Companion Animal Psychology

Older dogs with a history of lifelong training perform better on measures of attention. Photo: Mary Lynn Strand / 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. We know that as people get older, they may experience cognitive decline including in attention. We are used to hearing that doing lots of different activities that engage the brain may help to ward off some of these changes. It turns out that may also be the case for dogs . As dogs get older, they experience a decline in attention just as older people do. But lifelong training can help to prevent this decline, according to research published last year by scientists at the Messerli Research Institute at the Vetmeduni Vienna. This is good news, because attention is important for human-canine communication and for other processes. The study took pet dogs aged between 6 and just over 14 years. They were divided into 3 age

The latest in the 'better world' series about dogs and cats. By Zazie Todd, PhD These are the latest images in the series about how to make the world better for dogs and how to make the world better for cats . If you would like to share them, simply mouse over the image, or you can share direct from my Facebook or Twitter feeds if you prefer. I have not had much time for blogging lately because of other commitments, but I am working on some future posts. Be sure to check back next week! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

The canine and feline scientists, pet professionals, bloggers and organizations to follow on social media in 2018. Photo: Ramon Espelt Photography (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. Are you looking for some new accounts to follow in 2018? I’ve updated my list of some of the best people and organizations to follow on Twitter and Facebook if you’re interested in companion animals, science, and the human-animal bond. Not only do they produce great content of their own, they also have a varied feed that includes news, research and interesting snippets from around the web. I’ve given links to Twitter and Facebook accounts so you can follow however you choose (some are more active on one than the other). The first link is always to Twitter so this is like a giant #FF. The second link is to Facebook if they are on there too. The list is in no particular order, so read

Two recent posts considered how to make the world better for dogs and how to make the world better for cats. An incredible set of experts gave their answers to the questions, with wonderful ideas for a better world for our animals. By Zazie Todd, PhD I am making images for each answer to share on social media. These are the first two. I am working my way through in somewhat random order (not truly random because if I happen to see a photo that will just go with a particular text, I'll run with it). I am sharing them here for those who do not follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Of course, you can read the posts in full and see the texts from which these quotes are taken: how to make the world better for dogs and how to make the world better for cats . How to make the world better for cats has also been translated into Japanese for the website the-mal.com . If you have Japanese friends who you think will like it, please share it with them. Thank you to Saramu Momma

Wishing you and your families good health, happiness and peace in 2018! By Zazie Todd, PhD