The Dog Behavior Institute Blog
Interview with Andrea Viveiros on Enrichment
This month it is my pleasure to introduce you to Andrea Viveiros, KPA CTP, FFCP owner of Connect the Dogs. Andrea is a truly stellar dog trainer and behavior professional who I first met through Ran. What always strikes me about Andrea is her endless enthusiasm for all things dog behavior! She has a wonderful way of making dog behavior and, in the case of our interview today, enrichment accessible and connecting it to the bigger picture of dog welfare. Enrichment is a critical concept in how we care for dogs and something that we always consider here at DBI. I came out of our conversation with tons of ideas both for DBI clients and my own pup Kerby. I know you are going to love it!
Interview with Kim Palermo on Dog Sports & Control Unleashed
This month I am so happy to introduce you to Kimberly Palermo, of Blue Dog, a dog walking and training company based here in Massachusetts. I (Stephanie) first learned about Kim’s work when attending Conference Unleashed, a conference about all things Control Unleashed (CU). Kim gave an incredible presentation about using CU exercises in dog training group classes. Imagine my delight when I learned that Blue Dog wasn’t too far from where I live. I started taking Kerby to classes at Blue Dog and was delighted with all the approach and all the instructors we worked with there. Later on, Kim and I discovered we both were interested in teaching our dogs to herd and soon we and our dogs became good friends!
Interview with Molly Neher on Assistance Dogs
This month we are so excited to introduce you to Molly Neher of Atlas Assistance Dogs. Ran and I first heard about Atlas at a ClickerExpo presentation. Atlas Assistance Dogs is an organization that helps guardians train their own service dog by pairing them with a trained facilitator to guide them through teaching disability-related tasks and public access skills. We were blown away by their commitment to accessibility and inclusion, and the enormous amount of support they provide clients at all stages in the process. Molly was so generous in sharing her time and experiences, I know you’ll get as much out of reading the interview as I did conducting it!
Interview with Lyz Knight, IAABC-ADT, CDPT-KA, FFCP, on fearful dogs
This month it is our pleasure to introduce you to Lyz Knight of Rover Rehab Dog Training. Lyz provides one-on-one dog consultation and group classes and specializes in working with dogs who have challenges with fear and anxiety. I (Stephanie) hired Lyz last year to help me with some challenges Kerby has around unfamiliar guests visiting our home. Lyz brought such insight and patience into our work together. Kerby and I both benefited so much from her expertise and recommendations. So you can imagine how exciting it was for me to sit down with Lyz to talk more about dogs we label as fearful. I hope you enjoy and learn as much as I did from our conversation.
Interview with Samantha Hankey, Certified Veterinary Nurse
When you are with your animal every day you may not notice that they stopped picking up certain toys, they weren’t sleeping as deeply, or maybe they were hesitating to go up or down the stairs. These are just a few examples but there are so many behaviors and routines that can change when your dog is feeling better. It makes me so happy when I hear a dog's quality of life has improved or they are just a little bit more comfortable/happier.
Interview with Kaitlin Rondeau, DVM
This month we are so pleased to introduce you to Kaitlin Rondeau, DVM. Kaitlin works at Concord Animal Hospital in Concord, MA. Kaitlin has been such a wonderful resource, always willing to brainstorm and research the best approaches to our dogs’ care. I (Stephanie) was thrilled to interview Kaitlin for this series and learn more about what it is like to work with dogs as a veterinarian and what we can do to help our dogs be more comfortable with their veterinary care.
Introducing: The DBI Interview Series
Our inaugural interview took place this fall with Dana Rebaza, CSAT, CPDT-KA, KPA CTP, VSA-CDT. Dana (they/she/he) is a fabulous dog trainer and consultant who owns The Brave Dog Collective. They are a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT) who works specifically with dogs who suffer from separation anxiety and their people. In our conversation, Dana and I talked about their work with separation anxiety dogs and what makes the work both challenging and fulfilling. It was such a pleasure to conduct this interview.. As you’ll read below, Dana provided such thoughtful, honest, and heartfelt answers to our questions. Read on to learn more about Dana and the important work they are doing.