Companion Animal Psychology

Most dog trainers in Canada use reward-based training methods, but more work is needed before regulation becomes a realistic possibility. Photo: C_Gara/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD Last year, I wrote about the results of a study of dog trainers’ websites in BC, Canada, which found that 72% said they use reward-based methods to train dogs . That’s great news because organizations such as the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior and the BC SPCA say it’s important to avoid aversives due to the risks to dogs’ welfare . But do the websites accurately reflect dog trainer’s opinions, and what about the rest of Canada? New research published in Animals shares the results of a Canada-wide survey on dog training methods, and the results show a complicated picture. Dr. Camila Cavalli (UBC), first author of the study, told me in an email, “There are so many types of training programs and certifications, which exemplifies the lack of standardization in the field. This creates confusion...

Popular authors of books about animals share what gives them hope for our relationship with dogs, cats, and other animals. Bonus episode of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation. By Zazie Todd PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you.  Writers talk about what brings them hope for the human-dog, human-cat, and human-animal bond. You can listen below or wherever you get your podcasts ( Apple , Spotify ) or scroll down to read their answers. This is a bonus episode featuring Patricia McConnell PhD, Jean Donaldson, Marc Bekoff PhD, and all of the writers who took part in Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers. Together they share their insights on what is cause for hope. Bark! Fest celebrated the launch of my book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog , which is out now. A few years back, I heard one of my favourite authors speak at an online literary festival. Amin ...

Zazie joined Marc Bekoff as a guest for the latest episode of Your Family Dog podcast. By Zazie Todd, PhD Your Family Dog is one of my absolute favourite podcasts so you can imagine how thrilled I was to be invited to appear on the show again, this time with one of my absolute favourite writers about animals, Marc Bekoff, PhD. We joined host Tina Spring to talk about canine behaviour. You can listen to the show here or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's the official show description: "Two of YFD’s favorite guests are back! Animal behavior experts Zazie Todd and Marc Bekoff join Tina today to discuss all the things we humans misunderstand about our dogs, their behavior, the best way to work with them. Pull up a chair and tune in for a conversation you won’t want to miss!" Happy listening!

Learning tricks is great fun--here's why it's also good for your pet. We get some expert tips from Erica Beckwith CTC.  By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. As we take a short summer break from the podcast, we've re-issued our conversation with Erica Beckwith of A Matter of Manners dog training about the benefits of tricks training for dogs and cats. The interview is really fun and informative, and because it's from the early days of the podcast it deserves to get a lot more listens. You may recognize Erica's name because she ran an incredibly fun tricks class at Bark! Fest, and she also spoke to me about tricks training for Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog . You can even look up her dog Ruckus in the index of Bark!. You can ​listen wherever you get your podcasts​ ( ​Apple​ , ​Spotify​ ) or below. And I have not re-issued the vide...

How I got locked out of Facebook and Messenger because Meta falsely claims I broke their community standards. Photo: sophiecat/Shutterstock Update: On August 13th, Meta acknowledged that I hadn't done anything wrong and let me have my Facebook account back.  Below, you can read about what happened. On Mondays, a podcasting group I’m in on Facebook has a thread where you can post your latest episode. I posted a comment with a link to our episode with Kim Cooper and Cat Warren , mentioning what we had talked about. It’s an excellent episode and I was pleased to share it because I thought there would be some other people in the group who would enjoy it. I hit send and was about to read about the other podcasts in the thread when a message popped up. It said that Facebook’s AI had detected that I was in breach of their community standards and that I was suspended for 180 days. Subsequently I received an email from Facebook to say that I am suspended due to a breach of their standards o...