Dog Behaviorists - Page 3

I think your either born with It or not, I don 't believe it's a learned skill.You have to have a greater love of animals, than money.

I guess dogs only ..... facing the north pole?
Oh my god.

Carlin, I am truly blessed that I can watch and learn from her although she lives in Michigan and I have since relocated to Florida to finish my doctoral.  We try to get together during the summers.....

She is amazing....
 

So those "for" behaviorist.....  The general idea is that you can be a trainer and  not  a behaviorists, but you cannot be a behaviorists without also being a trainer.  Now I want to add a twist and see what everyone thinks.

Would you consider someone who spends a year or more living in the wild studying wild dogs/wolves/coyotes a behaviorist?  They spend their time learning how the canine lives in its pack and the dynamics among the pack.   In the process, this person learns that based on a sound or a body language/movement, the canine is displaying xx behavior.

I do not think this person could then go in and say "if you do x,y,z, your dog will stop doing xxxx." (If you disagree, please explain).   I am thinking more that this person could say "if your dog is doing xxx, it probably means yyyy."  

What do you think and why?

There does seem to be some cross-over with horse training to dog training but I think it has more to do with if one has horses there are likely to be dogs around.  Regardless of the horse being so huge, it is a prey-animal whereas the dog is a predator, so the approach is different.

i am with Two Moons and his/her comment re this topic.  The word behaviorist has more of an academic ring to it whereas "trainer" sounds more pedestrian.  

The move towards discarding the consideration of pack structure that is so trendy is more of an anthropomorphism in line with "all animals are equal".  Hehe.  But you all know the rest of that phrase, I am sure.

Fawndallas, I cannot take the discussion in the direction you would like.  Sorry.

No problem.  Your opinion is welcome.  This thread is for a conversation and all considerate opinion and thoughts are welcome.

Behaviorist, psychiatrist, whisperer, voodoo magic, sells.
Understanding is an art not a science, there is no black and white, no one size fits all, and nothing is ever as it seems, no absolutes.
Raising training and handling animals takes understanding, something you get with handed down knowledge and experiences over a life time and not everyone claiming they understand actually do.
it's not something you can hold in your hand or pass on to another, you sure as hell can't learn it from a book.

The term puts me off more than the concept.
 

I understand a behaviorist to be someone who actually has some higher education in the field of applied animal behavior. A certified behaviorist will have demonstrated a certain amount of learning and or understanding through various tests. Anyone who calls themselves a behaviorist, but has not met the criteria is, imho, most likely a hack. A trainer, because of the lack of an overseeing body in the field, is anyone who comes out and says they can help change or direct a dog's (or owner's) behavior. They may or may not have any kind of formal training themselves. A behaviorist is to a trainer as a psychiatrist is to a life coach. Both can offer a great service, but they are different.
I know lots of trainers who have little formal education in the field and still do great work with the dogs. I also know behaviorists whom I would not trust with a hamster, much less a dog of any difficulty.
Someone who spends a year studying wild dogs, coyotes, or wolves is not necessarily either of the above, but is a researcher, probably a specific kind of researcher called a "grad student." ;)

As for this not being a learned skill, come on, we all learned it, didn't we?
 

Did we?

Certified, criteria, tests, higher education.....sorry I find that funny.

The only people with the skill in question that I know were born with it and are very rare indeed, there is no we.

Oh well.

 

I have also observed that dog behaviorist are brought in only as a last resort on a training / behavior issue.  Why is this?  I would expect a good behaviorist also be used to be able to take the owner/dog relationship to another level.

Coming more from a horse training background, the equivalent (not called a behaviorist) person is frequently brought in when a person wants to take their relationship to the next level with their horse.  Seeing the results from this type of work/training, is probably one of the most beautiful things.  It is as though the horse and rider are one and flow together.

I understand that most work with dogs are where the dogs is away from the owner, but the concept could be the same.  Almost as though owner and dog think on the same wave length when working together. 

Make sense?