The Animal Behaviour Doctors

The doctors discuss reasons why behaviour modification strategies might seem ineffective and what we can do about it. More basic strategies for creating positive behaviour change.Instead of saying - how do I stop my dog from doing something I prefer they didn't, first consider how to create an environment - to make the "right" behaviour easy to offer, reliably.

The Animal Behaviour Doctors chat with Dr Diana Rayment about greyhound behaviour, focusing on predatory behaviour, how to read a passive dog, and practical tips for living with an ex-racing greyhound. Dr Diana Rayment holds a PhD in Canine Behaviour and a Bachelor of Animal Science. Her primary research area is canine behaviour and assessments in applied settings, like animal shelters. She has also worked in a variety of academic and industry settings, including as a TAFE and university educator, as an applied scientist studying companion animal welfare and behaviour and working dog assessments, a dog trainer, a shelter nurse, and most recently, leading the behaviour team at the Greyhound Adoption Program Victoria. Diana is now working to integrate and improve animal welfare and animal management practices in Australia through a variety of roles, including consulting and training through her private business and as a Shelter Supervisor at Second Chance Animal Rescue.

Dr Kat & Dr Mel discuss the findings from multiple studies on psychological stress in Laboratory Animals and Dogs in shelters.  Challenging environments certainly result in increased stress - what can we do to mitigate the distress animals experience? In social species, conspecifics can provide valuable, & measurable, mitigation of the stress experienced by individuals. Humans can be important in stress abatement of another social species - dogs.  Click on the link to the published research overview.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/11/2061?fbclid=IwAR0FQ7qo9q765Q_JJQoBkTajZjEL-bWskCE-b5lpl9mYIyzSqhKm0Nk26Mk

In this episode  Dr Mel Starling & Dr Kat Gregory embark on an initial exploration of the application of "Clicker Training" - using the recent publication by the team of The Clever Dog Lab, University of Vienna as a springboard!Cimarelli, G., Schoesswender, J., Vitiello, R. et al. Partial rewarding during clicker training does not improve naïve dogs’ learning speed and induces a pessimistic-like affective state. Anim Cogn (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-020-01425-9

The Animal Behaviour Doctors discuss the basics of implementing an effective behaviour modification program.We will be running an online session to discuss this episode - stay tuned for details! 

Just like humans, it's important for animals to develop relationships with their own kind (conspecifics).  Dogs are unusual, in that it appears that they become attached to their human caregivers, in much the same way that a child bonds to a parent - using the secure base effect.  The Animal Behaviour Doctors discuss some of the findings of recent research.

Applying the science of learning to training animals - may be described as a relatively "silent" conversation. How we choose to behave in that transaction, can have profound impact on animal welfare. “The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard.”― William Hazlitt, Selected Essays, 1778-1830

MJ & Kat discuss a recent paper published in BIOLOGY LETTERS"Teenage dogs? Evidence for adolescent-phase conflict behaviour and  an association  between attachment in human and pubertal timing in the domestic dog"Lucy Asher et al

Enjoying your puppy's learning during COVID 19 isolation - socialisation & preparing for the future.