Companion Animal Psychology

The most popular posts about dogs and cats this year. By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. It’s time to look back on what happened on the blog this year. Companion Animal Psychology has been going for over 7 and a half years now, with more than 500 posts. I love the community of like-minded people that has grown around this page! This year, I was honoured to interview several authors about their wonderful books: Dr. Alexandra Horowitz about her new book, Our Dogs, Ourselves (this was especially popular with email subscribers, being read by almost everyone) Dr. Mark Goldstein , about his book Lions and Tigers and Hamsters   Cat Warren , about her book What the Dog Knows (which now has a Young Reader’s Edition)   I was lucky to publish some amazing guest posts this year. There were two beautifully-written guest posts from Kristi Benson: making a living in the ...

Season's Greetings from Companion Animal Psychology. Photo: Jessica Lewis/Unsplash Thank you for your support throughout the year, for reading and sharing my blog posts, and all your emails and messages. And to those of you in the book club, thank you for reading all the books with me! Happy Holidays! And wishing you and yours a joyful, peaceful, and healthy 2020. Zazie Zazie Todd, PhD

The animal books I’m reading this Fall and Winter (non-fiction and fiction). Photo: Ayla Vershueren/Unsplash By Zazie Todd, PhD If you're looking for something to read, or a last-minute gift idea for an animal lover, check out these books about dogs, cats, wolves, and animals in general that I've been reading lately. This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. What the Dog Knows Young Readers Edition: Scent, Science, and the Amazing Ways Dogs Perceive the World by Cat Warren Like the NYT-bestselling original version, this book tells the story of Cat Warren’s dog Solo, how she trained him to be a cadaver dog, and the searches they went on together to find the bodies of the missing. Along the way we learn how cadaver dogs are trained, the importance of accuracy, and the many kinds of searches working dogs can do – for missing people, in criminal cases, to find lost military personnel, and even to...

Dogs are learning all the time, not just in formal dog training classes. Over at my Psychology Today blog Fellow Creatures , I have a new post with 10 tips to integrate dog training into everyday life .  Check it out, and let me know your tips for everyday dog training. Photo: Alexa Fotos/Pixabay Zazie Todd, PhD

Ancient art, ‘aha’ moments in dogs, and caring for indoors-only cats… By Zazie Todd, PhD My Favourites This Month This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. “In the story told in the scene, eight figures approach wild pigs and anoas (dwarf buffaloes native to Sulawesi). For whoever painted these figures, they represented much more than ordinary human hunters.“ Indonesian cave’s mythical beings may be oldest imaginative art by humans , by Becky Ferreira . “Here are some stories that raise interesting questions about why dogs do what they do and what they're thinking about and feeling.” As dogs have ‘Aha’ moments, what’s happening in their brains? by Dr. Marc Bekoff . “Shockingly, nearly half of the subjects (41%) did not believe that fish were made of meat.” The vegetarian’s dilemma: Do fish qualify as meat? by Dr. Hal Herzog . “If only there were some way to really talk to our pets, to know what t...

I am so excited to share the news that my book is available for pre-order now. By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Want to make your dog even happier? Excited to learn more about dogs? Looking for practical tips to build a better relationship with your dog? Then  Wag  is for you! I am thrilled to be able to share with you that my book, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy , with a foreword by Dr. Marty Becker, is now available for pre-order. It will be published on 10th March 2020 in the US and Canada, and on 12th March 2020 in the UK. Today is exactly three months until publication day! I've been working on this book for years, and I am so excited that soon I will be able to share it with you. If you would like to pre-order Wag , you can do so via these links: From Amazon From Indiebound (your local independent book store) From Indigo From Barnes and ...

Animal lovers and blog readers share their favourite animal book that they read in 2019. Photo: Africa Studio/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD I asked Companion Animal Psychology readers and other animal lovers to tell me about the book about animals they most loved in 2019. The book did not have to be published this year, just that they read it during this year. Here are their picks! You can find these books (and other reading recommendations) in my Amazon store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/animalbookclub . This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Bonnie Hartney, Ocean Park Dog Training A Wolf Called Romeo by Nick Jans “What makes this book so intriguing is the uncharacteristic behaviour of a black wolf in Juno, Alaska.  Drawn out of the wild expanse, Romeo becomes a local celebrity with his reported love of playing with pet dogs and lack of concern for people. It is a story of ethical questi...

The environment in which puppies are raised makes a difference to their behaviour, new study shows. Photo: Vasyl Syniuk/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. Anyone getting a puppy is urged to check carefully where they come from. Puppies have a sensitive period for socialization during which a wide range of positive experiences help to set them up for later life. Since puppies begin the sensitive period at 3 weeks, but typically go home at 8 weeks, the breeder is responsible for the early stages of socialization. New research in press in Applied Animal Behaviour Science looks at the effects of raising puppies in the house compared to in an outdoor kennel. The results show that puppies raised in a house are more self-confident and less likely to show aggression due to fear. In short, they are likely to make better pets and be friendlier dogs. The scientists say this...

"The astonishing true story of one of the first wolves to roam Yellowstone in more than 60 years." By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. In December, the Animal Book Club is reading The Rise of Wolf 8: Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone's Underdog by Rick McIntyre with a foreword by Robert Redford. From the book's description, "Yellowstone National Park was once home to an abundance of wild wolves―but park rangers killed the last of their kind in the 1920s. Decades later, the rangers brought them back, with the first wolves arriving from Canada in 1995.  This is the incredible true story of one of those wolves.  Wolf 8 struggles at first―he is smaller than the other pups, and often bullied―but soon he bonds with an alpha female whose mate was shot. An unusually young alpha male, barely a teenager in human years, Wolf 8 rises to the occasion, hunti...

I have a new post on small animal blood donation over at my Psychology Today blog, Fellow Creatures . Photo: Ylanite Koppens/Pixabay By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Did you know that dogs and cats can donate blood to help other pets in need? It turns out that most pet owners don't - but once they know, most would be willing for their pet to be a blood donor. Dogs and cats can donate blood (but most people don't know) looks at some new research on what people know about pet blood banks, and the motivations they give for being willing to let their pet donate blood. The post also includes information about what to do if you would like your pet to become a blood donor. T-Shirts on Sale The Trust Kindness and  Cookies t-shirt celebrates all that we love about reward-based dog training: Trust in science, the kindness of reward-based methods, and cookies as positive ...

If you’re looking for some great reading about animals, look no further than the Animal Book Club. Photo: Anna_Andre/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 Animal Book Club is three years old this month, which means we’re on book number 31: Beyond the Brain: How Body and Environment Shape Animal and Human Minds by Louise Barrett. We’ve read some great books over the last year, from Our Dogs, Ourselves: The Story of a Singular Bond by Alexandra Horowitz to What the Dog Knows: Scent, Science, and the Amazing Ways Dogs Perceive the World by Cat Warren, Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet by John Bradshaw and The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think by Brian Hare. (for a full list, see the animal book club page ). This past year I’ve also been honoured to interview some amazing authors about their books:...

The best ways to provide cats with safe spaces in the home, from cat caves to cat trees and DIY options. Photo: Kimberley Boyles/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. Everyone wants a happy cat, but cats like their environment to be set up right for them. One of the biggest welfare issues affecting pet cats is social behaviour issues due to a poor home environment. The five pillars of a healthy feline environment provide guidelines on what cats need, and one of those pillars is a safe space. When cats are faced with something stressful, they like to hide in order to avoid confrontation. Providing safe spaces gives them somewhere to go and relax when everything is fine, and somewhere to hide if they are feeling stressed. From a cat’s perspective, the best hiding places are the right size for them and enclosed. Cats also like to be high up and have nice places to perc...

The placebo effect in pets, the meaning of discipline, and stunning wildlife photos... this month's Companion Animal Psychology News. By Zazie Todd, PhD My favourites this month This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Julie Hecht is an outstanding blogger who writes about the stuff dogs really want you to know about, like urine and humping and farts and a life worth living. As she bows out from her Scientific American blog Dogpies, don’t miss her final post, Dog science is timeless , and all the great posts it links to  And be sure to follow her on social media to keep up with what she does next. "That leads me to wonder: why, despite increasing evidence, do some people deny that animals have emotions or feel pain?... I think it’s because it’s easier to hurt them if you think of them as dumb brutes. " Great interview with Carl Safina by Claudia Dreifus : Carl Safina is certain your dog...