Study shows owners and non-owners recognize animal emotions
“‘Sometimes I read about someone saying with great authority that animals have no intentions and no feelings, and I wonder, ‘Doesn’t this guy have a dog?”’ – Frans De Waal, quoted in The New York Times June 26, 2001 Charles Darwin argued that emotions evolved in both humans and animals; and scientists who have studied […]
Dogs’ personalities more reflective of their relationships with people than of their breed
Janis Bradley examines a recent study published in Applied Animal Behavior Science.
‘What kind of dog is that?’: Dog experts needed to participate in new University of Florida survey regarding visual breed identification
Assisted in part by a grant from the National Canine Research Council, the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida’s School of Veterinary Medicine is conducting a national survey of dog experts (breeders, trainers, groomers, veterinarians, shelter staff, rescuers, and others). Based upon responses to an online survey, Program Director Dr. Julie Levy […]
The quality of a dog’s relationship to humans is a crucial determinant of social behavior
Note: This blog was originally written in 2012, the below document was updated in 2016 to reflect the most recent research. For almost 2 decades, The Family Dog Project has been at the forefront of research demonstrating that dogs have a special ability that few other animals possess: to notice and respond to social […]
Outstanding new resource for police officers who encounter dogs in the line of duty
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) just published a new manual for police officers entitled “The Problem of Dog-Related Incidents and Encounters.”