Companion Animal Psychology

You are invited to a Facebook live discussion about Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy. By Zazie Todd, PhD I will be in conversation with Patricia Tirrell and Denise O'Moore about Wag on Facebook live on Tuesday 1st September from 2-3pm ET. More information on the event page on Facebook . Following the live chat, there will be a two week discussion of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy in the Books, Barks, and Banter Facebook group . I will be taking part in the discussion, and you are very welcome to join us.  I hope to see you there!

Capturing cuteness in dogs, cats and their names, and a beautiful textile... this months CAP 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. “Many respondents, both in our work and others, report that they would rather sleep rough than give up their pet. Yet if pet owners refuse to relinquish their pets, local authorities categorise them as “intentionally homeless”, thereby abrogating their responsibility to house them. “ ‘ My dog is my home’ – the need for pet-friendly accommodation for homeless people by Dr. Jenny Stavisky and Dr. Pru Hobson-West.  “We are all brave at different speeds.” Kids and dogs: scenarios to consider by Tim Steele at Behavior Matters Academy. “A lot of thought should go into choosing to bring any companion animal into your home.” Pandemic puppy pandemonium requires lots of time and love by Mary Angilly and Dr. Marc Bekoff. “D...

The fiction, non-fiction, and (of course) cat and dog books I’m reading this summer. By Zazie Todd, PhD Like everyone else, I’ve not been able to travel this summer; in fact (probably like you too) I rarely go out and wear my mask whenever I do. But there’s still time for reading, and my local bookstore has a great system for picking up books. As has become tradition here at Companion Animal Psychology, I’m sharing with you the books I’m reading this summer. You’ll find all of these books in my Amazon store . This page contains affiliate links. Fiction The Wild Heavens by Sarah Louise Butler Through the course of a day spent tracking impossibly large human-like footprints through the snow, we learn of the loves, losses and family in Sandy’s life. Set in the forested mountains of the BC interior, this book is beautifully crafted and brings the natural world to life on every page. A ...

Ten tips for modern dog training. By Zazie Todd, PhD .   Photo: JacLou DL/Pixabay A  new post on my Fellow Creatures blog has ten tips on modern dog training and caring for your dog. Tip number 1? You aren't a dog. Check it out here:  You aren't a dog, and other surprises of dog ownership .

A survey of the owners of diabetic cats finds that although diagnosis is a worrying time, things get better.  Photo: Richy99/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. Diabetes mellitus affects around 1 in 80 cats in the US. It is most common in cats that are neutered males, over 7 years old, obese, indoors-only or inactive, on certain types of medication (glucocorticoids or progestagens), and in Burmese cats (Sparkes et al 2015). The signs include excessive thirst, excessive urination, lethargy, weight loss, and extreme hunger. So long as the condition is well-managed, the prognosis for the cat is good. Research by Dr. Carolina Albuquerque and colleagues, published in 2019 in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery , looks at owners’ experiences of getting this diagnosis for their cat and subsequent treatment.  The survey (in fact two separate but simila...

How I, an anthropologist and dog trainer, learned the value of 'You'll have to ask someone who knows' from Dinjii Zhuh (Gwich’in) Elders. Kristi Benson on a skidoo trail outside of Inuvik, NWT. Photo: Yoenne Ewald. By Kristi Benson CTC   Special Correspondent I lived with dogs for many years before becoming a dog trainer. Although my first dogs were easy to live with, about ten years ago I found myself in a new, and tricky, situation. Through a relatively random sequence of events, I had come to live with a load of racing sled dogs. These dogs—athletic mixes of northern dogs and leggy hounds—were much scrappier than my first dogs. Much scrappier. Much . I was at a loss for how to handle it—my first dog hadn’t been snarky, and my family never had dogs. The establishment where my dogs had come from was in the small Arctic town where I lived for a few years, and the typical dog musher there had used a combination of yelling and physical punishment when fights erupted. Although...

“As close to sitting around the campfire with Ken Ramirez as most of us are likely to get”—Susan Friedman By Zazie Todd, PhD This month, the Companion Animal Psychology Book Club is reading The Eye Of The Trainer  by Ken Ramirez. This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. From the back cover, “In The Eye of the Trainer, Ken Ramirez brings to life the power of positive reinforcement training to build trust and transform lives. Ken is one of the most creative, cogent, and effective animal trainers in the world. His positive reinforcement training principles and practices are studied, replicated, and applied in settings as diverse as conservation efforts with elephants on the African plains, canine search and rescue in Texas, oil-disaster recovery for sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, butterfly training in England, and animal shelters in Chicago.  In this inspiring, heartwarming, and hopeful se...