Blogspot - Companion Animal Psychology

For shelter dogs, spending 15 minutes with a volunteer who will pet them when they want is beneficial according to both physiological and behavioural measures. Photo: ESB Basic / Shutterstock Dogs in shelters may be deprived of human company. Can a short petting session help them feel better? A study published earlier this year by Dr. Ragen McGowan et. al. and published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science investigated the effects of petting from a stranger and found positive results. The scientists set out to answer the question, “Does one 15-min petting session make a positive difference for shelter dogs?” And the answer was yes. The report concludes, “As predicted, positive physiological and behavioral changes were evident in shelter dogs even after only a single 15-min petting session with an unfamiliar volunteer. A complete understanding of the human-animal bond from the dog’s perspective is still in its infancy, however this work contributes to the mounting evidence that humans p...

Give pets a choice, observe their body language and know where they prefer to be stroked. Photo: Julie Vader / Shutterstock A few years ago, I wrote a post about how people with pets can learn from the ways scientists give companion animals choices in research . It was a popular post that generated a lot of discussion. Today I thought I’d return to the topic of choice and look at how we can give dogs and cats choices when we are stroking them. Why does it matter? Because giving pets a choice can help them to feel in control and less stressed, which is good for their welfare. And there’s the added benefit of making them less likely to bite or scratch us, because we are not forcing them into a situation where we do things they don’t like. Does your dog or cat want to be petted? For many of us, one of the things we love about our companion animals is the fact we can pet them.  It’s relaxing to sit and stroke a cat or dog. But do they always enjoy it? One way to find out is to see...