Companion Animal Psychology News December 2016

The latest news on cats and dogs from Companion  Animal Psychology, December 2016.


A dog and a cat peruse the newspaper


By Zazie Todd, PhD

Some of my favourite posts from around the web this month

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Realizing the Fear Free dream for pets by Dr. Marty Becker.

Good intentions can go very wrong when you find a lost pet by Maddie’s Fund.

Helping your dog feel safe during the holidays by Maureen Backman.

How to enrich cats’ lives: Food puzzles for cats. Felicity Muth talks to Mikel Delgado.

Why are pets popular with artists? Dr. Anne Fawcett interviews Dr. Sarah Engledow about the Popular Pet  Show at the National Portrait Gallery in Australia.


Pets in the news…


In the UK, the RSPCA’s petition to repeal Breed Specific Legislation now has more than 50,000 signatures. The London Assembly has also called for a review, saying the legislation “has failed to protect the public and dog welfare.” If you want to know more, here is a link to the RSPCA report ‘Breed Specific Legislation – A Dog’s Dinner’ and to the petition

Meanwhile in Montreal, the new pit bull bylaw that was temporarily suspended is now back on. The deadline for owners of existing pit bulls to get a special licence has been extended. To find out more about better solutions, visit Safer, Kinder Communities.

In Toronto, new city bylaws ban choke collars & choke chains, prohibit tethering a dog for more than 3 hours, and provide a new definition of a ‘dangerous dog’.

And National Geographic has a nice story about how pet dogs are helping out their endangered kin in the wild.


Upcoming events


Dr. Patricia McConnell presents The Education of Will – A mutual memoir of a woman and her dog 20th Feb 2017 in Milwaukee, WI

The 5th Canine Science Symposium will take place at the San Francisco SPCA 11th – 12th March 2017. “The 5th Annual Canine Science Symposium brings the latest in cutting-edge canine behavior research to the Bay Area.  Join us for a weekend of presentations and discussion on the current research in applied canine science.”


Photos


There are some very nice photos of animals in the RSPCA’s Young Photographer’s Award galleries.

Florida photographer Adam Goldberg takes goofy photos of pit bulls to try and change stereotypes

Kittens purrfectly take centre stage in horror movie re-enactments.

And it's not pets, but this tiny mouse café opened in  Sweden.


Here at Companion Animal Psychology


Companion Animal Psychology Book Club: The book for December 2016 is The Secret History of Kindness by Melissa Holbrook Pierson.

The post that has been getting a lot of attention this month is losing a pet can lead to different types of grief. If you're looking for a dog trainer, see how to choose a dog trainer.

As always, if there's anything you would like to see covered on the blog, please let me know.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, writes The Pawsitive Post premium newsletter, and also has a column at Psychology Today. Todd lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, one dog, and two cats. 

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