Courses
Courses and webinars on dog training and cat behaviour from Zazie Todd, PhD.
If you want to learn more about dog training or cat behaviour, you'll love these science-based offerings at Companion Animal Psychology.
Recordings of the 2026 Winter Webinar series are now available.
Parenting styles and the human-dog relationship: What dog trainers need to know
Most of us think of dogs as family members, but is there any crossover from the way people parent human children and how they treat their canine family? This series of 3 webinars will review the different types of parenting styles and the extent to which they apply to how we care for dogs. Dog-directed parenting styles reflect how the guardian teaches their dog appropriate behaviours and how responsive (or not) they are to their dog’s needs. We’ll look at how dog-directed parenting styles relate to people’s interactions with the dog as well as how they might influence the dog’s attachment to their guardian. And we’ll discuss how we can use this information to help improve the welfare of pet dogs.
Students will be able to:
- Articulate what the main dog parenting styles are
- Explain what an authoritative parenting style is and how it applies to dogs
- Understand the benefits of an authoritative dog-directed parenting style
- Evaluate the scientific research on dog parenting styles and its relation to attachment in dogs
- Consider how pet parenting styles relate to modern dog training
3 x 1 hour webinars. Recordings available for 60 days.
CEUs: PPAB 3 CEUs; CCPDT 2 CEUs for trainers and 1 CEU for behavior consultants.
Unwanted scratching in cats: Understanding this behaviour and what to (humanely) do about it
Scratching is a normal behaviour for cats, but it’s also one that their guardians often complain about. In this webinar series, we’ll look at what we know about why cats scratch and how people can humanely influence their cat’s choice of surfaces. Cats have individual preferences for the surfaces that they scratch. We’ll consider the effects of training from a cat welfare perspective and also look at the wider role of the environment in scratching behaviour. We’ll look at the risk factors for unwanted scratching and how the way that people care for cats plays a role.
Students will be able to:
- Understand why cats engage in scratching behaviour
- Appreciate the role of individual differences in choice of scratching surfaces
- Explain the welfare issues with a punishment-based approach to unwanted scratching
- Develop plans for positive reinforcement and an enriched environment for scratching behaviours
- Appraise the placement of scratching posts in the home
3 x 1 hour webinars. Recordings available for 60 days.
CEUs: PPAB 3 CEUs.
Dog behaviour issues: Supporting the dog’s humans through hard times
Dogs can have all kinds of behaviours, and whether or not their human considers the behaviour to be an issue is very much a personal consideration. But having a dog with a behaviour issue is hard. Often, the dog is struggling and the person is struggling too. People can experience a wide range of negative emotions, and in turn this can influence their likelihood of following a reward-based training plan. This webinar series will look at the research on the human side of having a dog with issues and explore how this can help us to do a better job of supporting dog guardians.
Students will be able to:
- Describe the emotional impacts of having a dog with a behaviour issue
- Understand the interactions between emotions and dog training approaches
- Integrate incremental plans for teaching people about dog behaviour issues
- Consider supporting the person as part of the plan for classes or private consults
- Appreciate the importance of positive messaging
3 x 1 hour webinars. Recordings available for 60 days.
CEUs: PPAB 3 CEUs; CCPDT 1 CEU for trainers and 2 CEUs for behavior consultants; IAABC 3 CEUs.
