Feature

One Dog at a Time: Enriching the Emotional Lives of Shelter Dogs While Navigating Real-World Challenges

The animal sheltering world is an emotional one for all stakeholders: the animals who live with the stress of an imperfect and unpredictable environment; a shelter organization that is constantly addressing challenges with funding, staffing, and rehoming animals; employees and volunteers who care about the animals, but may not necessarily have the skills or knowledge to ameliorate the stress of shelter life....

Cat Division

Scratch This, Not That!

Cats scratch for many reasons such as nail care, exercise, tension relief, and communication that includes both physical and chemical messages (DePorter, 2019). Scratching behavior is so innate that even cats who have undergone partial digital amputation, also known as declawing or onychectomy, still attempt to scratch. An individual’s mental and physical health is impacted by their ability to express this normal and healthful behavior. Unfortunately, cats may target items that their owners are unhappy with them scratching.....

Dog Division

A Spoonful of Sugar: The Trials and Tribulations of Medicating Your Pet

“Give one and a half tablets twice daily for 2 weeks” I’ve lost count of the number of times I have said this to my clients across my consult room table and simply moved on to see my next patient, thinking no more of it. Well, the boot was recently on the other foot, and I can tell you it was very uncomfortable....

Horse Division

Lyviera’s Journey

Lyviera is a Selle Francais mare who was initially bought by a riding club’s owner to be his personal competition horse. While she excelled in show jumping and was very strong in cross country, she was difficult in dressage, specifically very stiff on one side and difficult to get “on the bit.” He therefore decided to keep her as a riding club horse. While training at this riding school, I had her on loan for a year and did some eventing with her, and we got very good results in show jumping and cross country. I only bought her many years later when I was in the position to get my first horse. At the time, she was being kept in a stable almost all day, every day......

Looking Back on Research Experiences

Shelter Division

So There’s a Pig in Your Shelter! What to Know, What to Do, and How to Help Them Thrive

Pigs are highly intelligent creatures. As a professional animal trainer, I will say pigs are more intelligent than dogs in many respects. They are also very emotionally sensitive; I’d compare them to an 18-month-old infant. They lack impulse control, don't stay as tiny as many advertise, and in the wrong environment can give a whole new meaning to bringing down the house! Which is why, sadly, it's not surprising that a pig may find themselves placed into a shelter.

Empathy, Antecedent Arrangements, and Fun! What to Think About When Working with Youth Clients

Working Animal Division

How the Clever Hans Effect Leads to Errors in Canine Scent Detection

Dogs are experts at human body language, but communication is a two-way street. Since you’re reading this article, you have probably gone to great lengths to understand their nonverbal communication, but how well you understand your own body language?

General

A Behavior Consultant’s Tips for Training Yourself Not To Touch Your Face

Don’t touch your face. It’s everywhere. On the front pages of the major news outlets, shared widely on social media, and even turned into gifs and memes in record time. COVID-19 has the whole country finally following the decades-old advice to wash our hands. And trying not to touch our faces. This is all well and good, but as any good behavior consultant will tell you, not doing something is a very hard thing to do....