I just got back from the Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians’ First Annual Behavior Conference at the Oquendo Center in Las Vegas. Over forty-five technicians plus a few practice managers and dog trainers made the trek to this inaugural event. It was a smashing success. I was honored to be one of the chosen speakers, along with Monique Feyrecilde, LVT, Sherri Yschak, RVT, Ginny Price, MS, CVT, VTS (Behavior) and with labs presented by Terry Ryan and Marcia Rafter Ritchie, VTS (Behavior), CPDT. While many of you have attended tons of veterinary or training seminars, I have to tell you that there

We live in a land of fast food, fatty snacks, and junk food junkies. French fries dripping with grease, hamburgers packed with calories – most of us are painfully aware that our diets are less than ideal. Could our pets also be suffering from a similar situation? If that pet is a bird and it’s on an all-seed diet, the answer’s an emphatic “Yes!” While nature lovers can safely supplement wild birds with feeders full of seed, too much seed for your pet bird can lead to serious problems. Just ask Dr. Vanessa Rolfe, an avian veterinarian at Avian &

Question: I am a Psychology student who is currently enrolled in a subject that requires animal training. I saw your video on Youtube.com on training chickens. I was wondering how many days did it take you to teach the chicken those tricks? Did you use positive reinforcement? What are the chances of students like me to train a chicken on color discrimination within 20 days? I appreciate your kind consideration and time for reading this. Thank you. Julie Gajudo Phillipines Answer: Chickens can learn tricks surprisingly fast—often even faster than dogs. That’s because training of simple tasks just involves a

Today is Lucy’s second day of transitioning to jumping through my arms. After practicing through a smaller and smaller hoop a bunch of times, I try with my arms. I’m using the MannersMinder remote controlled treat dispenser to reward her once she jumps through the hoop. The remote control is in my hand and as soon as she jumps through I press it and a food treat is dispensed. First try: Unlike yesterday, today she jumps right though. Second try: Oops here I put my human hoop too high. I’ll have to practice with the hoop lower at first and then sequentially

It’s been a while since I’ve given an update on Lucy. In fact, I still have to go back and fill you in on all of the juicy details from last summer. In the meantime, I have her this week to work on a few issues that have been cropping up. Like training her that even though her owners (my dad) reward her for climbing in their lap, it’s really more fun for her to greet people by remaining seated or lying down. And that instead of barking at the random person walking by the car, if she’s quiet she

Question: Our ten-month-old Cockapoo is adorable; however, he has a problem. Whenever he gets excited, especially when my grown children and grandchildren come over, he pees on them and on the floor. We try very hard to give him lots of attention and everyone greets him on arrival, but the peeing is quite extensive. It also occurs when I bring him to their homes. As soon as we walk in, he leaves a trail of urine. Are there some measures I can take to avoid the embarrassment and damage to the floors, shoes and pants? —BL in Napa Answer: Never