Companion Animal Psychology

Zazie and Kristi are joined by Grant Hayter-Menzies to talk about his book, Freddie: The Rescue Dog Who Rescued Me. By Zazie Todd PhD. Watch episode 16 of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation below or on Youtube , listen below or via your favourite podcast app (including Apple , Spotify ), or scroll down to read highlights.       About this episode This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. In this episode, we’re joined by writer and biographer Grant Hayter-Menzies to talk about his book Freddie: The Rescue Dog Who Rescued Me . We talk about how Freddie came into his life and the important ways in which dogs help us, even when we think we’re the ones saving them.  Freddie was a terrified rescue dog who took time to settle in, and became so important to Hayter-Menzies. Hayter-Menzies tells us about how he wrote biographies of extraordinary women, and Freddie’s influence led him to start writing biographies of impo

“A wonderful, unusual, and healing book, full of wisdom and compassion.”—Sy Montgomery. By Zazie Todd PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. This month, the Animal Book Club is reading Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter by E.B. Bartels. From the publisher, “An unexpected, poignant, and personal account of loving and losing pets, exploring the singular bonds we have with our companion animals, and how to grieve them once they’ve passed. E.B. Bartels has had a lot of pets—dogs, birds, fish, tortoises. As varied a bunch as they are, they’ve taught her one universal truth: to own a pet is to love a pet, and to own a pet is also—with rare exception—to lose that pet in time. But while we have codified traditions to mark the passing of our fellow humans, most cultures don’t have the same for pets. Bartels takes us from Massachusetts to Japan, from ancient Egypt to the modern era, in search of the good

Will I see you down under? (part 2). Photo: Mudassir Ali/Pexels By Zazie Todd PhD I’ll be presenting at the Pet Professional Guild Australia conference in Sydney which runs from 14-16 June. The conference takes place at Rydges World Square in Sydney, with some practical workshops on the 14th at St. Ives Showgrounds. My talks will be on: From fearful to happy: The role of emotions in animal welfare. Counterconditioning: How to get it right. How to prevent and resolve common behaviour issues in cats. Strategies for the human side of fearful/reactive dogs Puppy and cat playtime and enrichment: why it matters. Changing minds on training methods.  There’s a great line-up of Australian and international speakers at this conference, including Dr. Robert Hewings, Barbara Buchmayer, Deb Millikan, Jari Castle, Dr. Eduardo J. Fernandez, and Alex Matsoukos. There is a cocktail party on the Friday night and a conference dinner on the Saturday night. As well as the conference, I am looking forward t

Will I see you down under? (part 1). Photo: Makalu/Pixabay By Zazie Todd PhD I’ll be presenting at the New Zealand Association of Professional Dog Trainers conference in June. The conference takes place 8th – 9th June at the Silverstream Retreat, Lower Hutt, near Wellington. This year’s theme is Steady Paws, Calm Minds. I’ll be giving three talks at the conference: How to help fearful dogs feel safe Counter-conditioning for anxious and fearful dogs The value of enrichment for dogs. One of the other speakers at the conference will be Laura Ryder, the head dog trainer at Morley Vet Centre in Perth, Western Australia. I am really excited for the conference. You can see the program and get more information on the APDT NZ conference web page .   As well as the conference, I’m looking forward to doing some sight-seeing in New Zealand. The photo above shows the cable car which goes up to the botanical gardens in Wellington. I always love visiting gardens so, even though it will be winter, thi