“What kind of dog is that?” Asking the wrong question and answering it badly

Posted on August 7, 2019April 4, 2023Categories News, Research & PublicationsTags ,

Our review has revealed no findings of breed based behavioral differences that successfully overcome all the difficulties presented by this question.

Our review has revealed no findings of breed based behavioral differences that successfully overcome all the difficulties presented by this question.

There’s No Place Like Home

Posted on April 9, 2018April 4, 2023Categories News, Research & Publications

A stay in a foster home before adoption and even adoptions that end in the return of a dog to the shelter enhance the chances of rehoming for dogs who find themselves between owners.

A stay in a foster home before adoption and even adoptions that end in the return of a dog to the shelter enhance the chances of rehoming for dogs who find themselves between owners.

Are you happy? Disgusted? Your dog can tell the difference

Posted on August 27, 2014March 18, 2021Categories Research & Publications

Once again researchers at the Family Dog Project in Hungary have confirmed an ability that dog lovers have long suspected in our canine companions. In an ingenious series of experiments the Eötvös Loránd University ethologists demonstrated that dogs can discriminate between human expressions of happiness, disgust, and simply blank indifference. [1] They built on earlier studies which had shown that dogs can tell the difference between smiling and “blank” photos of their owners’ faces, but did not recognize these differences on … Continue reading “Are you happy? Disgusted? Your dog can tell the difference”

No single factor explains barking, growling, lunging and biting behavior in dogs.

Posted on April 30, 2014May 31, 2022Categories Research & Publications

Dr. Rachel Casey from Bristol University in the UK, and colleagues, recently attempted to estimate the number of dogs barking, lunging, growling or biting – the behaviors they grouped together under the term, aggression[1] — and to see if they could identify decisive causes of such behavior. Of more than 14,000 UK dog owners surveyed, 3,897 replied, answering questions about their dogs’ responses to family members, to unfamiliar persons away from the house where the dog lived, and to unfamiliar … Continue reading “No single factor explains barking, growling, lunging and biting behavior in dogs.”

Neuroscience May Confirm What Many Dog Lovers Already Know

Posted on November 1, 2013May 31, 2022Categories News, Research & Publications

Dog owners regularly attribute emotions such as love and loyalty to their pets, and may be just as regularly dismissed for doing so. The Dog Project, being conducted by Dr. Gregory Berns, a neuroeconomist at Emory University in Atlanta, has detected canine brain activity suggesting that dog owners may have the last laugh. Dr. Berns studies “the neurological basis for individual preferences.” He uses functional MRIs (abbreviated as fMRI) to measure changes in key parts of people’s brains at a … Continue reading “Neuroscience May Confirm What Many Dog Lovers Already Know”