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Associate Professor in Animal Behavior reviews Nintendogs

Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KA

If you follow our blog, you know we’re a bunch of science geeks. Oh sure, we write in depth about dog training and animal behavior but what you might not know unless you spend a bit of time with us is that we never miss an opportunity to make dog training and animal behavior interesting and fun! This is never more true than with our mentor, Associate Research Professor, Dr. Jim Ha. He is a professor at the University of Washington and Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist. He’s always working on something fascinating and important. He even manages to make genetics and statistics fun. How many people can you say that about?!

I’ll admit that I know less than nothing about online gaming or video games but I was excited to read Jim’s interview with Steve Watts over at 1up.com about Nintendogs. Steve talks to Jim about how realistic Nintendo’s dog simulator is in giving gamers the experience of raising their own puppy. OK gamers, educate us about this whole thing. Do any of you play on one of these video game consoles? What do you think about Nintendogs?

 

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Dogs Biting Children

Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KADogs attacking children

This is Dog Bite Prevention week so I thought this would be a good time to discuss the latest research and resources for understanding why dogs bite and preventing dog bites. If we can prevent dog bites to children, we ought to be able to prevent dog bites to adults, or we can hope.

According to the CDC, children are the most at risk for a dog bite and the most likely to require medical attention for the bite. That’s a way of saying that when children get bitten by a dog there is often serious damage, sometimes permanent damage. One might think that most children are bitten by strange dogs but the statistics tell a different story. Children are most likely to be bitten by the family dog. What’s going on here?

A study was published that looked at this very problem. Here’s a quote from the abstract: [Read more...]

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Qualified Animal Behavior Professionals

Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KA

A companion animal with a behavior problem is a serious issue for most owners.  You need to find help and you want to find qualified help.  Our first recommendation is to consult with your veterinarian.  Your vet should always be the first person with whom you discuss a behavior issue.  All too often, the behavior problem is part of a larger set of health issues.  The four areas of possible concern we recommend you discuss with your veterinarian are: pain, irritation/infection, endocrine and sensory. An example that we see often is aggression in dogs caused by arthritis or other source of pain.  So take any behavior problem to your veterinarian first.

If your vet recommends that you see a behavior specialist and does not make a recommendation, you should look for professional certifications.  In the United States, there are no federal or state regulations about who can call themselves animal behaviorists or dog trainers. There are many people out there that “practice” animal behavior and even a number of organizations that provide online training to become an animal behaviorist, but we recommend only the following professional certifications for the field that we now call applied animal behavior: [Read more...]

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Western Veterinary Conference 2011

Guest Blogger: Anna Baxter, BA, LVT

Recently I attended the Western Veterinary Conference, one of the largest gatherings of veterinary practitioners in the world, for some continuing education. My focus was Behavior, where I went to all 20 hours of scientific programming by some of the best in the industry. Some of the speakers (DVMs) talked about therapeutic behavioral drugs and self-traumatic or neurological disorders while others focused on canine aggression issues. I will touch on a few of the more interesting and applicable sessions.
[Read more...]

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Tucker and the Orcas

Katherine Ayres will be giving a lecture about her PhD project where she trained her scent detection dog to find whale scat in Puget Sound. Katherine is analyzing these scat samples to determine the health and welfare of the whales. Katherine wrote an article titled Whales, Dogs, Poop and Conservation Biology about her exciting work.

Katherine’s lecture is Thursday, February 24th (this lecture has been rescheduled due to weather) Thursday, March 3rd at 7:00PM at the Duwamish Longhouse: 4705 West Marginal Way, S.W., Seattle, WA 98106. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets. We hope to see you there! [Read more...]

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Pet Blogger Challenge

Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDTPet Blogger Challenge

1. When did you begin your blog?

We began our blog in September 2007.

2. What was your original purpose for starting a blog?

Like many businesses that start a blog, we wanted to drive traffic to our web site but it was more than that. We’re passionate about educating pet owners and professionals working with pets about scientific, safe and effective methods for training dogs and modifying their pets’ behavior. The past five years or so have thrust us into a “whispering” world where dog training methods that entail the use of force, fear and pain are being recommended on television shows and web sites. We have reams of scientific evidence that these harsh methods can cause behavioral fallout with dogs such as increased anxiety, fear and aggression but science is often drowned out by the media. These methods aren’t  just bad for the dogs but they put family members in danger of being injured. We hope that we can reach pet owners and pet professionals of all stripes with the message that scientific and humane methods for working with pets are the safest and best methods available. [Read more...]

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Control Your Dog’s Barking

Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT-KA

I’m a professional dog trainer so no one is a bigger fan of training your dog than I am. I think that training a dog is fun! What I’ve noticed though is that most owners who call us aren’t interested in training their dogs to DO something. They want their dogs to STOP doing things. The reason we’re focusing on how to stop unwanted behavior is because unwanted behavior lands dogs in shelters. Unwanted behavior is also when we’re most likely to see ineffective, painful and inhumane methods used to turn off behavior. So we’re going to devote the month of January on how to train your dog to stop doing the annoying things you don’t want them to do. This month, we’ll be posting weekly about how to stop your dog from: jumping on people, humping and begging for food. Today’s installment is how to control alert barking. [Read more...]

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Happy New Year!

Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDT

As we look forward to a new year, we want to thank everyone for making 2010 such a successful year for us:

Thank you for being our clients. We appreciate the trust you placed in us by inviting us into your homes and families.

Thank you for caring so much about your pets. We know that your pets aren’t just animals, they’re members of your family.

Thank you for the work you do with your pets every day. Sometimes what we recommend is not always convenient but you continually put in the time and effort.

Thank you for your faith in our methods. Our scientific approach often goes against popular beliefs and we appreciate every open mind that we encounter.

Thank you for referring your friends, family, colleagues and clients to us. There is no higher compliment to us than a referral.

All of us wish all of you a peaceful, happy and prosperous 2011. Happy New Year!

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Thoughts For New Adopters (and all dog owners)

Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDTiStock_000007285181XSmall

The calls come in through out the year but become especially heavy during the summer and Christmas holiday season:

  • “We love our new dog. She’s so sweet but she’s jumping on the children and mouthing them and I’m worried.”
  • “Our new dog is dragging us down the street on walks. The kids would like to walk the dog but we’re afraid they’ll get hurt.”
  • “We haven’t owned a dog since the family dog when we were children. What should we be doing and not doing?”
  • “The dog we adopted from the shelter is sweet and wonderful but we’re seeing behavior that is worrying us and we don’t want to wait for a class to begin in a few weeks. We need help now!” [Read more...]

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Are Pit Bulls Inherently Dangerous?

Christine Hibbard, CTC, CPDTAre Pit Bulls Dangerous

If you speak with any of us at Companion Animal Solutions, follow our blog or work with us, you know the answer to this question. No, we do not believe that Pit Bulls are inherently dangerous. So why am I writing about this topic again?

In September, I got a phone call from a reporter at Q13 News who wanted to interview me on camera about whether Pit Bulls are inherently dangerous. I asked the reporter what had happened and he said, “Don’t worry about it. I just want your professional opinion as to whether Pit Bulls are inherently dangerous”. He also informed me he would be at my office within 30 minutes. You can read the transcript of the interview here. It wasn’t until after the interview aired that I discovered a woman had been horribly mauled by a Pit Bull. [Read more...]

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