Companion Animal Psychology

Reward-based training is the best way to train dogs. Here's what it means, and seven reasons to give it a try. Photo: Lunja/Shutterstock By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. What is reward-based dog training ? Put simply, it's using rewards to train dogs - giving rewards for good behaviour and withholding rewards for behaviours we don't like. Instead of using ideas like respect or dominance to train dogs, reward-based training looks at what motivates dogs and uses that in a humane manner to improve your dog's behaviour. Reward-based training is also commonly known as force free dog training or positive dog training, because it relies on positive reinforcement . Whether you're new to training or an experienced pro, here are seven reasons to use reward-based dog training. 1. Positive reinforcement is recommended by professional organizations Many professio

This is the place for the Train for Rewards Blog Party to celebrate rewards-based training of our companion animals. Bloggers can add a link to their contributing posts below (please read the rules and get the button first). By Zazie Todd, PhD Take Part in Train for Rewards On 16th June: Read the blog posts listed below, comment on them, and share your favourite posts on social media with the hashtag #Train4Rewards Share a photo of your dog (or other companion animal) who is trained using rewards on social media with the hashtag #Train4Rewards Reward yourself for participating with a cup of coffee, slice of cake, a walk in the woods, or whatever makes you happy. An InLinkz Link-up

We need canine science because common sense can lead us astray. By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Recently I wrote about why science matters to our dogs and cats , based on findings from Dr. Paige Jarreau’s research that suggests science blogs (like this one) may contribute to readers having a better knowledge of science. I thought of this again recently because a comment I often see from readers – on any kind of science story on the internet – is "don’t we know this already? Isn’t it just common sense?" I understand the comment because sometimes, when the findings of a study happen to line up with our existing beliefs, it can feel like science is just common sense. But common sense can easily hold conflicting views simultaneously. And common sense often leads us astray (even in our knowledge of basic physics, as illustrated by Peter Ellerton writing about why we can

New research finds out how hard ferrets will work to access different types of enrichment. By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Providing environmental enrichment is an important part of good animal welfare. For example, cats whose owners play with them regularly have fewer behaviour problems. We know a lot about enrichment for cats . What about ferrets? Earlier research has shown that more play behaviours are reported when there are more enrichment items . But although ferrets are a popular pet, we know little about their personal preferences. A new study by Marsinah Reijgwart ( Utrecht University ) et al has important tips for ferret owners. Of course, you can’t just say, “Ferret, what would you like?” One way of testing how much animals value certain things is to put a door between them and the item. By gradually increasing the difficulty of opening the door, we can see how much

Join the blog party to celebrate rewards-based training of our dogs and other companion animals. #Train4Rewards Planning for the Train for Rewards Blog Party By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Are you a blogger? Do you support rewards-based training for dogs and other animals? Would you like to take part in the #Train4Rewards blog party? You are invited to write a blog post about rewards-based training of dogs or other companion animals, post it on your own blog on the set date, then come and share a link to it here. Bloggers from anywhere in the world are invited to take part. Read on to find out more. On Wednesday, 15th June: 1. Publish a post on your blog in support of the #Train4Rewards blog party. It can be words, photos, video, a podcast, or a combination, and relate to any kind of companion animal.  I’ve put some suggestions below to get you started. Double-check

A new report finds there are 11 dog attacks on guide dogs every month in the UK, on average. The lifetime cost of a guide dog for the blind is approximately US$75,000 By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Guide dogs provide essential assistance to people who are blind or partially sighted. When other dogs attack guide dogs, the consequences can be severe. The charity Guide Dogs has been keeping records of these attacks, and a new paper by Rachel Moxon (of Guide Dogs) et al details the problems faced over a 56 month period from 2010 to 2015. During this time, there were 629 attacks. 68% of the victims were qualified Guide Dogs (almost three-quarters of which were in harness at the time of the attack). 20% were dogs in puppy walk (aged up to 1.5 years), 8% were dogs in training, and the remainder were retired, breeding dogs, or buddy dogs. “Within the current study, 20 dogs were wi

Dogs originally bought from pet stores are more likely to be aggressive to their owner compared to those from responsible breeders, even after owner-related factors are taken into account. Photo: Anucha Pongpatimeth (Shutterstock) By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Research by Frank McMillan et al (2013) found that dogs obtained as puppies from pet stores are more likely to have a whole range of behaviour problems than those from responsible breeders, including 3x more likely to be aggressive towards their owner. Pet store puppies come from commercial breeding establishments, otherwise known as puppy mills, which are run for profit and not animal welfare. Since well-informed people are less likely to go to pet stores, one potential confound is that the owners of pet store puppies may know less about how to raise a dog. A new study by Federica Pirrone et al (2016) takes owner fac