Category Archives: General Science of Behavior

This time around, I would like to hand over the writing to a guest blogger, a former student of mine, Lauren Robinson. Lauren has gone on to graduate studies at the University of Edinburgh, but we have continued to pursue … Continue reading →

I received an email the other day from a reader of my blog entry “Modern Animal Behavior: A Lot Has Changed in the Last Few Decades.” He said, “I am a volunteer assisting in the training of staff as animal … Continue reading →

It is well known that dogs, and other companion animals, can provide a great deal of solace to humans in need of calming, constancy, and contact.  The scientific evidence for the physical and mental calming effects of appropriately behaved dogs … Continue reading →

Here’s a question for all of you dog trainers (and that should be just about everyone who has a dog)… how often should you train a dog? Many of us in this business would, of course, say, “as often as … Continue reading →

A bill has been introduced into the Washington State Legislature to limit long-term, unsupervised tethering of dogs in the state.  Specifically, the current form of the bill (and these bills change frequently before final passage, so this is just the … Continue reading →

I recently gave a presentation on applied animal behavior to a wonderful animal advocacy group on the Micronesian island of Guam.  I was on the island on behalf of my wife’s (Dr. Renee Ha, UW Psychology/Animal Behavior) research on the … Continue reading →

Well, what a wonderful response to this blog!! It’s so nice to know someone is reading these!!   Let me respond to several of these comments in one response here: FAP’s or MAP’s: the terms are being misused in either … Continue reading →

Back in the fall of 2008, I presented a blog which started like this, “I am frequently asked about readings in animal behavior.  One of the nice things about practicing in a region like Seattle is that our audience is … Continue reading →

An interesting paper appeared in a recent issue of Behavioural Processes (2009, vol. 82, pp. 355).  The author, William Helton from New Zealand, examined results from three published studies in which breed and head shape were reported, to answer the … Continue reading →