Season's Greetings

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A 1-year old mini aussie under the Christmas tree with presents
Photo: Eric Isselee / Shutterstock

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year 
from 
Companion Animal Psychology Blog!

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Three Important Ways to Give Your Pet Choices

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Do you do these three things for your pet?


I just went to brush my tabby cat, Harley, at the usual time of day. He was up in his cat tree and, unusually, did not come down. No matter; I can try again later as he loves to be brushed. Surprisingly, my tortoiseshell cat Melina came running to be brushed. She stood to be brushed, then laid down on her side, all the while purring away. Then when she'd had enough, she hopped up and walked off.

It made me think of my post about the importance of choices for pets, the right to walk away. That post has been enduringly popular and so I decided to revisit the topic of choices for dogs and cats. Choice, control, and routine, are important ways to look after our pet’s welfare and help them feel safe.

I'm not the only one who thinks choices are important. In 2017, when I asked experts how to make the world better for dogs, Mia Cobb picked up on the issue of choices. She said we should,
“ask ourselves at every step, "is this what my dog…
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Does It Matter What Age You Neuter Your Kitten?

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New research investigates whether age of neutering affects feline behaviour – and looks at punishment and other variables too.


There are so many cats without homes that some shelters neuter kittens early, at 8 – 12 weeks old, so they are neutered prior to adoption. This is the only way they can guarantee that a kitten will be neutered.

Normally, cats are neutered at 6 – 8 months old. Kittens, like puppies, have a sensitive period that is an important socializationopportunity; if not properly socialized during this time, they will be more fearful as adults. Therefore some people worry that early neutering could cause behaviour problems because it happens during the socialization window.

To find out, Natalie Porters et al (2014) of Ghent University in Belgium studied a sample of 800 shelter kittens. Half of the kittens were assigned to an early neutering group, and half to be spayed/neutered at the traditional age. There were approximately equal numbers of male and female kittens in eac…
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Companion Animal Psychology News May 2019

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Insect-detecting dogs, the challenges of science with cats, and spider's brains...



Some of my favourites this month “Three very good dogs – named Bayar, Judd and Sasha – have sniffed out the endangered Alpine Stonefly, one of the smallest animals a dog has been trained to successfully detect in its natural habitat.” Sit! Seek! Fly! Scientists train dogs to sniff out endangered insects by Dr. Julia Mynott.

“The cats performed as well as the dogs. But, foreshadowing a headache that would plague the field of feline social cognition, several cats "dropped out" of the study, according to the research paper. Some stopped paying attention. Others simply walked away from the testing site.” Cats rival dogs on many tests of social smarts. But is anyone brave enough to study them? This post by David Grimm is a must-read.

“Many trainers advise against these types of collars altogether, in part because the risk of injury to dogs is significant.” Should dogs be shocked, choked or pron…
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