Category Archives: Careers

careers with animals

How Online Retailers Can Profit From Google Video

How Online Retailers Can Profit From Google Video?

Google video is now a fast growing repository of video clips of all shapes and sizes, and has opened up some new strategies for E-commerce website owners to profit from. Here we will explore how you can use this service to generate customers.

Google video (www.video.google.com) and You Tube (www.youtube.com) are the two main video clip websites. Here, you can search and watch video clips on thousands of different subjects – from trailers, through to tutorials through to peoples plain old funny home video clips.

That's all very well, but how can you, as an online retailer, profit from this?

Tutorials and short “how to” tips

You could record short clips (most are under 5 minutes) of tips or tutorials relating to your field. Here are several examples.

Golf: Search for golf tips and you will find a plethora of choice, from tips on chipping from the rough, playing bunker shots, curing that slice and much more. If you are selling anything golf related, make your own video or enlist the aid of your local golf pro.

Fly fishing: Here we find tips of fly tying, finding the best locations, casting and much more.

Dog training: this search returns lots of video clips on different training techniques, including police dog training.

If you are in the sports, recreation or hobby markets, there are lots of opportunities for you to upload “how to” type videos. I even came across a lap dancing video, uploaded by a company that sells pole dancing equipment!

Product comparisons

In marketplaces such as audio visual, there is ample opportunity to compare different products or product types. For instance, what are the benefits and advantages of Plasma televisions versus LCD tvs? In the fitness industry, what are the different training supplements available and what would suit you best? For clothing retailers, how about a premiere of this seasons latest fashions?

Product user guides

Again this one works well in technical marketplaces such as audio-visual and computers. For instance, How to set up your home audio system, what you need to view High definition TV, how to set up a wireless home network.

Or something a bit simpler . . food retailers, how about some quick and easy recipes using the ingredients you sell?

Equestrian retailers .. how about clips on correct saddle care, how to fit a saddle, or reviews of time saving accessories.

Funny clips

Perhaps you can make (or obtain! ) a funny clip relating to your marketplace. Funny skiing accidents (for ski shops), hilarious banger racing clips (for motor part retailers) or crazy baby antics (for baby wear and equipment retailers). The funnier they are, the more likely they will get passed around the Internet.

Getting traffic

There are several ways these videos can get you traffic. First you need to “brand” your video, by adding graphics to it. You could be technical and add a graphic banner at the bottom quoting a short message and your website address, if you have video editing software. Alternatively, just make the last shots of your video a close up of your web address on a sign or the front of your premises.

Users who search and find your videos, will then have your website promoted to them.

One extremely powerful benefit is the viral factor – the passing round of video clips by email by friends who have the same interests. This works extremely well if you have an original, funny clip – you could find your visits “take off” if the clip is passed around the Internet.

Additionally, many content based sites are able to feature video clips from Google, thereby giving you a free advertisement on their site if they decide to use yours.

How to record and upload your video

You can use digital cameras, camcorders or even mobile phones to record the videos, and the quality does not have to be massively high, so long as its clear enough to see.

To upload video clips to google, you need to go to www.video.google.com and select the upload link at the top. If you don't already have an account (for adwords, adsense ,gmail or other Google services), you can create one free of charge. Currently Google accepts AVI, MPEG, Quicktime, Real, and Windows Media formats.

As well as Google, the other main video clip repository is www.youtube .com which accepts formats from most digital cameras, camcorders and cellphones using .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG file formats.

There are massive opportunities right now, for online retailers to get in early on the video clip boom, and promote their products, services and business to a wide audience. Get videoing!

Jobs Working With Dogs and Cats – Cat herding

[p1vc-video]

Sharpei puppy and spotted Leopard cub
Sharpei Puppy and Spotted Leopard Cub~Photo by lifeonwhite

 Thank You Gap Africa Projects for the following resource…

So, you're an animal lover and have decided that you want jobs working with dogs and cats or to work with animals for the rest of your life; but what are your options?

It's not just about considering the range of animals you could work with; there is also a wide range of environments you can choose to work within, whether it is at a veterinary surgery, a zoo, work from home, or even your local park.

In a Zoo

If you want to work with animals such as big cats, birds or reptiles, a zoo will have a plethora to choose from. You may want to work directly with the animals as a keeper or more on the sidelines as a tour guide or as a habitat designer. There are lots of vocational college courses and specific qualifications which will stand you in good stead, but if you really want to stand out from the crowd, you might also want to consider doing an apprenticeship as part of your training. You could also gain some paid-for work experience in a ‘Keeper for a Day' program or a longer gap year placement program in an overseas safari park or conservation project.

In a Vet Surgery

Working as a vet can be a very rewarding career and delivers great job satisfaction. It takes a lot of hard work and stress to get there but it'll be worth it. You'll work with animals of all shapes and sizes – not just cats and dogs – as well as the owners, so it's essential that you're a great communicator. In terms of qualifications, you'll need good GCSE grades in Maths, English and Science, usually at A or A*, as well as clutch of at least 3 A grades at A level from a combination of Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. University courses are often oversubscribed so you'll want to try to make your application stand out.
You can also become a veterinary nurse or even a receptionist and these are roles that offer a great way to enjoy the ‘softer' side of working with animals.

In an Animal Grooming Studio

This can be hard work but also great fun. Decide firstly what type of grooming you want to get involved with – general care, bathing and nail clipping will require little experience, but if you want to work with show dogs you'll need to gain specific qualifications.

In the Great Outdoors

Professional dog walkers love their jobs! It gives them a great opportunity to work with animals that they love everyday in different environments. It's also a great way to keep active without ever visiting a gym, as each walk will typically last 30-60 minutes. As a professional [like any business], you'll be expected to have comprehensive insurance and liability cover but also a police check to show clients that you are trustworthy – especially as you might have access to their property whilst they are at work. You might also want to consider a dog handling certificate, which can also help build credibility as well as develop your skills.

Mark Bottell is the General Manager for Gap Africa Projects an online tour operator which caters to interests such as work with animals and offers other Gap Africa Projects adventure holidays for adults. The homepage also offers info on Veterinary Work Experience…

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

>>>>>>>>> UPDATE: (Editors Top Pick) JOBS WORKING WITH DOGS AND CATS:

STEP 1: HEALTHY PET CHALLENGE

STEP2: DO STEP 1

Note: This is an editor's top pick because The Healthy Pet Challenge's main focus is on Pet Safety. In today's environment too many dogs and cats are becoming ill and even dying in larger numbers, and many tragedies could be prevented! This is a most serious challenge, and we hope you see the value and security in it. No obligation or requirements except absorbing the information as much as possible. The Personal Pet Profile is optional. We will do a complete review later. The work-from-home opportunity is very cool. It fits right in with your search for jobs working with dogs and cats, and we will earn and teach you if you commit, but the #1 priority is your companion animal(s) safety and happiness. ~Kathy Davis, editor-at-large

Dog Training Has a Deep History–What’s Next?

 Some Deep Insight On The History of Dog Training

Jean-Louis ForainThanks to Terrierman's Daily Dose for the extensive insight to dog training and its evolution.

Read to the end, and you may change your mind about considering dog trainer as a lifetime occupation.

If nothing else you can expect a smile from the comment left.

In all seriousness, there are many aha moments that make this post worth sharing by including it in our careers category.

1700s: Truffle hunters learn to give their dogs bread when they locate truffles, which turns out to be cheaper than using pigs which cannot be stopped from eating all the truffles they locate.1885: S.T. Hammond, a writer for Forest and Stream magazine advocates in his columns and in a book entitled Practical Training, that dogs should be praised and rewarded with meat when they do something right.
1880s: Montague Stevens trains his New Mexico bear dogs by rewarding them with pieces of bread instead of beating and kicking them as others of that era were generally doing. Stevens is a famous bear hunter and friend of Teddy Roosevelt and the sculptor Frederic Remington.
1886: Edward Thorndike develops a theory of learning based on stimulus and response. Thorndike shows that “practice makes perfect” and that if reinforced with positive rewards, animals can learn quickly.
1898:  Nikola Tesla invents the first radio-controlled remote control.
1899: The first canine school for police dogs is started in Ghent, Belgium using Belgian Shepherds, which had recently been established as a breed.
1903: Ivan Pavlov publishes his experiments with dogs and digestion, noting that animals can be trained to have a physical response to stimuli. Pavlov called this learning process “conditioning,” and in 1904 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research.
1903: The Germans begin schutzhund work, a competition devoted to obedience, protection, tracking and attack work.1907: Police begin patrolling New York City and South Orange, New Jersey with Belgian Shepherds and newly reconstructed Irish wolfhounds.

1915: Baltimore police begin using Airedales from England to patrol the streets. The police suspend use of Airedales in 1917 as the dogs had helped make no arrests. The police failed to notice that no robberies had occurred where the dogs were on patrol.

Defense.gov_photo_essay_120614-A-KH311-062
Defense.gov_photo_essay_120614-A-KH311-062

1915: Edwin Richardson trains dogs for the military during WWI using some positive reinforcement, and the dogs prove to be quick studies. Many dogs are used for communication and for guard duty.

1917: The Germans begin to formally use dogs to guide soldiers blinded in mustard gas attacks. The French soon follow suit.

1918: U.S. Army Corporal Lee Duncans find an abandoned war dog station in Lorraine, France which has five young puppies in a kennel. Duncan takes one of the pups and names it “Rin Tin Tin” after the finger dolls that French children were giving to the soldiers at the time. The dog travels to California, proves easily trainable, and is soon employed making movies that are so successful it saves Warner Brothers studio from bankruptcy. The dog dies in 1932 in neighbor Jean Harlowe's arms, and is buried in Paris, but its descendents work in the movies throughout the 1950s, inspiring many people to try to train their own dogs to do simple tricks.

1925: One of the very first German-trained guide dogs for the blind is given to Helen Keller.

1926: Propelled in large part by the popularity of Rin Tin Tin, the German Shepherd population in the U.S. explodes, and by 1926 it accounts for 36 percent of all the dogs in the AKC — 21,659 animals. Due to rapid inbreeding and poor selection, however, the American German shepherd quickly degenerates and is soon deemed inferior.

1929: Dorothy Harrison Eustis establishes the Seeing Eye Foundation to train guide dogs for the blind. Eustis goes to Switzerland to get a better stock of German Shepherds than she can find in America. This same year the AKC tries to ban the importation of foreign purebred dogs in order to protect domestic dog breeders, but the plan fails.

Rudd Weatherwax training Lassie
Rudd Weatherwax training Lassie

1930: About 400 dogs are employed as actors in Hollywood, the majority of them mongrel terriers which prove to be small enough for indoor scenes, rugged enough for outdoor scenes, and exceedingly smart.

1938: B.F. Skinner begins research into operant conditioning as a scientifically-based learning model for animals and humans. His special focus is on teaching pigeons.

1939: The AKC begins obedience competitions designed by Helen Whitehouse Walker who wants to prove that her standard poodles can do something other than eat food.

1942: The U.S. military says it needs 125,000 dogs for the war, and asks people to donate their large breeds. The military manages to train only 19,000 dogs between 1942 and 1945. The Germans reportedly had 200,000 dogs in service.

 

1943: In 1943, Marion Breland and her husband Keller Breland form a company called Animal Behavior Enterprises (ABE) to teach animals for shows. The Brelands had been students of B.F. Skinner (see 1938) and began teaching animals to perform tricks for shows and for commercial clients such as dog-food maker General Mills.

Dog clicker training
Dog clicker training

They pioneer the use of a “clicker” to teach animals at a distance and to improve timing for affirmations and delayed rewards. The Brelands were the first people in the world to train dolphins and birds using operant conditioning.

1943: The movie “Lassie Comes Home” is filmed, featuring a purebred male collie playing the female staring role. Ironically, the U.S. military considered purebred (i.e., AKC ) collies so stupid that they were specifically excluded from military service in World War II, while herding farm collies were actively recruited.

1947: The Brelands (see 1943) begin using chickens as learning subjects with which to train other trainers, as they are cheap, readily available, and “you can't choke a chicken.”

1953: Austrian animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz writes “Man Bites Dog” and “King Solomon's Ring,” books which popularize animal behaviorism.

1954: Baltimore reestablishes its police dog program, and today it remains the oldest police K-9 program in the country.

1960s: During the early part of the 1960s, Marian and Keller Breland (see 1943) are hired by the U.S. Navy to teach other animal trainers how to train dolphins. The Navy is interested in using dolphins to patrol harbors, retrieve lost gear, and guide bombs (i.e. “suicide bomber” dolphins). During their work with the Navy, the Breland's meet Bob Bailey, the Navy's first director of animal training, and they began a partnership with him. Keller Breland dies in 1965, and in 1976 Marian and Bob Bailey are married.

1962: William Koehler publishes “The Koehler Method of Dog Training” which becomes a staple of AKC obedience competitors. Though often criticized today, Koehler's methods are the core of a lot of effective dog training systems still in use.

1968: Sensitronix, Tri-trinox and Jetco come out with electronic collars for hunters. These are not dog training tools, but high-powered shock collars designed to bust dogs off of “trash” chasing of unwanted game, cars, and bicycles.  The collars have one switch, and voltage is adjusted by changing out the “cartridge,” i.e. the capacitor inside the collar.

1970s: The U.S. Customs Service begins to use dogs to detect drugs, and they are subsequently employed to sniff out explosives and fire-starting chemicals.

1971-72: Richard Peck, a traveling salesman in Pennsylvania, develops a pet containment system which is a cigarette pack-sized receiver that fits on a collar with electronic prongs touching the animal's skin. The battery in the collar charges a capacitor which discharges when triggered by a radio signal coming from a perimeter wire. Manufactured by the  Sta-Put Sales Co.

1972-73:  The first electronic bark collars are marketed by Relco and Tri-tronics.  

1976 – John Purtell purchases the patent for a radio collar pet containment system from Richard Peck and changes the name of the company to Invisible Fence, building the company up until he sells it in 1993 at about the same time as the patent expires.

1978: Barbara Woodhouse publishes “No Bad Dogs” one of the first popular books on basic dog training. It relies heavily on proper use of a choke chain, and says most “bad dogs” have inexperienced owners who are not training their dogs properly by being consistent, firm and clear.

1984: The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture begins to use beagles to patrol airports for contraband food and other perishable items.

1985: Dolphin trainer Karen Pryor publishes Don't Shoot the Dog: the New Art of Teaching and Training which focuses on timing, positive reinforcements and shaping behavior, and draws heavily on the work of Marian Breland Bailey and Robert Bailey (see 1943 and 1960s). Her book promotes “clicker training” of dogs to improve timing and to allow trainers to communicate and “reward” their dogs from a distance.

1995: The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture begins using Jack Russell Terriers to locate and kill invasive brown tree snakes on the island of Guam.

2000 and beyond: Various cable television shows feature various dog training and rehabilitation methods. The notion that there are “new” and “old” dog training methods obscures the fact that ALL dog training methods involve some form of operant conditioning which is, in fact, pretty old stuff (as old as dogs). None of the dog training shows actually explain the core principles of operant conditioning or their relative worth in different training situations.

2000 – Rapid improvements are made in the the world of e-collars which can now come with tone, vibration, and hundreds of variable levels of electrical stimulation, making them potentially less aversive than old-fashioned flat collars and leashes. The use of old and poorly made collars, combined with poor dog training skills by those who think e-collars are a “quick fix” for any and all problems slows their adoption, as does demonization by “dependency model” and trick-dog trainers.

2035 – First robotic dog trainers appear. These machines are the size of an upright vacuum cleaner and are capable of teaching a dog basic obedience (sit, stay, come, heel, go out to place, etc.) as well as simple tricks (roll over, play dead, speak) . These simple robots are little more than BF Skinner teaching machines on wheels, providing diverse food awards and mild electrical stimulations, as well as tone, vibration, and visual cues.  Powered by powerful internal batteries and artificial intelligence, they track the location and position of the dog, give human voice commands, and can be programmed to guide a dog through adaptive learning sequences. Infinitely patient, and with perfect timing and consistency, they revolutionize the world of dogs and lead to dramatic declines in canine euthanasia.

This post was followed by 1 comment that adds food for thought for the evolution of dog training:

2036 –  A dog owner was attacked and killed by two small brown and white dogs in her home this afternoon. State surveillance video taken just before the attack showed her trying to switch off the power to her robotic dog trainer, which had been the dogs' only company for the previous month while the owner was on vacation.

Credits: Terrierman's Daily Dose: A Brief History of Dog Training