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Doggedly Devoted owner and managing operator Megan Coryat earned the Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) credential. To become a CPDT-KA, trainers must have at least 300 hours of trainer experience, provide a recommendation from a veterinarian, and pass an independent, science-based exam to demonstrate knowledge in instruction skills, animal husbandry, ethology, learning theory, equipment, business practices, and ethics. Megan applied for consideration in July 2014 and sat for the examination on September 18, 2014....

When Andrew Ahlquist and Andrew Lewis brought Claude into their lives on April 1, 2013, the rule was to be “no dog on any furniture.” Claude would have complied with this, but Andrew and Andrew decided they wanted one place where they could snuggle with Claude without sitting on the floor, so the rule became, “Claude may snuggle with humans on the orange chair.” Unfortunately for Andrew and Andrew, Claude has decided he rather prefers the orange chair all to himself....

Ellie’s defining feature has to be the wild abandon with which not just her tail, but her whole back half wiggles upon greeting someone she likes–human or canine. That was the greeting she gave Jessica and Jon on April 27, 2013, and it distinguished her from the hundreds of animals up for adoption at a huge tri-state event in Westchester, NY. Jessica had had dogs her whole life, but her work as a PhD candidate at Columbia took her to Italy for extended stays making the dog lifestyle difficult....

Last month I attended the Bailey-Farhoody Operant Conditioning Chicken Workshop. There are 5 levels of workshops, which must be taken in order, and I attended the first one on Discrimination. The idea is to teach your chickens (each participant is assigned two hens) to discriminate between different targets; one chicken works on shapes, and the other on colors. Operant conditioning is a way that animal behavior changes based on the consequences of that behavior....

The ASPCA’s mobile Spay and Neuter Clinic will be at Doggedly Devoted on Saturday, July 5 at 7 AM. Folks usually start lining up at about 6:15 or 6:30 AM, and the ASPCA recommends that you arrive at the location before 7:00 A.M. The ASPCA usually serves about 20-25 animals per day on a first-come, first-served basis, filled to capacity. The cost for the surgery is $125 if you are not on public assistance and $5 if you have proof of public assistance....