At the San Francisco SPCA Behavior Resources Department, board certified veterinary behaviorist, Dr. Jeanine Berger, and her behavior technician, Lisa Stinnett, RVT, deal with fearful and aggressive dogs successfully on a regular basis. Their success is due in-part to their deep body of knowledge as well as a broad tool box. One important tool they use is the Treat&Train®—a remote controlled food reward system for training dogs and cats.  One unique way that they use the Treat&Train is to reward reactive dogs to become more comfortable around strangers in the home. Treat&Train Behavior technician Lisa Stinnett explains, “The owner is instructed to play

Every veterinary behaviorist’s dream is to have a technician who is certified in behavior. And if you’re a veterinarian in general practice, after you read this article, it may become your dream too. In this Q&A, Melissa Spooner, a licensed veterinary technician (LVT) with a Veterinary Technician Specialty in Behavior, answers questions about how she uses the Treat&Train® remote-controlled positive reinforcement training system during behavior consults to train dogs to settle down and to convince owners that she and the behavior team can indeed help them change their dog’s behavior. Spooner is the Special Events Coordinator at Oakland Veterinary Referral Services where she

One of the best parts about being a part of a strong network of animal behavior professionals is that I get to learn about interesting experiences with animals, clients and behavior products from a completely different perspective. For instance, last month at the North American Veterinary Conference, I met up with Dr. Lisa Radosta, a board certified veterinary behaviorist who lectures extensively and runs Florida Veterinary Behavior Service.  I don’t have any human kids, nor do I want any, but Lisa does and, as a result, she was able to make a statement about the Treat&Train®, the remote controlled reward-based dog

In Part 1 of this article, I interviewed Greg Snyder, Tristan Christianson, and Fred Schechter, three engineers who formerly worked for The Sharper Image, to learn about the process of developing a pet product. In this article, I continue with interview and learn about the project that brought them back together. Question: Dr. Yin: So, tell me about this product, The Foobler.  Who decided to make this product, and when did you guys decide to get together and work on it? Answer: Tristan: Foobler we’ve been working on for about a year now. It is, basically, if you’re familiar with smart

Howdy Ya’ll. Today is part 3 of my wonderful tricks and stunts class. Today, you’ll see how I learned how to pull a tissue out of a bag. This was the easiest trick of the Christmas video. Back as a wee young-un, I learned how to pull Kleenex® out of a box in response to a “sneeze” cue.  But how did I learn the Kleenex® trick? First off, I already knew to fetch. If you don’t know how to fetch yet, go here to see how your human can help teach you. In that video, she uses a Treat&Train® but you could just use

        But even if you’re not a black belt in karate, you can still learn a basic karate kick. Here’s how I learned it. The key to this trick for me was figuring out that I was supposed to lift a hind leg. A clicker or some marker word that means a treat is coming is essential. My human had to click while I was lifting a hind leg, but the trick was that I had to be aware that I was lifting my hind leg. Otherwise I couldn’t perceive that the click was associated with that