Companion Animal Psychology

A new book investigates the psychology of the bond between men and their dogs. Photo: Melounix/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Men and Their Dogs: A New Understanding of Man's Best Friend , edited by Christopher Blazina and Lori R. Kogan, is a collection of essays about the different roles dogs play in men’s lives, and the potential for bringing about psychological change. The book covers topics ranging from gender role conflict, the therapeutic use of programmes using dogs in prisons and with at-risk youth, the value of play with dogs and relationships with pets at different stages of the lifespan. It’s a fascinating read for psychologists interested to learn more about the human-animal bond. The chapters explore how dogs affect psychological processes such as intrapersonal growth, attachment and empathy. Although the focus of the book is men, there is much

Gorgeous photos of happy dogs in their no-pull harnesses. Which one is your favourite? Compiled by Zazie Todd, PhD Drake (left) and Bacchus. Photo: Jackie Johnston (Adoption Specialist, Humane Society of Boulder Valley ). Bronson. Photo: Lisa Skavienski, CTC Bjorn. Photo: Sgian Dubh Nani. Photo: Tails in the Valley Dog Training Sophie. Photo: Megan Taylor Argie. Photo: Maria Karunungan Moo. Photo: Joanna Foxxy. Photo: Suzanne Bryner Photo: Courtney Bayer Titus. Photo: Nickala Squire Drake. Photo: Jackie Johnston (Adoption Specialist, Humane Society of Boulder Valley ) Bacchus. Photo: Jackie Johnston (Adoption Specialist, Humane Society of Boulder Valley ) Tucker (left) and Bronson. Photo: Lisa Skavienski, CTC Quinn and Riley. Photo: Tails in the Valley Dog Training This post is part of the Harness the Love campaign from the Academy for Dog Trainers . Recent research shows that neck colla

A new study compares a harness to a neck collar and finds both are good for canine welfare. Milo. Photo: Sabrina Mignacca By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Harnesses are often said to be better for your dog than walking on a collar, but no one had investigated it. Now, a team of scientists at Hartpury College (Grainger, Wills & Montrose 2016) has published a study of the effects of walking a dog on a harness and on a neck collar. The same dogs were walked on a neck collar and on a harness on separate occasions, and their behaviour was monitored for signs of stress. The results show that harnesses do not cause stress and are a great choice for walking your dog. Dr. Tamara Montrose, one of the authors of the study, told me in an email, “Whilst neck collars are widely used when walking dogs, concerns have been raised about their potential to damage the neck and trachea.

A recent study highlights pet rabbit management practices. Although some owners take extra steps to protect their rabbit, many do not. B y James Oxley (Independent Researcher, UK; and Clare Ellis (Moulton College, UK;  Web ). Rabbits sometimes get labelled as an easy pet to keep, and some owners may not consider that common pet care practices used for dogs and cats may also be beneficial for rabbits. In fact, a recent study by Oxley et al. has highlighted how few pet rabbit owners take precautions such as microchipping and pet insurance for their furry bunny friends. In the UK, it is now a legal requirement to microchip your pet dog and a recent call for compulsory microchipping of cats has been highlighted . Millions of pet owners are microchipping their pets, including dog, cats and smaller commonly kept pets. Compulsory dog microchipping in the UK came about as an effort to increase accountability of dog owners and to reduce the number of stray dogs that end up in rescue

Scientists find unanticipated results in a study that compares the clicker to a verbal reward-marker and the use of food alone in dog training. Photo: Melounix/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. The study, by Cinzia Chiandetti (University of Trieste) et al  took 51 pet dogs and trained them on a novel task. 17 dogs were trained using a clicker, 17 using a verbal reward marker (“Bravo”), and 17 with only a reward. Then they tested the dogs to see how well they performed when asked to generalize the training to something similar and something more different. The results were a surprise to the scientists, who expected to find that using the clicker would lead to better results. In fact there was no difference between the three groups of dogs. They write, “Although we should be cautious in drawing any strong conclusion from statistically non-significant results, o