Companion Animal Psychology

My latest post at Psychology Today looks at the story of a valiant dog who is missing on an Australian island. Stokes Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Photo: Vlad Kutepov/Pexels By Zazie Todd, PhD News that a 4kg miniature Dachshund is still alive after going missing on Kangaroo Island, Australia , more than a year ago, set me thinking about how dogs can survive without people.  Valerie, the miniature Dachshund, was recently sighted 16 months after she first went missing, and now a local rescue has set cameras and traps to catch her. It’s not known how Valerie has survived this long and whether local people have helped her—although, given that she is wearing a pink collar, you would think that anyone who saw her would mention it, just like the person who spotted her and told the rescue. So it seems most likely that she has survived on her own. Read more on my Fellow Creatures blog: Valerie the daring Dachshund and how dogs survive when lost

Today I’m celebrating 13 years of writing about how to have happy dogs and cats, aided by science. Photo: Havoc/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD The symbol of a thirteenth anniversary is lace, so that’s why I chose this photo of a beautiful cat in a window.  I feel very lucky to still be able to write this blog, and to have such a special community around it of people who care so passionately about the welfare of dogs and cats. To be honest, I find it a little hard to look back on the last year, because it’s six months since I lost my dad. Of course, I still miss him terribly. But there were some real highlights. I was so happy to celebrate the publication of my third book, Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog , in October. As it happens, this book is dedicated to my parents, and it means a lot that my dad was able to see this before he passed. People tell me they love the stories about Pepper in the book And, of course, there was Bark! Fest, the book...

A new post on my Psychology Today blog looks at the role of social media in helping shelter pets find new homes. Photo: mh-grafik/Pixabay By Zazie Todd, PhD From the piece: "Every year, millions of dogs and cats find their new homes via shelters and rescues. Increasingly, shelters and rescues rely on social media to post adverts for the animals in their care. New research published in Animals looks at the role of Facebook in animal adoptions in the US and whether or not features of the Facebook post, photo, and/or video influence the animal’s likelihood of adoption. "The study aimed to look specifically at which posts got the most likes and shares on Facebook and whether or not those animals were adopted during the study’s time frame. It turns out that you can help adoptable dogs and cats the most by sharing posts about them, but "likes" simply don’t help as much." Read more here: Social media shares (but not likes) help pets get adopted .

We've added a red maple leaf to our artwork and joined the Look for the Leaf campaign for Canadian podcasts. By Zazie Todd, PhD Here at The Pawsitive Post in Conversation , Kristi and I are proudly Canadian. And we're very proud of our podcast which aims to help people have a better relationship with their pet dogs and cats. This is a time when Canadians are looking for things that are made in Canada. So we've joined the Look for the Leaf campaign to help people identify Canadian podcasts. You can see the red maple leaf added to our artwork, above. The campaign was started by Terry O'Reilly of Under the Influence  and Apostrophe Pod . You can learn more in this post by Kattie Laur at Pod the North . O'Reilly told Laur, “Grocery stores now mark Canadian products. Ads and commercials now say, ‘Made in Canada for Canadians, by Canadians.’ And that should extend to podcasts, too,” says Terry. “There are so many great Canadian shows to listen to - and we can help Canadia...

Zazie chatted with Shannon Riley about what science tells us about the puppy blues, positive reinforcement training, and more! By Zazie Todd, PhD I was delighted to be a guest on the Backyard Pet Talk podcast with Shannon Riley.  You can listen to the episode here (and on  Apple ) or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can also watch on Youtube .  Here's the official podcast description: "Studies on Force-Free Positive Reinforcement Dog Training with Zazie Todd, PhD, award-winning author of WAG, PURR, and now BARK!  The Science Behind Positive Reinforcement: Why Force-Free Dog Training Works In today's special episode, we talk with Zazie Todd, PHD, about some scientific studies; some dogs are harder to train than others, adolescent dogs have more issues than puppies, the puppy blues thing!" This episode is part of the podcastathon  2025 which raises funds for charity. The aim with this episode is to raise money for the Ripple Effect Animal project . If you ...

Watch or listen to the recording of Antony Johnston talking about his book The Dog Sitter Detective Takes the Lead , Louisa Scarr talking about Gallows Wood , and Philipp Schott on Eleven Huskies . Clockwise from top left: Zazie Todd, Philipp Schott, Louisa Scarr, Kristi Benson, and Antony Johnston hold up their books at Bark! Fest (or in Kristi's case, her cat, Apricat). By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you.  Bark! Fest with Antony Johnston, Louisa Scarr, and Philipp Schott, DVM Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers, took place in September 2024. I organized it to celebrate the launch of my new book, Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog , which is out now and available wherever books are sold. We heard from some incredible authors of books about animals. This is the recording of the panel Canine Crime and Mystery with Antony Johnston, Louis...

Bring your questions about dogs for Tom Candy, Zazie Todd, and Malena DeMartini, and learn more about the Dogs and the City conference. By Zazie Todd, PhD On Saturday March 22nd at 8am Pacific (11am EST / 3pm UK time) you are invited to join me, Tom Candy, Malena DeMartini, hosted by Andrea Dinan of Educanine for a chat ahead of September's Dogs and the City conference . This is your chance to learn more about the conference--and to ask us your questions about dogs! Personally I am really looking forward to chatting with Tom and Malena, the other two speakers at the conference, to learn about their presentations, and just generally chat about dogs because who doesn't love talking about dogs? You are invited to join us. It's free, but you have to register. You can register here . I hope to see you there! The Dogs and the City conference takes place in person in Toronto, and online, September 26-28 2025. You can learn more about the conference here . 

My book, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy, is 5 years old today. 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 hard to believe, but today is 5 years to the day since the publication of my first book, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy .  Wag was launched into the uncertain world of the covid-19 pandemic. Before that, I had spent years working on the idea, the proposal, and then the book. Wag takes seriously the idea that dogs are sentient beings and defines what that means for how we care for them. I wrote it because I know how lovely it is to see dogs romping around joyfully. To create those delightful moments of joy, you need to provide the right environment, training, and safety for your dog. I wrote Wag because there are so many findings from canine science that are fascinating and useful to our everyday lives with dogs. And I wrote Wag because I wanted to make ...

There's a new episode of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation about our special relationship with dogs with guest Si Wooler. By Zazie Todd, PhD Watch episode 28 of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation below or on Youtube , listen below or wherever you get your podcasts ( Apple , Spotify ), or scroll down to read a transcript of the highlights. About this episode with Si Wooler This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you.  We talk about the big changes that people are willing to make for their fearful dogs, and why the dog's relationship with their person is important for all dogs, but especially the fearful ones. We talk about what a great job Si does of helping people see things from the dog's perspective, and we ask how he talks with clients about the dog's umwelt, or how the dog perceives their world. We ask about how Si decided where to fit Sophie's story in the book. And Kristi puts Si...