Fellow Creatures: Two Recent Posts

-
I have two recent posts at my Psychology Today blog Fellow Creatures.

By Zazie Todd, PhD

The first post looks at links between a cat owner's personality and their cat's health and behaviour. In particular, when owners have a neurotic personality, this is associated with negative outcomes for their cat. Read more in cat owners,  personality, and pet parenting style.

The relationship between owner personality and cat behaviour. Photo shows person stroking cat under chin
Photo: Yerlin Matu/Unsplash

The second post looks at a recent study of the relationship between military veterans with PTSD and their psychiatric service dog. The results show just close the human-animal bond is, even for veterans with severe symptoms. At the same time, the bond is closer in those who use more positive reinforcement to train their dog. Training methods affect the service dog--veteran relationship.

Training methods affect the bond between veterans and their service dogs. Most of the dogs are Labradors, pictured
Photo: danielle828/Pixabay

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy. She is the founder of the popular blog Companion Animal Psychology, where she writes about everything from training methods to the human-canine relationship. She also writes a column for Psychology Today and has received the prestigious Captain Haggerty Award for Best Training Article in 2017. Todd lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband and two cats.

Useful links:
This page contains affiliate links.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. As an Etsy affiliate, I earn from qualifying Etsy purchases.

Comments

Post a comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Punish Your Dog for Peeing in the House

-
Image
Why punishment is the wrong approach for house training mistakes, and how you should house train your dog or puppy instead. Photo: mannpuku/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   How should we house train puppies, and deal with the inevitable mistakes that puppies and adult dogs can have? Suppose your dog suddenly starts to pee in the house. You clean it up the first time but it happens again…. And then again. Or your new puppy keeps having accidents indoors even though you take her outside often. In this situation, some people will yell at their dog. Some might even try physical punishment like hitting the dog or an alpha roll. And we’ve all come across the advice that you should rub their nose in it. Don’t do it. Whether you're toilet training an adult dog or house training a puppy, here’s why that’s the wrong approach, and what you should do instead. Fr
Read more

Which Dog Breeds Are the Best Alternatives to the French Bulldog? (Guide)

-
Image
If you love Frenchies but the health issues give you pause, these are the dogs like  French bulldogs that you might like too. French Bulldogs have lovely personalities, but if the health issues give you pause, these are the other breeds to consider. Photo: Irinia Kozorog/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. In 2018, French bulldogs became the most popular breed of dog in the UK , overtaking the Labrador retriever, which had the number 1 spot for almost thirty years. French bulldogs are also in the top ten dog breeds in  the US (no. 4), Canada (no. 5),  and Australia (no. 3). French bulldogs are lovely dogs but unfortunately they can suffer from a number of inherited conditions, which can be distressing for the dog and heart-breaking for the owner.  Because they have a squashed face, they are at risk of Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome, can have trouble
Read more