The Animal Behavior Nerd
10/15/2022
Beardie had a blast showing off his biker dude costume at ‘s Bark on the Boards event today. Beardie is one of the many amazing Animal Assisted Therapy pets that provide emotional support for the residents at Baylor’s Women’s Correctional Institute! Fun fact, you can target train and teach other fun behaviors with reptiles too! Beardie’s preferred reinforcers are super worms and microgreens.
04/07/2021
I think one of the most harmful dog training myths is “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”.
Dogs of any age can learn new behaviors! I’ve taught 10+ year old dogs to love their crates, to go to their beds on cue, to open doors, and the list goes on and on.
Senior dogs constantly get looked over in shelters and it’s such a shame. I understand not wanting the heartbreak of bringing home a dog and shortly after potentially having to say goodbye. I really do. But think of all that you’re giving to that dog. You’re showing them the love, kindness, and dignity of being in a home for their final days, months, years.
Adopt a senior dog if you can. Please. Like this beautiful lady, Luna. She’s a 9+ year old female mixed breed (looks like a malinois mix to me but 🤷♀️). She loves to have her face rubbed, loves to go for walks, loves a good nap, and doesn’t care about other dogs on walks. Meet Luna at our New Castle location and give her the love she deserves!
The moment when a touch sensitive dog not only play bows with you but also solicits petting is so exciting.
Dylan is a 14 year old Pom mix who’s owner is currently in a hospital and is terminal. Dylan had been alone in the home for quite some time before coming to us. He was understandably scared and confused on intake. He tried to bite several people (including me) due to his fear and confusion.
I’ve been building a relationship with the little cutie through the kennel for the past few weeks and yesterday he let me take him out. When I brought him in my office it took him a bit to acclimate but then he not only started play bowing and playing with toys but he also solicited petting from me. This is such a huge deal for him. After some time he even let me pet down his back and tail briefly. We will continue to work on two way consent to petting and rewarding him for tolerating little bits at a time.
Hopefully we can get this little guy into a foster or rescue where he can continue to become more comfortable with handling and new people.
08/15/2020
If you haven’t heard the latest episode from ’s podcast check it out now! In it I briefly mention training hornbills to station and it got me reminiscing about working with birds. I’ve worked with so many species of animals but dogs and birds will always be my favorites. Not only have I had the pleasure of training them to do cool things like free fly and come back but I’ve also had the pleasure of hand raising quite a few. This handsome dude is a Southern Ground Hornbill and I had the pleasure of caring for his parents along with siblings from different hatch dates. If you’re a dog trainer who’s never trained another species, I highly recommend it. It’ll humble you in ways you’d never expect.
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