Dog Behavior Modification

Of Protests, Riots… Peonies and Peace

 in Academies / Animal Training / clicker training / Dog Behavior Modification / dog trainer / Dog training classes / Dog Training Workshop / Life on the Farm / Pat's Blog / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training by

Incredulous, aghast, heartbroken, dumbfounded… first coronavirus, now this. Watching the protests and riots on television takes me back to the 60’s when, as a child, I watched our cities burning. Have we truly come this far… only to have gone nowhere? Maybe not quite. My heart warmed to the photo of the row of white women standing shoulder-to-shoulder, shielding black protesters from the police. And the photo of police officers taking a knee in solidarity with peaceful protesters. We will get through this, too, and hopefully come out better and stronger on the other side. I know that as a […]

Presenting… SQUID! 16

 in Animal Training / Dog Behavior Modification / Gold Paw / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training  tagged Behavior Assessment / bite inhibition / clicker training / counter conditioning / dog / dog trainer / dog training / Flyball / Humane Society of Washington County / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / shelter by

So, every Tuesday I go to the Humane Society of Washington County to do behavior assessments for adoption dogs, and every week I manage to resist some wonderful faces and personalities. We even play an “if” game at the end of assessments… Teasing ourselves a little we ask each other, “If you had to adopt one of the dogs we assessed today, which one would it be?” I’m pretty safe playing this game – we have five dogs in the family, with no intentions of adding another permanent canine resident. Five is our limit. However, that doesn’t preclude an occasional […]

Bright Light on the Veterinary Behavior Horizon 9

 in Dog Behavior Modification / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training / Travels with PPaws  tagged dog / dog trainer / dog training / Karen Overall / NAVC / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / positive training / seminar / Veterinian by

Every trainer I know can recount horror stories of veterinarians giving their clients bad training and behavior advice, and handling dogs inappropriately. You know: “Alpha-roll your puppy to show him you are dominant” “Don’t take your pup anywhere until after he’s 6 months old and has had all his shots” Techs and vets forcibly restraining a violently resisting dog in order to trim nails or draw blood (To be fair, I’m sure veterinarians have equally horrifying stories of trainers inappropriately giving veterinary advice, but that’s grist for another blog.) The good news is that a growing number of veterinarians are […]

The Chronicles of Narnia 2

 in Animal Training / Dog Behavior Modification / dog trainer / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training / Travels with PPaws  tagged Chicago / dog / dog trainer / dog training / Narnia / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / Reactive Rover / seminar / Sturgis by

No Lion, no Witch, no Wardrobe, just a wonderful weekend with some of the nicest hosts I’ve ever had the privilege of spending time with. They took me out for delicious dinners both Saturday and Sunday evenings, and we laughed so much my stomach hurt. The trip started on my favorite plane with my favorite airline (Cape Air) out of my favorite airport (Hagerstown, MD). I was the only passenger on the 8-seater propeller plane – I love the feeling of having my own private airplane – and it sure beats driving to the Baltimore airport in rush-hour traffic.   […]

Long Overdue: Giving Thanks to PPaws Interns 4

 in Academies / Animal Training / Dog Behavior Modification / dog trainer / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training  tagged clicker training / dog / dog trainer / Dog Trainer Academy / dog training / Dog Training Workshop / Level 3 Academy / Marin humane Society / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / positive training / shaping by

It’s been so long since I’ve blogged I’m almost embarrassed to start up again. I have friends e-mailing me asking if I’m still alive – and Jim Croce’s song lyric, “You never seem to have enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them…” is making endless loops in my brain. So… my apologies for the long absence. So here it is, almost November already. Where does the time go? It’s been a very busy couple of months. For some reason this fall seemed more jammed than usual – perhaps because of the addition of […]

Behavior Modification Academy 8-10 4

 in Academies / Animal Training / Dog Behavior Modification / dog trainer / Peaceable Paws / positive dog training / Uncategorized  tagged Behavior Assessment / dog / dog trainer / Dog Trainer Academy / dog training / Humane Society of Washington County / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / positive training by

Confession time… I’m waaaaaay behind in getting a blog done, and now I have a dilemma – there have been so many things happen that I’ve wanted to blog about, like the Humane Society of Washington County donation jar getting stolen from the table at Martinsburg Bike Night, and the subsequent exciting chase, capture of one suspect, and ultimate recovery of the jar with over $250 in it. (It was the father of the two juveniles who actually went out and found the jar!). Or my observations from the Humane Society vaccination clinic and flea-less market that drew a long […]

Maggie Faith Follow-Up 9

 in Animal Shelters / Animal Training / Dog Behavior Modification / dog trainer / Gold Paw / Uncategorized  tagged Behavior Assessment / bite inhibition / dog / dog trainer / dog training / Humane Society of Washington County / Pat Miller / Peaceable Paws / shelter / Tug by

Okey Doke – I promised you a follow-up on the Westie pup left abandoned in our driveway, so here it is. Never let it be said I don’t keep my promises… Maggie spent the week while we were on our biker vacation happily making friends at the Humane Society of Washington County. They assessed her at the end of her stray holding time, and found that she was friendly, outgoing, resilient (as in nothing rattles her) and very quick to use her mouth. They weren’t sure if she was using it aggressively or not, so were not willing to make […]