Ian Dunbar

Ian Dunbar (born April 15, 1947) is a veterinarian, ethologist, and the developer of Sirius Dog Training method. He founded the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, a professional organization.

Early life and education He received his veterinary degree and a Special Honours degree in Physiology & Biochemistry from the Royal Veterinary College (London University), and a doctorate in ethology from the Psychology Department at UC Berkeley, where he researched the development of social hierarchies and aggression in domestic dogs.

Career He is the founder of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) started in 1993. Dunbar also serves as a dog ethologist expert and on the advisory board for DogTime.com.

His often-cited Dunbar Dog Bite Scale provides a description of the severity of dog bites that can be used for an objective analysis of the danger a dog poses and whether training can be expected to mitigate the problem. It is used by medical professionals and animal enforcement personnel.

Over the past 35 years, Dunbar has given over 1000 seminars and workshops around the world for dog trainers and veterinarians in an effort to popularize off-leash puppy socialization classes, temperament modification, and owner-friendly and dog-friendly dog training. Additionally, Dunbar has consulted on a variety of movies—full-length features, documentaries and animation (including Pixar's UP) and he has twice spoken at the prestigious e.g. Conference.

Puppy training In 1982, concerned that many dog "failures" are due to lack of training, Dunbar designed and taught off-leash puppy socialization and training classes titled SIRIUS Puppy Training.

Dunbar cites two behavioralists, John Paul Scott and John L. Fuller, as having influenced his own behavioral approach to dog training.

In 1982 Dunbar founded Sirius Dog Training, the first off-leash training program specifically for puppies. The program emphasizes 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 dogs under six months of age.

Methods Ian's dog training method focuses on rewarding positive behavior with affirmation and treats, rather than trying to correct negative behaviors through forced submission. Since dogs need to repeat actions over and over before understanding a pattern, establishing a pattern of positive rewards for positive actions allows them to please their owners. He is also a proponent of crate training for puppies.

Articles

Dunbar, I., & Buehler, M. (1980). A masking effect of urine from male dogs. Applied Animal Ethology, 6(3), 297-301. Berman, M., & Dunbar, I. (1983). The social behaviour of free-ranging suburban dogs. Applied Animal Ethology, 10(1-2), 5-17.