Companion Animal Psychology

There's a new format for your favourite book on fearful dogs. By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. I am absolutely thrilled to share with you that my book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Do g will be published in paperback on June 10th. (Or if you're in the UK, on June 12th). Even more than my previous two books ( Wag and Purr ), people have told me how much Bark! has helped them with their pet. I wrote it to make a difference to people whose dog is fearful or anxious, because I know how hard it can be. And I know how important it is to find solid advice on what you can do to help your dog. Because the dog is struggling, and very often their people are struggling too.  You can pre-order the paperback of Bark! now from your favourite bookstore. Of course, if you don't want to wait or prefer the hardback version, it's available now while stock...

Scent activities can be an important positive experience for your pet. Here's why, along with ideas to try with your dog or cat. Photos: Simonovich Inna and Luminoisty-images.com/both Shutterstock. By Zazie Todd, PhD One of the best ways to help ensure your dog or cat is happy is to give them opportunities to use their nose. These days, when we think about good animal welfare, we’re not just talking about preventing cruelty. It also means giving them plenty of opportunities to have positive experiences and engage in behaviours that are natural for the species. You won’t be at all surprised to learn that for dogs, opportunities to sniff are really important. After all, dogs have incredible noses. Dogs have such amazing noses that some of them are even trained to search for missing people, animal scat, truffles, or bacteria in a hospital setting.  As Alexandra Horowitz writes in her delightfully informative book Being a Dog (p2), “Working dogs, trained to tell us what they naturally...

The recording of this much-loved panel at Bark! Fest is out now, with these three wonderful authors: Sarah Chauncey on PS I Love You More Than Tuna, Sassafras Patterdale on Claw This Journal, and Rachel Wells on Alfie the Christmas Cat. By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you.  Our Bond with Cats with Sarah Chauncey, Sassafras Patterdale, and Rachel Wells at Bark! Fest Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers, took place in September 2024. I organized it to celebrate the launch of my new book, Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog , which is out now and available wherever books are sold. We heard from some incredible authors of books about animals. This is the recording of Our Bond with Cats with Sarah Chauncey, Sassafras Patterdale, and Rachel Wells. You can watch the panel on Youtube or below, listen wherever you get your podcasts  ( Appl...

Artist and author Lili Chin on her gorgeous new book which illustrates more than 600 types of dog and explains where they come from. By Zazie Todd, PhD This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn commission on qualifying links at no cost to you. Artist Lili Chin has just published her third book, Dogs of the World: A Gallery of Pups from Purebreds to Mutts . I love this book! It's a fun and informative guide to the development of dog breeds that belongs on every dog lover's bookshelf. Lili's adorable drawings of hundreds of dog breeds will put a huge smile on your face (not least because the book includes so many happy pups). It would be a great gift for anyone who loves dogs. So I was delighted to ask Lili about why she wrote this book and what she learned while working on it. Dogs of the World is available from all good bookstores, including Bookshop (which supports independent bookstores) and Amazon . How did the book come about? The idea for Dogs of the ...

Understanding our pets’ individual needs can help to make them happier. Photo: New Africa/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. On Monday, my cat Melina had an important specialist vet appointment. Some of you will know that she has been having chemotherapy for the past year. It’s meant daily meds at home and regular bloodwork and vet appointments. And the good news is that she is doing great thanks to our wonderful veterinary team. But what I want to tell you is that after she was home, Melina was very, very chatty. “Meow, meow,” she kept saying. It felt like she had come home from a hard day (which she had) and badly needed to tell me all about it. As if she had a lot to get off her chest. “Meow, meow!” “I know… I’m sorry…” She is the only cat I’ve had who I feel is telling me about her day like this. Obviously, previous cats have meowed at me, often (and sometimes loudly and i...

How to raise a happy and resilient dog from puppyhood with Kerry Nichols in the latest episode of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation .  By Zazie Todd, PhD Watch episode 30 of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation below or on Youtube , listen below or wherever you get your podcasts ( Apple , Spotify ), or scroll down to read a transcript of the highlights. About this episode with Kerry Nichols This page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Zazie chats with Kerry Nichols, bestselling author of Puppy Brain: How Our Dogs Learn, Think, and Love . We talk about: How Kerry got into breeding dogs Why we both love Golden Retrievers How the book, Puppy Brain, came about What puppies are like when they are born Examples of the socialization that Kerry does with puppies Her favourite part of the first 8 weeks of a puppy's life Advice on finding a responsible breeder (for any breed) And Kerry reads from Puppy Brain for us! Pupp...

Cats don’t like change, so a gradual approach to a new litter or litter box location is important. Here's what to do. Photo: KrakenImages.com/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. It’s not often that geopolitics collides with the everyday lives of our pets, but for many Canadians that’s the case right now. Trump’s tariff tantrums mean that Canadians are looking to buy local products, rather than American ones. That led me to think about how we make changes for cats without upsetting them, such as changes to their litter box arrangements or switching to a locally-made brand of cat litter. There are many reasons people might want to make changes to their cat's litter or litter box location, from switching to a different brand, getting a new cat, or remodeling their home. The thing about cats is that they really hate change. They like everything to be predictable, and that m...