By Gary Wilkes (From a presentation at Central Veterinary Conferences: Washington, DC

The first thing to appreciate about animal behavior services is – there are no specific credentials that assure competence in this field. It will be a very long time before such credentials exist. Currently there are at least three scientifically oriented groups attempting to set standards for the business of animal behavior modification and training. There are at least four groups of professional dog trainers who have their own certification programs and concepts of competence. Outside the framework of formal groups are many thousands of dog trainers who have no credentials other than experience – and no particular interest in acquiring outside approval for their skills. Your resource-pool for behavior services comes from the totality of people who work with dogs and cats. Continue reading →

When I was in college I met a young woman who was going to school to be a hair stylist. I let her cut my hair to give her practice and pick up a few bucks. Her name was Terri and she had a remarkable history at age 20. She was one of two children of a man and woman who had a very rocky marriage. Her father was the ultimate dreamer and ne’er-do-well. He was always chasing a rainbow and investing money in schemes that perpetuated their poverty. The wife worked diligently at low-paying jobs to support them, only to see any savings squandered on another hair-brained, get-rich swindle. After years of this, the wife was at her last straw. One day the husband came home with wild excitement and announced that he had just bought them a gold mine in Southern Nevada – about an hour away from their home in Kingman, Arizona. The wife looked him in the eyes and started packing. Realizing that he had finally blown it, he grabbed then ten-year-old Terri, jumped in his truck and headed to the mine. He knew his wife wouldn’t leave without her daughter. Continue reading →

Note: This is from a presentation I gave at Central Veterinary Conferences in Washington, DC. A veterinarian behaviorist complained so I was prevented from continuing speaking for that organization. The complaint? What I said wasn’t part of the current catechism, even though I cited peer-reviewed and scholarly texts and showed live video to confirm what I said. Meaning I cited sources that were of the same standard as any other presentation at that conference. So much for open minded discussion of behavior at veterinary conferences. Ironically, CVC still posts my abstracts and handouts on their website for vets. This brings a list of my work that is currently available on DVM360 – http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/gary-wilkes-dvm

And this is the link to the this paper as presented. http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/teaching-inhibitions-stopping-unacceptable-behavior-now-proceedings I have tweaked this version slightly. I have put the edits in italics. The main difference is that I actually identify the group that authored the “Position Statement on Punishment” referenced in the paper.

May 1, 2011
By: Gary Wilkes, DVM (Author’s Note. They always add DVM or PhD to my title and I always tell them I’m not either. I left this here because if you go to the site you’ll see the letters and assume that I let it slide. I never do. When I spoke at a symposium at MIT I had them remove the PhD and put “dog trainer” – a title I wear proudly. As dog trainers are many times more competent than behavioral scientists, I choose the higher honor.)

CVC IN WASHINGTON, D.C. PROCEEDINGS

It is the claim of animal behaviorists that behavior is the most common cause of death in companion animals. This is true, but does not automatically explain how to solve the problem. Almost always, it is what animals do that kills them. They jump on guests, eat shoes, bite children, fight with other dogs and tug unmercifully on leash. If you can stop them from doing these behaviors in a timely fashion for a reasonable price, they live. If you cannot stop the behavior they die. The single most important question in modern behavioral therapy is, “how do you stop a single behavior, now.” Continue reading →

The suggestion of reinforcing an unwanted behavior often shocks people. Nevertheless, it’s a very useful tool to solve complex problems. That is because it is the practical way to get the dog to recognize the behavior as a unique behavior. Meaning your first goal is often to make the dog recognize the sensations that accompany a behavior. This is critical for behaviors like house training. The dog must recognize the subtle sensation of a full bladder as meaning something – just like an infant in diapers. Unless the animal knows that those sensations are connected to specific consequences it will never acquire behaviors that solve the problem. i.e. You can’t know that it’s beneficial to go outside to use the bathroom if you don’t know that a full bowel has anything to do with it. Continue reading →