Articles: dog behavior

The hottest dog book is paws down John Bradshaw’s Dog Sense: Dog Sense: How The New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet.  My friend at WGN Radio, Bill Moller sent this along from an NPR interview. Bradshaw’s comments are a huge breath of Fresh Air!!! Bradshaw relies on…

WARWICK, R.I. — The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants 2011 Conference April 1-3 was attended by over 300 dog, cat, parrot and horse behavior consultants. One headline from the event emerged from a speech by veterinary behaviorist Dr. Nicholas Dodman, director of the Behavior Clinic at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton,…

Behavior Took Kit by James Fitzler and Susan Friedman. A flow-chart which describes how animals learn. “Teaching new behaviors isn’t rocket science, it’s behavior science!” (thanks for KPI trainer, and Facebook fan Laura Monaco Torelli for the this post)

Here are some photo snippets from the 2011 International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants Conference, April 1 through 3 in Warwick, RI. 

In this case, I believe by accident or on purpose the dog was trained to smile with reinforcement (owner’s attentions). Some might be concerned that the dog is angry. This is not an angry dog. 

Another example, is this dog happy or angry….smiling or grimacing. Or maybe the dog has a dental related issue, if this behavior is new. Personally, I believe the dog is exhibiting what’s called a flehman response to a smell (likely the treat), Curling the upper lip, bringing all the scent possible to the vomeronasal organ.…

Interesting topic among behavior consultants on our Listserve, how some people confuse a dog’s smile with a dog’s grimace and growl. It really happens all the time.