Three Years of the Animal Book Club

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If you’re looking for some great reading about animals, look no further than the Animal Book Club.

The Companion Animal Psychology Book Club Turns 3
Photo: Anna_Andre/Shutterstock


By Zazie Todd, PhD

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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:

On the blog, I shared my summer reading list while others shared the animal book that made a difference to them (part 1 and part 2).

If you like chatting about animal books but don’t want the commitment of reading every month, you might like the Animal Books facebook group (make sure you answer the question if you want to join). New members of the book club are welcome at any time, but must commit to reading and commenting on 7 of the 10 books each year.


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, one dog, and two cats.

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