The modern science of animal behavior, which we call ‘ethology’, has come a long way in the past few decades, from a largely observational, descriptive science to a modern, quantitative science based on solid foundations of evolutionary biology and quantitative methodology. One of the most common situations in which I realize this is when I… Read More
I have been blogging on the general topic of companion animal behavior for about 6 years now. The earlier (pre-2013) writings appeared as part of the “Behind the Behavior” blog at my former clinical practice home at Companion Animal Solution, LLC. While many of these earlier blogs still appear there, I have moved all of my blogs to this site. My new blogs will only appear here. And the new home for my clinical practice is AdaptiveAnimals.com: check them out! Link to the right.
My applied animal behavior blogs fall (so far) into two broad categories: the general science of behavior and more direct application to dogs and cats. I divide these entries into the two categories you can find to the right of this text. Enjoy! And if you would like to recommend topics, please contact me.
Response to Comments about My Cesar Millan Blog
I want to thank everyone who wrote in to provide support, and so many wonderful examples, in response my KOMO-TV spot and my follow-up blog entry. The response has been most impressive. I, of course, knew that there were many science-based trainers out there, trainers who have never bought into Cesar’s Way or who have… Read More
KOMO News Interviews Me About Cesar Millan
It’s been an interesting week. Last Friday, a local trainer and colleague, Grisha Stewart of Ahimsa Dog Training (www.ahimsadogtraining.com) contacted me to ask if I would discuss Cesar Millan’s techniques with a reporter from KOMO-TV here in Seattle. Millan was in town for a meet-and-greet and fundraiser for a local pet shelter. I leaped at… Read More
Kitten Socialization
Cats, like all mammals, are social creatures. While cats are far less social than dogs, to think of cats as asocial is wrong. The degree of social behavior and the ability of an individual to adapt to a changing social environment varies with species (certainly cats are less social than dogs), breed (Bengal cats are… Read More
A Reading List in Animal Behavior, Part 1
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 so well educated. So not infrequently I have clients who want to learn more, want to read more about animal behavior. Most often, they want to read more about… Read More
