By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
Lately, it seems, people want their dogs to be perfect. More and more people register for puppy classes to start their dogs off right. Then people register for private sessions, enroll in dog sports, obedience…
Nov 23 2015
Nov 23 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
Lately, it seems, people want their dogs to be perfect. More and more people register for puppy classes to start their dogs off right. Then people register for private sessions, enroll in dog sports, obedience…
Oct 13 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
Statistically, the number of pet professionals who read my article each week represents approximately half of the people who visit my blog; consequently, I try to write about various topics to satisfy the wide range of…
Oct 6 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
This week I want to explain, or should I say clarify, what is a pit bull. As mentioned last week in Pitbull: A Job Title, the now infamous dog breed is poorly misunderstood, and…
Sep 29 2015
Sep 6 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
Professional recognition is one of my life goals. I believe Dog training and behaviour consultation are at a turning point in history. Too many improvised professionals or outdated practitioners are inadvertently causing harm to animals and…
Read moreSep 1 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
Over the last twelve years, I've been fortunate enough to have spent time in both zoological and non-zoological training environments, and let me tell you, there's a big difference when it comes to training. This week… Read moreAug 25 2015
Aug 11 2015
By Gaby Dufrense-Cyr
Lately, I've noticed an increase on social media of anthropomorphic observations of animal behaviour, in other words, people see other people in animals. A dog wants to save a fish's life by tossing water on it, a…
Aug 2 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
In the wake of Cecil the lion, we come to realize he's an ambassador for all living animals. Lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, cats, and dogs are killed each minute of every day, year-round. What we make…
Jul 21 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr
Those of you who read this blog every week are used to the Think Outside The Box ideas I write about. Consequently, many of you know I have a learning disability and an eidetic memory. You also…
Jul 14 2015
Jul 7 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
Many people confuse lure with reinforcement training. The confusion might come from the fact that both techniques use food to train animal behaviours. My goal this week is to shed light and expose the differences between…
Jun 30 2015
Jun 23 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
This week I want to talk about a subject really close to home, dog training methodologies. You would think dog training evolved since my childhood days, but it seems, the more things change, the more they…
Jun 16 2015
Jun 9 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
People often ask me why their dogs bark. I get this question so often; I decided to write about it. Barking is what I call a side effect behaviour. Side-effect behaviours occur when dogs exhibit exaggerated…
Read moreJun 1 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
A few weeks ago, we talked about breeding dogs for fashion, not function. The taboo topic is a very sensitive one because it reflects our direct impact on a species we created to serve our specific…
May 18 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
When I was a kid, we had Great Danes. These majestic creatures were big, bold, and never shied away from all our childish shenanigans. We started with one, then we had puppies, so we ended up…
Read moreMay 11 2015
May 6 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
When I was in yoga school and attending university, teachers had a saying Observe the Observer. A simple statement which requires years of practice just to understand it's significance. Fortunately for us, dogs live their…
Apr 28 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
Working with animals is extremely rewarding, but it also yields a dirty secret, people in our line of work burn out. We change bad behaviour into good behaviour, we improve the human-animal bond, we teach, we…
Apr 22 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
A while back I wrote a piece called Emotional Projection. The scientifically oriented article focused on possible sources of projection. Unfortunately, the somewhat long description didn't discuss how to actually use projection to change emotions…
Read moreApr 14 2015
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
The hardest part of owning a pet is when we realise our animals don't live forever. We live in such close proximity to our companions that pain felt by their loss is not only profound and…
Mar 31 2015
Mar 24 2015