Companion Animal Psychology

Why punishment is the wrong approach for house training mistakes, and how you should house train your dog or puppy instead. Photo: mannpuku/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   How should we house train puppies, and deal with the inevitable mistakes that puppies and adult dogs can have? Suppose your dog suddenly starts to pee in the house. You clean it up the first time but it happens again…. And then again. Or your new puppy keeps having accidents indoors even though you take her outside often. In this situation, some people will yell at their dog. Some might even try physical punishment like hitting the dog or an alpha roll. And we’ve all come across the advice that you should rub their nose in it. Don’t do it. Whether you're toilet training an adult dog or house training a puppy, here’s why that’s the wrong approach, and what you should do instead. Punishmen

I have a new post at my Psychology Today blog Fellow Creatures about a study that looked at whether a dog walking program has benefits for people with intellectual disabilities who live in supported housing. The results of this exploratory study found there were more friendly interactions with other people when a dog was present. Read more here . Photo: dawnie206/Pixabay By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy . She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, writes The Pawsitive Post premium newsletter, and also has a column at Psychology Today . Todd lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, one dog, and two cats.  Useful links: Companion Animal Psychology merch   Companion Animal Psychology's Amazon store As an Ama

Women whose dog sleeps on the bed report better sleep than those with a human or feline sleeping partner. Photo: Julie Vader/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. Whether or not pets should be allowed to sleep on the bed is an age-old question. Some worry it will lead to a disturbed night’s sleep, while some old-fashioned dog trainers still claim it will spoil the dog. The latter argument is based on out-dated ideas about dominance and dog training and can be easily dismissed, but the issue of sleep quality is starting to get researchers attention. A new study by Dr. Christy Hoffman (Canisius College) et al and published in Anthrozoös asked women about who sleeps in/on the bed with them and how good they thought their sleep was over the previous month. The results show dogs are a less disruptive sleep partner than another human, while cats are just as disruptive a

“A masterful account of the way science is revealing just how smart dogs can be." By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. “A masterful account of the way science is revealing just how smart dogs can be. Fascinating and highly readable.”--John Bradshaw. The Companion Animal Psychology Book Club choice for December 2018 is The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods. From the inside cover, ""My dog can do that."  So said a young Brian Hare to his professor who was studying animal behavior - and a revolution in our scientific understanding of dog intelligence began. Specifically, Brian Hare's dog, Oreo, could read human gestures that monkeys were blind to. The years of research that followed took Hare around the world and changed forever what we know of how dogs think and what they understand. This book is the m

I  have a new post at my Psychology Today blog Fellow Creatures on a wonderful initiative to interest girls in science, via canine science. All this month, the bloggers behind Do You Believe in Dog? , Mia Cobb and Julie Hecht, are sharing inspiring quotes from female canine scientists to encourage girls to get into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. They are using a girl's best friend to encourage girls to be scientists . Africa Studio / Shutterstock This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy . She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, writes The Pawsitive Post premium newsletter, and also has a column at Psychology Today . Todd lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, one dog, and two cats.  Useful links

The five freedoms of animal welfare, the one most people miss, and what it means for pet owners. Photo: Bad Monkey Photography By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. When you get a new puppy or kitten, no one tells you your new pet has five main welfare needs that need to be met. But maybe they should, because they provide a framework for how we should care for dogs , cats , and other pets. Read on to find out what they are, how many pet owners know them, and why they matter to you. The Five Freedoms The Five Freedoms were originally defined by the UK’s Farm Animal Welfare Council in the 1960s, and subsequently updated. They are now understood to apply to the welfare of all animals, not just livestock. The Five Freedoms are: Freedom from hunger and thirst, by ready access to water and a diet to maintain health and vigour.  Freedom from discomfort, by providing an appropriate

Women in canine science, people who care for parrots, dogs in Paris, and more... the latest news from Companion Animal Psychology. By Zazie Todd, PhD Some of my favourites from around the web this month This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. "Clearly - dogs are awesome. So is science!"  Women are thriving in canine science - tell a girl you know!  At Do You Believe in Dog?, Mia Cobb and Julie Hecht are celebrating the women in canine science, and encouraging girls to get interested in a career in science. Don't miss the daily inspiring quotes on their Facebook and Twitter feeds. “...it is the only study I know of which has demonstrated that petting and playing with a therapy dog can reduce human distress even when the interactions are not facilitated by a sympathetic handler” How important is the animal in animal-assisted therapy? Hal Herzog on an important new study that tests the