Dr. Ian Dunbar

Ian Dunbar
Occupation	Director of The Center for Applied Animal Behavior
Title	Doctor

Dr. Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian, animal behaviorist, and writer.

A heavyweight in pet dog training without comparison and regarded as the "trainer of dog trainers" and "the most innovative in the field of dog training", Dr. Ian Dunbar has conducted over 850 one-day seminars and workshops for dog trainers, dog lovers, and veterinarians world-wide. Dr. Dunbar's work caries a vast, cult-like following as well as a tip of the hat from academics, veterinarians and animal behaviorists alike.

Biography

With over 35 years of experience, qualifications, and expertise, Dr. Dunbar has played a major role in developing the fields of behavior counseling and modern psychological training. Dunbar's approach to dog training moves forward from the aggressive, punishment-based methods of time past to a tested lure-reward based method, removing the stigma of "dominance" when training ones pet and instead leaning on rewarding good behavior over punishing bad.

"Ian Dunbar has been winning over dogs, dog owners, and dog trainers for years. Talk with the most respected names in the dog training world and you discover Dunbar's impact is unparalleled."

In 1988, Dr. Dunbar was invited to develop and write (for over seven years) the American Kennel Club's Gazette "Behavior" column, which was voted Best Dog Column for a number of years in succession by the Dog Writers' Association of America. In 1996, Dr. Dunbar was inducted into the Dog Fancy Hall of Fame along with James Herriot, Konrad Lorenz, Lassie, and Balto.

In 1993, Dr. Dunbar founded the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) in Canada and the United States and arranged their first two Annual Conferences. The US APDT is now the largest and most influential pet dog training organization in the world. Subsequently, Dr. Dunbar helped establish APDTs in the UK, Australia, Japan, France, and Spain.

In 1995, Dr. Dunbar created the ultimate dog show — K9 GAMES at Fort Mason in San Francisco. The K9 Games is the most exciting, exhilarating, captivating, action packed doggy extravaganza. For three years, the K9 GAMES was held in the Toronto SkyDome and now it is an annual event at Yamanakako (Mount Fuji) in Japan.

Education

Dr. Dunbar received his veterinary degree and a Special Honours degree in Physiology & Biochemistry from the Royal Veterinary College (London University) and a doctorate in animal behavior from the Psychology Department at the University of California in Berkeley, where he spent ten years researching olfactory communication, the development of hierarchical social behavior, and aggression in domestic dogs.

Associations

Dr. Dunbar is a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, the California Veterinary Medical Association, the Sierra Veterinary Medical Association, and the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (which he founded).

SIRIUS

In 1980 Dr. Ian Dunbar founded the first off-leash dog training program specifically for puppies called SIRIUS. This ground-breaking program emphasized the importance of teaching bite inhibition, early socialization, temperament training, and simple solutions for common and predictable behavior problems, as well as basic household manners, to puppies! Filling a void that Dr. Dunbar needed himself for his new Alaskan Malamute puppy, SIRIUS paved the path for a now common world of puppy training that was previously thought inappropriate until six months of age.

Currently

Dr. Dunbar is currently Director of The Center for Applied Animal Behavior in Berkeley, California, where he lives with his wife Kelly, plus dogs Claude and Dune and kitties Ugly and Mayhem.

Dr. Ian Dunbar's wife, Kelly Dunbar is a cofounder and the executive editor of the dogstardaily.com and a contributing editor at dogtime.com

DVDs

• SIRIUS Puppy Training - The Original Off-Leash Puppy Class by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• Training Dogs With Dunbar - Fun Training For You And Your Dog by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• Every Picture Tells A Story by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• Give Them a Scalpel & They Will Dissect a Kiss: Dog Training Past, Present, & Future by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• Training the Companion Dog by Dr. Ian Dunbar
  • Vol. I - Socialization & Beginning Obedience
    • Socialization
    • Fearful and/or aggressive pups
    • Handling
    • Communication
    • Sit, down, and stay
  • Vol. II - Behavior Problems & Household Etiquette
    • Settle down
    • Crate training
    • Housetraining
    • Chewing
    • Digging
    • Barking
    • Biting
  • Vol. III - Walking on Leash & Preventing Jumping Up
    • Following
    • Teaching heel position
    • Leash training (preventing pulling)
    • Leash walking and heeling
    • Preventing jumping up
  • Vol. IV - Recalls & Stays
    • Recalls from play
    • Teaching "off" (not to mouth and paw)
    • Teaching and proofing "stay"
    • Introducing distance control
• Dog Training For Children by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• Every Picture Tells A Story by Dr. Ian Dunbar

Books

• Dog Behavior: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• How To Teach A New Dog Old Tricks by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• After You Get Your Puppy by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• Before You Get Your Puppy by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• Doctor Dunbar's Good Little Dog Book by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• Before & After Getting Your Puppy: The Positive Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy & Well-Behaved Dog by Dr. Ian Dunbar
• Behavior Booklets—separate educational booklets on each of the most common pet behavior problems, by Dr. Ian Dunbar & Gwen Bohnenkamp
  • Preventing Aggression - Biting
  • Housetraining
  • Housetraining Supplement
  • Chewing
  • Digging
  • Barking
  • Shyness and Fearfulness - Towards People
  • Fighting
  • Socialization

Information on Publications

How To Teach A New Dog Old Tricks is regarded by dog trainers as the definitive text on lure/reward, pet dog training techniques. Jean Donaldson (author of The Culture Clash), stated, "How To Teach A New Dog Old Tricks is the best book by dog training's leading genius. The most relevant, important piece ever written on the subject of dog behavior and training.”