Issue 5 | July 2017 — Sciences
Spotlight on Research: Lauren Robinson
This issue, we talked to Lauren Robinson, recent PhD graduate from the University of Edinburgh. Lauren’s work focuses on how we measure personality and welfare, and how these two areas interact. She has worked with many different species, from puppies to penguins, but...
By IAABC Editing TeamStats Trek IV
This is the fourth installment of our Stats Trek series, where we talk about all things data! In the current series, we systematically dissect a paper from the scientific literature and discuss some of the things that we should consider when reading primary literature...
By Jessica Fry, PhDIssue 4 | July 2017 — Sciences
Evaluating Research
Every behavior consultant knows not to rely on a client’s description of a pet’s behavior—you have to see that behavior yourself. Trained eyes see differently. This is just as true for analyzing research studies. It is important to understand the underlying principles...
By Patience FisherPawsimony: Pitch Please
This video pops up every so often on social media as new groups find it and, um, chime in: /wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Dogs-With-A-Perfect-Pitch.mp4 The claim is, this is a demonstration that dogs have “perfect pitch.” If that were true, the dogs would have to be...
By Tiro Miller, PhDIssue 3 | April 2017 — Sciences
The Clinical Animal Behavioral Gold Standard
In the 1940s E. R. Guthrie and G. P. Horton designed an experiment to test feline problem-solving ability using a test box and cats that met the scientific standard. In the experiment, they placed individual cats inside a test box, outside of which they placed a food...
By Myrna Milani, DVMSpotlight on Research: Rabbits in Shelters
According to the House Rabbit Society, rabbits are the third most commonly surrendered pets in the United States. Rabbits have also been steadily gaining in popularity as indoor pets in many parts of the world, with an estimated one million pet rabbits in the United...
By Clare Ellis, interviewed by the IAABC Foundation Editing TeamLives of Streeties: A study on the activity budget of free-ranging dogs
Lives of Streeties is an ongoing study that I am conducting on the street dogs of Bangalore, India. Streeties is a term of endearment that Bangaloreans use to refer to the dogs that roam free on the streets of the city. I spent most of 2015 flying back and forth from...
By Sindhoor PangalStats Trek III: What is Normal, Anyway?
This is the third installment of our Stats Trek series, where we talk about all things data! In the current series, we systematically dissect a paper from the scientific literature and discuss some of the things that we should consider when reading primary literature...
By Jessica FryPawsimony: He’s Just Not That Into You
One of the precious few things the Internet could agree on in 2016 was that capybara are awesome. The giant South American rodents supplanted 2015’s darling, the three-toed sloth, as Esoteric Animal of the Year, as videos of them chilling with ducks, eating various...
By Tiro Miller, PhDIssue 2 | February 2017 — Sciences
FeBARQ: Applied Research on Domestic Cat Behavior
Over 10 years after the release of the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (CBARQ), cat owners finally have a feline version of this behavioral assessment tool available online. The Feline Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (FeBARQ)...
By Miranda Workman CCBCInterview With Dr. Alexandra Protopopova
“I was actually planning to be a veterinarian.” And so were declared the earliest professional aspirations of Alexandra (Sasha) Protopopova, PhD, a scientist whose work is finding a varied and eager audience in the animal welfare world these days. With a doctorate in...
By Barbara Davis CDBCInterview with Brennen McKenzie, the SkeptVet
Complementary and alternative veterinary medicine is a multimillion-dollar industry that encompasses everything from reiki to nutritional supplements, and offers treatments for a full range of medical and behavioral complaints. From the five-dollar “calming treats” we...
By the IAABC Editing StaffThe Science of Finding Lost Pets
If you were to ask me to spend the day searching a remote, wilderness area like the Cascade Mountains for a missing person, but you gave me no details about why they were out there, I would have a very difficult time knowing just what tools to use and where I should...
By Kat AlbrechtHow Do You Spell Behavior? At Darwin’s Dogs, We Use Gs, Cs, Ts, and As.
There are approximately 3 billion bases—represented by the letters G, C, T, or A—in a dog genome. A majority of these are the same across all dogs—these are the bits of DNA that make your dog a dog. But what makes your dog an individual? What makes your dog different...
By Jesse McClurePawsimony: Oh, Deer
A Facebook group shared this video claiming the deer “intuitively” knew to keep still so that the man could rescue it. /wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Pawsimony-Deer.mp4 Given that the vast majority of interactions between deer and humans involve hunting, somehow it...
By Tiro Miller, PhDStats Trek II: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” – Mark...
By Jess FryIssue 1 | October 2016 — Sciences
Stats Trek: How to Be a Commander of Data
In this article series, Jessica Fry explores the role of data in behavior consulting, starting with how to build the motivation to collect and analyze data in our clients and ourselves. How do you assess client compliance? How do you detect when a client is raising...
By Jessica FryPawsimony: Cookie Nookie
Technology is making it ever easier to share footage of animals; something this journal is taking full advantage of. However, the rise of viral video has also lead to an explosion of anthropomorphism, as people try to explain the behavior they’re seeing. Each issue,...
By Tiro Miller, PhDSide-Eye: A Critical Look at Dog Science in the Media
Recently, there has been some hubbub over whether or not you should hug your dog. The Psychology Today blog post that reignited the debate, by Dr. Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia, titled “The Data Say ‘Don’t Hug the Dog!’” claimed to answer this...
By Lindsay WaldropI Got a Kick Out of You…
Pavlov was scooped, but nobody noticed. Most people have heard of Ivan Pavlov and his dogs, and many are aware of the specifics of his discovery. He accidentally conditioned dogs to salivate at the sound of a buzzer, and then realized what he had done and some of the...
By Eileen Anderson