Dr. Ádám Miklósi, head of the Ethology Department at Eötvös University in Budapest and one of the founders of the world-renowned Family Dog Project, has joined the NCRC group of advisors. Dr. Miklósi is a leading authority on the social competence of dogs, the mental abilities that make possible the unique relationship that is the human-canine bond. Or as the title of one of his recent papers puts it, “What does it take to become ‘best friends’?”  The mission of the Family Dog Project is the study of the “evolutionary and ethological foundations of dog-human relationship.” Ethology is the study of animals in their natural environment, rather than under laboratory conditions. It was once considered only appropriate to the study of wild animals. To place the study of domestic dogs firmly in the science of ethology, as the Family Project has done, is to make a statement that human beings are their natural habitat. Dr. Miklósi has done groundbreaking research on the concept of the 21^st century family dog as an animal whose behavior is profoundly shaped by his interactions with people. We welcome him as an advisor with unique qualifications to help us enhance public understanding of the human-canine bond in the modern world.