Dogue Shop sOCIAL cOGNITIVE aNIMAL tRAINING

Dogue Shop is a science-based training establishment that uses Social Cognitive Animal Training (SCAT)

Dogue Shop logo og a line art dog head

The Dogue Shop was founded in 1999 by behaviour specialist and author Gaby Dufresne-Cyr.

Grounded in social cognitive learning, attachment, constructivism, and situativism theories, the behaviour modification and cooperative veterinary care training approach integrates psychology, trust, choice, problem-solving, and decision-making into a cohesive training model.

At its core, the focus is on making animal training accessible without simplifying the depth of the work. Social Cognitive Animal Training (SCAT) allows animals to take part in their care by learning how to learn.

Dogue Shop Mission

The Dogue Shop's mission is to educate, through a science-based approach, behaviour modification, behaviour management, and enrichment, animals and the people who care for them.

What began as a dog training and behaviour consultation service has grown into a multidisciplinary business focused on the science of animal training, animals-assisted interventions, education, and publishing. 

Now based in the city of Hudson, Quebec, the Dogue Shop offers training and behavioural support to domestic and exotic animals and their care providers. Although we focus on canines and equines, services include multiple species.

Relationship-Based Approach Animal Training

Dogs and horses must perform behaviours, but first they must understand the environment and the people in them. We strive to tech animals the following:

  • Regulate themselves in high-stimulation environments
  • Remain attentive without constant prompting
  • Adapt to changing situations and environments
  • Take direction while maintaining emotional stability

Choice-based training focuses on developing these capacities through structured, real-world learning experiences. 

Animal training supports independence and reliability. Food is used as a reward within the learning process, but not as a lure. 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The origin of social cognitive animal training book cover of a young child surrounded by a horse, goose, dog, and wolf on the shores of the Atlantic, looking at the sunrise

The Origin of SCAT: The Making of an Integrated Model
By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr

What happens when a lifetime of observing animals leads you to question not only how they learn, but how they learn to learn?

The Origin of Social Cognitive Animal Training: The Making of an Integrated Model tells the story behind the development of Social Cognitive Animal Training (SCAT). Gaby Dufresne-Cyr wrote The Origin of SCAT to share her journey behind the model: where her ideas came from, how they evolved, and why integrating different perspectives on learning matters. 

Rooted in a lifelong curiosity about animals, this book traces Gaby's observations, questions, discoveries, and connections that gradually shaped SCAT. It explores how working with animals, combined with ideas from attachment theory, cognitive science, and social learning, contributed to the development of a model that looks beyond isolated behaviours to consider the animal as an active participant in its own learning.

The Origin of SCAT is an invitation to explore the ideas behind a different way of thinking about animal training and learning, and to discover the questions that continue to shape how we understand our relationships with animals.

Coming December 1, 2026.

Visit the Dogue Shop Publishing for a full list of published books.

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