Companion Animal Psychology

How I got locked out of Facebook and Messenger because Meta falsely claims I broke their community standards. Photo: sophiecat/Shutterstock 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 on cybersecurity, and an email from Meta to say that I am restricted from advertising due to a breach of their advertising standards. I did not break any rules. The ...

Learn about the work of human remains detection dogs, how they are trained, the skills the handler needs, and how they can help with historic searches. By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Watch episode 35 of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation  on Youtube  or below, listen wherever  you get your podcasts ( Apple , Spotify ) or below, or scroll down to read a transcript of the highlights. Human remains detection dogs with Kim Cooper and Cat Warren Dogs have incredible noses, and can trained to search for the scent of human remains, bringing closure to those who are grieving and the opportunity to memorialize. As well as recent remains, they can also search for historic remains. We're joined by two experts in the field, Kim Cooper of Ottawa Valley Search and Rescue, and Cat Warren, author of the New York Times bestseller What the Dog Knows: Scent, Science, and the Amazing Ways...

Join us for this Ask Me Anything with two dog experts. Bring your questions about dog bites or simply watch and learn. By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Do you have questions about why dogs bite and what we can do to prevent dog bites? Following the success of the last Ask Me Anything, Kristi and I are hosting another one--and this time we're joined by special guest Carri Westgarth, PhD, of the University of Liverpool and Merseyside Dog Safety Partnership. If you were at last year's Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers, you will recognize Carri's name as she took part in one of the panels . We are delighted to welcome her back for this AMA. You are invited to attend and submit questions, or simply to watch the recording, as you prefer. Registration is required, and a recording will be available to those who register. You can register here . And if you'd like th...

Counter conditioning is a powerful technique to help reactive and fearful dogs--but it doesn't need a clicker. Here's why, along with some tips on teaching fearful dogs to no longer be afraid. Photo: Angyalosi Beata/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD A question I am often asked is, should you use a clicker (or secondary reinforcer) when using counter conditioning with a fearful dog? The quick and easy answer is “No”, but since this is an interesting question I thought I’d take a closer look.  Even though so many of us are familiar with the story of Pavlov’s dogs there is still, surprisingly, a lot we don’t know about exactly how classical conditioning works. Nonetheless, most of us know this is a powerful method we can use to help dogs (and cats or other animals) get over their fears by learning to like the thing they previously found scary. The main things to know are: When teaching dogs behaviours using positive reinforcement, some people like to use a clicker. The click marks t...

Learn about how to help fearful and anxious dogs and why Zazie wrote her book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog in this panel from Bark! Fest. By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you.   Fearful and Anxious Dogs with Zazie Todd, PhD, at Bark! Fest Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers, celebrated the launch of my book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog . The festival took place in September 2024 with 11 panels featuring writers of many wonderful animal books. This is the recording of the final panel, Fearful and Anxious Dogs. You can watch the recording on Youtube or below, listen wherever you get your podcasts or below ( Apple , Spotify ), or scroll down to read a transcript of the highlights. Get the books Bark! is now out in paperback and available wherever books are sold. All of the books from Bark! F...