Blog

by Angelia Oliverei, LVT

Let’s face it, who doesn’t enjoy a special treat from time to time? We can sit and absent mindlessly eat potato chip and cookies.  Afterwards, we peek on the back of the cookie packaging and are shocked to see how many calories we just ate. The same concept goes for treating our furry friends.

Whether you are giving them that special cookie because they performed a trick, obeyed a command, or just because they are cute, giving our pets a treat is a pleasurable experience.  However, many people don’t realize how many calories are in just that one treat. Continue…

by Cathryn Adolph, LVT

A little cookie goes a long way…

In our office, we use positive training to teach our patients new behaviors with specific form and proper posture.  These behaviors are targeted at improving strength, balance, and/or proprioception (body awareness).  The pet needs to pay attention to what their body is doing.  We use a combination of targeting, luring, shaping, and molding using positive reinforcement.

In rehabilitation and fitness conditioning, negative or force based philosophy of dog training is avoided.  When we use force, often the dog does not really “learn” or pay attention to what their body is doing and the form is frequently incorrect.  A fearful pet can become difficult to work with if a technician continues to force the pet to perform an exercise.  If bad enough, the pet may avoid the exercise, the people, or equipment involved all together. Continue…