change every…

I spent last week on vacation, and so am reprinting an article I posted in April 13, 2012. It’s as relevant now as it was then, and I hope you enjoy it if you haven’t seen it. Here it is: Last  Saturday my teenage ewe, Butterfinger, had her first lamb. I found her in the…

Hey, why not? Okay, I know, really I do. It costs a fortune to get there, no way around it. But hey, I’m going to do a two-day seminar outside of Auckland on November 27th and 28th, of this year, and what better excuse to take the trip of a lifetime? Besides, the air fare…

Wow. What an amazing experience for me, and I hope for the 250 participants in the Madison Seminar. We spent the weekend immersed in hot-off-the-press research on canine behavior, (I was worried it would be too wonky but apparently I’m not the only one starved for intellectual stimulation about dog behavior!), and Ken Ramirez’s inspiring…

Recently there have been some debates and discussions about whether it is possible to be a “100% positive” trainer. This has become an issue because some seminar hosts have policies that they will not hire anyone for a seminar unless they only use positive reinforcement and “never use punishment or aversives.” Some people are being…

Like many of you (great comments!) I’ve been playing this week with what words Willie defines the same as I. As suspected, most of the words I have used to communicate with him are verbs (to him), and that appears to be his “default” understanding. He HAS learned however, names for living things, me, Jim,…

This is me and Tag, a Great Pryenees at the Dane County Humane Society who was looking for a home. (Note: Since this was taken, he’s found a great one!) (Second Note: It almost killed me to not adopt him myself–not physically possible for me right now. Damn!) Tag and I schmoozed together to help…

I thought you might be interested in two of the books I am using as references for my talks on play behavior. One is Animal Play: Evolutionary, Comparative and Ecological Perspectives, by Marc Bekoff and John Byers. It’s not new, (1998) but it is considered a classic in the field. Bekoff has done a lot…

Ah, the best laid plans. I had plans for the info below AND more for today, but alas, life and limited energy levels and an important vet visit intruded on my best laid plans. By way of explanation, I spent time this morning recording a podcast for Research Bites, the too-cool for school podcast of…

As if any of us REALLY knows “what it all means,” right? But thank you for your interesting and thoughtful comments about the previous post’s video of Willie and the “Get Back” signal. They were great. I’ll cut to the chase about my own interpretation. Here’s the data: Willie tongue flicks when I ask him…

I promised I’d send this out in a blog when it was ready, so here it is for those of you who’ve been asking for us to do another DVD combo. We put together our two best selling DVDs in a package. Through this Friday the 17th, you can order a PACKAGE of Lost in…

Thanks to all the kind readers who sent their best wishes to Lassie. Good news: she seems fine. I’m hoping it was just one of those “dietary indiscretions” that come and go into all of our lives. Fed her tiny meals, low fat, gave her Pepsid as instruction by Dr. John for acid stomach (common…

I‘m a little late to the party here, (not Lassie’s party! More on that below.) but I am loving Meg Daley Olmert’s book, Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond. I’m not all that far along yet, but early on I was asking myself why in heaven’s name this book has been…

I’m working on a post about the comparative behavior of wolves, coyotes, African Wild dogs and domestic dogs, but here’s a short digression for the cat lovers. An adult lioness in the Maasai Mara marks a bush after rising from a nap. You can clearly see the stream of urine in the photo. Aren’t you…

Seen this? The announcer tells us that the dog is “faking death.” I’m just not even going to pursue how and why someone came up with that as an explanation for this dog’s behavior, BUT… What IS going on?  I have two hypotheses, but I’m staying mum until I get your ideas.  I’ll add mine…

My last post started a good discussion about the use of the term “counter conditioning,” (and its use in treating Separation Anxiety) and one of the comments in particular reminded me that the term is often used differently by different people. For years I’ve always specified “counter classical conditioning” when talking about treatment for SA,…

I’m reading a book titled Becoming Animal by a “cultural ecologist and environmental philosopher” David  Abram.  My amazing sister (Wendy Barker, a break-your-heart brilliant poet and writer herself) sent it to me for Christmas and it has had a profound effect on me all week long. This is not a book for many people. As…

VIDEO OF WILLIE’S SHEEPHERDING Willie’s First Run at Cambridge 2014 To read about Willie’s run at Cambridge, click here.    Willie’s First Run at Cambridge 2014 Willlie’s Sheepdog Trial   RELATED BLOGS FROM “THE OTHER END OF THE LEASH” Summer Fun, from Frogs to Sheepdogs  August 2014 Autonomy and Domestic Dogs  Part I, Part…

Here’s a video I’m going to show in New Zealand of Willie, Hope and friend Mico, from this summer. I’m not going to say much about it, because I am curious what words you would use to describe what you are seeing. Watch it a couple of times, and then if you are so inspired,…

Months ago, when in the first stages of planning publicity for my new book, I asked my editor why book tours were always so brutal. And they are–by now I’ll have given 9 talks in less than two weeks, and visited 8 cities. On some days, I got up at 4 A, to make a…

Is there a more wonderful city in the world than London? You know I’m not a city girl, at least I’d never want to  live in one, but I love visiting vibrant cities, and surely London is one of the best.  The only city I can think of that could compete with London is Sydney,…

Oh dear, I’m about to rave about a book that doesn’t come out until April (April? Why did the Advance Copy come so soon?). Scent of the Missing, by Susannah Charleson is so well written I don’t know whether to be inspired or to turn my computer off and never write again. It’s a story…

Well, they’re not dogs. Or cats. Or domestic animals of any kind. But I spent two years working with Cotton Top Tamarins and hearing my university BFF describe how she is continuing her work with them was one of the highlights of my trip to Florida. Anne Savage, Senior Conservation Biologist at Disney World, has…