AnimalKind Training

AnimalKind Training Training and behavior modification for dogs, cats, horses, birds, pocket pets and more.

Owner Shannon Finch is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner, and a certified Tellington Touch practitioner for both horses and companion animals.

02/07/2025

Hi friends, if you get a Messenger message from me saying I'm starting a group, it is NOT ME! Don't click on anything, or if you did, protect your accounts. SO aggravating....

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We've been taking a little break from having dogs since losing our Old Dog Haven foster Wade a few months ago.  Clearly ...
01/22/2024

We've been taking a little break from having dogs since losing our Old Dog Haven foster Wade a few months ago. Clearly the dog gods had other plans. Meet Jax, a Target parking lot special, who came to us on January 3rd. I sincerely apologize to all my puppy clients who may have thought I wasn't taking their challenges with their puppy seriously enough! I am feeling your pain (literally sometimes)! The land shark phase fortunately is a short one, but then comes adolescence. Whew boy! We are doing DNA on him, he appears to have Anatolian Shepherd in him, and he's going to be ginormous if the size of his feet are any indication. We are working on all the things he needs to know to be a good citizen, made a little more difficult because he left his litter a couple weeks too early. So far he loves every person he meets and has interacted with several dogs in a good way. Paws crossed that this continues. I have big goals for him, I hope he'll be my hiking buddy, and my photography model if he likes those activities.

All of this.  But especially, "The most dangerous horse is the stressed horse."
12/02/2023

All of this. But especially, "The most dangerous horse is the stressed horse."

Something I find particularly interesting is the response from some people on my post about harsh training being more encouraged and accepted than gentle and soft training.

A few commenters took my non-specific reference of gentle and soft training as synonymous with poorly behaved horses and not teaching boundaries.

I find this interesting because I think it further illuminates the real issue,: people view softness as weakness. As not setting boundaries, as letting horses get away with things…

They cannot comprehend how to teach horses how to behave safely without using what may be viewed to be as some form of harshness.

When physical punishment is the only tool available for fixing unwanted behaviours for so many horse people, there is a problem.

Physical punishment is a behavioural suppressant. It doesn’t actually deal with the underlying reason behind the unwanted behaviour and leaves horses at high risk of developing new, potentially equally as unwanted and dangerous, behaviours to replace the purpose of the old one.

This isn’t just my words, it’s researched fact. In virtually every species studied, physical punishment increased reactivity, unpredictable behaviours, general frustration and risk of fallout behaviours.

Behavioural scientists almost unanimously recommend avoiding physical punishment because of the risk factors.

And yet the horse world is so far behind that they think the only alternative to physically punishing unwanted behaviours is having a poorly behaved horse…

There is such a disconnect that many people don’t realize that some of the most dangerous horses they’ll deal with are ones who are routinely physically punished.

The most dangerous horse is the stressed horse.

Flight behaviours are what create unpredictability and injure people.

Chronic stress (or pain) is what creates aggression that can hurt people.

Want to know what stresses a flight animal significantly? Being hit.

Pain.

A lack of predictability and clarity.

Punishment never tells the animal what the “right” answer is. It just says “don’t do that” and then the correct answer is left to ambiguity, which is frustrating to the animal

On top of this, if unwanted behaviour stems from pain or neglected needs, suppressing it is essentially just shaking a bottle of champagne with the cork on… when that cork comes off, it is going to explode.

If you find yourself thinking the only alternative to harsh physical corrections is a poorly behaved horse, this is an invitation to learn more about the science of behaviour and behaviour modification so you can develop your toolbox.

It is very archaic and misguided to hold such views and we are in a time where there is enough research on these topics to unequivocally say that it is straight up untrue to insist the only means of correcting unwanted behaviour is physical punishment.

It is time for the horse world to start to be more accepting of science rather than just relying on biased personal beliefs and anecdotes as it harms both horses and people.

Hi all, this is Wade, our Old Dog Haven permanent foster dog.  Today, we had to say goodbye to the bestest beagle boi th...
08/06/2023

Hi all, this is Wade, our Old Dog Haven permanent foster dog. Today, we had to say goodbye to the bestest beagle boi there ever was. He was always a gentleman, unless he was doing his happy dance, and then he was a goofball. He had really taken to his role as model for my pet photography class, because he got lots of treats. We should all have our priorities so straight. Old Dog Haven does an incredible job with the vet care they provide for senior dogs. Because of them we got to spend two years with this little guy. Feels like he's been here forever, and yet not long enough.

02/23/2023

The way that we need our dogs to walk on a lead is so totally unnatural to them!

We owe it to them to train lead walking skills with kindness and patience!

*No application of negative stimuli - no jerking, no yanking, no choke, no prong, no shock!

*Plenty of rewards, plenty of praise, plenty of positive reinforcement at the frequency needed!
❤️🐾

01/09/2023
12/04/2022
11/11/2022

If we can't teach using kindness, empathy, education and understanding while avoiding intimidation and threats - we shouldn't be teaching at all.

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Stanwood, WA
98292

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