Canine Behavior Archives - National Canine Research Council

Two Myths about Behavior Evaluations for Shelter Dogs

Regina Lizik May 17, 2023May 25, 2023Uncategorized

You might think behavior evaluations make placing shelter dogs safer. But, research shows that some of the most common beliefs about shelter dogs and evaluations are actually just myths. Myth #1 Dogs living in shelters are behaviorally diﬀerent from dogs living with families There is a prevailing myth that shelter dogs are “damaged” or “have something wrong with them.” This myth can lead to shelters running a battery of tests, called behavior evaluations, on the dogs in their care, in … Continue reading “Two Myths about Behavior Evaluations for Shelter Dogs”

Action Patterns Aren’t Personality. Here’s What a Recent Canine Genetics Study Really Means About Your Dog’s Behavior

Regina Lizik December 21, 2022April 4, 2023News

A new genetics study reveals more about the canine division of labor in ancient times, but not about your dog’s individual personality.

Ground-Breaking Research Shows Breed As a Poor Predictor of Behavior

Regina Lizik August 11, 2022April 4, 2023News

The Darwin’s Ark study on dog behavior and genetics might reset how we all think about and talk about dog behavior.

Behavioral incompatibilities, not behavior problems

Janis Bradley February 8, 2022April 4, 2023Uncategorized

“It’s not a problem for the dog; it’s a problem for the human,” is among the first mottos regarding so-called dog “behavior problems” I learned as a novice dog trainer. The famed behaviorist, Dr. Ian Dunbar, would often begin a lecture on behavior modification with some version of this pronouncement. But even though he acknowledged the negative implication of the term, he would continue to use it because it’s such a common language phrase. Experts do this all of the time, … Continue reading “Behavioral incompatibilities, not behavior problems”

Building Social Competence: The real deal in dog safety training

Janis Bradley November 22, 2021April 4, 2023News, Research & Publications

In 2013 the most comprehensive study to date asked whether the dogs (fewer than 1 dog in 2 million) involved in dog bite-related fatalities (DBRF) had anything in common with one another. The collaboration of a veterinary epidemiologist, a public health expert, an animal behaviorist and dog behavior researchers examined the available evidence regarding every DBRF in the US over a 10 year period, a total of 256. They found 7 situations that were often missing in the lives of … Continue reading “Building Social Competence: The real deal in dog safety training”

A Dog and Her Family Show Us the Importance of Social Competency

Janis Bradley September 4, 2021April 4, 2023News

“Oh behave,” we often say to our children and dogs alike, when they do stuff that irritates us. But no one, not kids and not puppies either are born knowing how to “behave.” Understanding what’s expected of them, and how to read the signals others give off, and generally how to behave appropriately in social situations, even to recognize the feelings of others all have to be learned. In the language of developmental psychology, all this learning is collected under … Continue reading “A Dog and Her Family Show Us the Importance of Social Competency”

Words Matter 101: Let’s get rid of the A word

Janis Bradley August 19, 2021April 4, 2023News

I have a personal litmus test for dog knowledge among humans. If someone asks, “is that dog aggressive?” I understand immediately that we are starting from zero. Karen Overall, the noted behaviorist, once said that as far as she could tell, the word “aggression” simply meant anything a person didn’t like. She was speaking to an audience of dog professionals. More than 60 years ago, John Paul Scott, one of the earliest and most revered of canine behavior researchers, declared … Continue reading “Words Matter 101: Let’s get rid of the A word”

Canine public policies shouldn’t be created from media reports

Janis Bradley July 7, 2021April 4, 2023News, Research & Publications

Dr. Gary Patronek and his colleagues, the authors of a ten-year study of dog bite-related fatalities (DBRF) did something not attempted before or since—they gathered their data from massive accumulations of reports and interviews done by officials, from investigating officers to coroners and pathologists. Previous work on the subject had always been based on collections of reports in the popular media. One of Patronek et al’s discoveries was that the dog (or dogs) involved usually simply lived on the owner’s … Continue reading “Canine public policies shouldn’t be created from media reports”

The QAnon of Canine Behavior Science

Janis Bradley June 17, 2021April 4, 2023News, Research & Publications

A story on NPR reports that the most popular facebook post on the brief suspension of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine in April was not CNN or NYT or ABC News or Fox News. They were all in the top five, but number one was a conspiracy theorist called An0maly who describes himself as a “news analyst and hip hop artist.” This kind of reliance on wildly unreliable information sources is not limited to high profile public issues. One of the … Continue reading “The QAnon of Canine Behavior Science”

News Topic: Canine Behavior