Blogspot - Companion Animal Psychology

Celebrating seven years of blogging about science and pets here at Companion Animal Psychology. Today is exactly seven years since I started Companion Animal Psychology with the aim of finding out what science tells us about how to have happy dogs and cats. In this time, I’ve been writing evidence-based articles about how best to care for our cats and dogs, and about new scientific research papers that are relevant to the everyday lives of people and their pets. It’s wonderful to see how much the general public wants to know about science and our pets. Over the years I’ve been honoured to speak to many scientists, veterinarians, dogs trainers, and others about their work with animals. As well, I’ve been lucky to publish some wonderful guest posts. A seventh anniversary is a wool anniversary. Photo: dezy/Shutterstock One thing that keeps me cheerful is to see just how many amazing people are working so hard to make the world a better place for both pets and their people. This is my 445t...

Companion Animal Psychology is a finalist in the People’s Choice Award for Canada’s Favourite Science Blog. Companion Animal Psychology is one of three finalists in the People’s Choice Award for Canada’s Favourite Science Blog. It is a real honour and I am thrilled. Thank you very much for your support! And thank you to Science Borealis and Science Writers and Communicators of Canada for organizing the competition. The winner will be announced on Thursday November 2nd. Check out the other two finalists, The Body of Evidence and Art the Science .  You can read about all the finalists in the Science Borealis announcement here , and you can also see the three science website finalists there. And you follow on twitter with the hashtag #CdnSciFav.

Two posts look at dog walking behaviour and my personal favourite blog posts. This week I have two new posts for you. At my Psychology Today blog Fellow Creatures, I look at some new research on the links between dog ownership, dog walking, physical health, and the human-animal bond. “What I was excited about were the associations we found between the strength of the bond with the dog and dog-walking behaviour,” said Dr. Jessica Bibbo, one of the authors of the study. Read the full story here . And in a guest post for Dr. Jo Righetti’s Pet Problems Solved, I share my five favourite Companion Animal Psychology articles. These are the posts I wish everyone would read about cats, dogs, and how best to care for them. Find out which ones I chose here . Photo: atiger/Shutterstock.

From the people and blogs to follow to dog training research, there are lots of resources for dog and cat people here at Companion Animal Psychology. Cardboard boxes are a useful resource for cats; resources for cat and dog people in this post. Photo: isumi1 (Shutterstock) In the five and a half years that I’ve been writing Companion Animal Psychology, I’ve built up a sizeable back catalogue of blog posts about science and our pets. I’ve also made a number of resources for readers who want to know more. Since there are many new readers lately, I thought I’d make a list so you can find everything. Dog Training Research Resources The science of dog training is a source of fascination for many dog trainers, and it makes an important contribution to animal welfare too. Research in this field looks at topics such as the methods ordinary people use to train their dogs (and how obedient they think their dog is as a result), the potential effects of different dog training methods on fear, anxi...

Companion  Animal Psychology is shortlisted for the People's Choice Award: Canada's Favourite Science Blog. Vote for your favourites! I am thrilled to have been short-listed for the People's Choice Award: Canada's Favourite Science Blog. You can see the shortlist and vote here  on the Science Borealis website. Voters can select their three favourite blogs and three favourite science websites (so you have six votes in total). It's a great way to show support for your favourite science sites and blogs and find new ones to follow too. You can follow the contest on social media via the hashtag #CdnSciFav. Every day from now until the close of voting on 14th October, Science Borealis and SWCC will be promoting the short-listed blogs and websites on social media. The contest is part of Science Literacy Week  (#scilit17) here in Canada which celebrates science with events across the country.  Three finalists in each category will be announced during the week of October 2...