Do You Believe In Dog?

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What happens when two canine scientists decide to become pen pals in an era of digital media?

Cobb & Hecht
42 posts

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  • October 8, 2012
  • 05:38 AM
  • 432 views

A tail with no end is a sorry tale indeed.

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Hey Julie,What a great topic to bring to the table: that what we, as people, like to see in our dogs, may not always be in the dogs' best interests. Indeed. Considering that got me thinking not just about the features we select for when breeding dogs, but also our track record in surgically altering the appearance of dogs through procedures like ear cropping and tail docking, for the purpose of owner satisfaction in how the dog looks.A postcard used in an RSPCA awar........ Read more »

  • November 28, 2012
  • 04:43 PM
  • 424 views

The Science Surrounding Children & Dogs: Part 2 (The Bad)

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving Julie!(source)I’m not exactly sure what that means, as we don’t celebrate it in Australia, but I hope you had a great time with your family and friends all the same!Thanks for all those fantastic resources you included in your last blog post. It was also great to see some extras posted by readers in the comments section. (source)Last time I looked at ‘The Good’ of some the science surrounding children and dogs. This post, it’s time to ........ Read more »

Gerwolls Marilyn K., & Labott Susan M. (1994) Adjustment to the Death of a Companion Animal. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People , 7(3), 172-187. DOI: 10.2752/089279394787001826  

Davis Janet Haggerty. (1987) Preadolescent Self-Concept Development and Pet Ownership. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People , 1(2), 90-94. DOI: 10.2752/089279388787058614  

Van Houtte Beth A., & Jarvis Patricia A. (1995) The role of pets in preadolescent psychosocial development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 16(3), 463-479. DOI: 10.1016/0193-3973(95)90030-6  

Kaufman Kenneth R., & Kaufman Nathaniel D. (2006) And Then the Dog Died. Death Studies, 30(1), 61-76. DOI: 10.1080/07481180500348811  

Bingham Glenda M., Budke Christine M., & Slater Margaret R. (2010) Knowledge and perceptions of dog-associated zoonoses: Brazos County, Texas, USA. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 93(2-3), 211-221. DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2009.09.019  

  • November 20, 2012
  • 07:54 PM
  • 423 views

Mixing kids & dogs: a 'how to' resource list

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Hi Mia, Friends for life is a wonderful way to describe growing from childhood to adulthood with a dog. For me, Arf was always around till a living, breathing dog came into my life, and you clearly thought dogs were the bomb from an early age! And speaking of childhood dogs, how awesome is the Childhood Dog Photo Challenge that you started over on Facebook? Were you expecting people to post photos of so many dogs and kids from all over the world!?Mia and Star; Julie and Arf Nowadays, I........ Read more »

Horowitz Alexandra C., & Bekoff Marc. (2007) Naturalizing Anthropomorphism: Behavioral Prompts to Our Humanizing of Animals. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People , 20(1), 35. DOI: 10.2752/089279307780216650  

  • September 4, 2012
  • 11:18 AM
  • 378 views

A moment for humping

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

I was really taken aback by those photos you posted because logically, I know that when breeding for (1) physical health and (2) guide-dog "appropriate" behaviors, physical characteristics are not necessarily prioritized. And, as you showed, other physical characteristics can start coming through. I don’t think I’ve seen photos like that before. Pretty awesome.It's a great example of the diversity within each breed, and the standards that are set are just one of many physical “breed standa........ Read more »

Moon-Fanelli Alice A., Dodman Nicholas H., Famula Thomas R., & Cottam Nicole. (2011) Characteristics of compulsive tail chasing and associated risk factors in Bull Terriers. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 238(7), 889. DOI: 10.2460/javma.238.7.883  

Moon-Fanelli Alice A., Dodman Nicholas H., & Cottam Nicole. (2007) Blanket and flank sucking in Doberman Pinschers. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 231(6), 912. DOI: 10.2460/javma.231.6.907  

  • August 31, 2012
  • 11:49 AM
  • 360 views

Welfare hiding right in front of us

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Hi there Mia!When you address someone as I did above, do you put a comma between “there” and “Mia”? Maybe this is a grammar question for a grammar website (or I could just Google it), but I’m wondering if people put that comma in? I used to put in the comma, but then I was told it sounded like, “Hi there (paauuse) Mia!"(source)HI! How awesome to have those definitions out in the open. Prior to my program in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare, I hadn't considered that welfar........ Read more »

  • October 14, 2012
  • 05:55 AM
  • 358 views

Citizen science and digital platforms: folding it all the way to outer space

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

ScienceRewired is a philanthropic initiative that aims to promote public engagement in science through digital and social technologies. Their mission is to aid non-technical science practitioners and the digital domain in working together, to look at science from new perspectives while helping educate and empower individuals to create significant positive change in the world. Their focus spreads across science education, science communication and citizen science initiatives – what’s not to........ Read more »

Hand Eric. (2010) Citizen science: People power. Nature, 466(7307), 687. DOI: 10.1038/466685a  

Khatib F., Cooper S., Tyka M. D., Xu K., Makedon I., Popovic Z., Baker D., & Players F. (2011) From the Cover: Algorithm discovery by protein folding game players. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(47), 18953. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1115898108  

Parsons Jeffrey, Lukyanenko Roman, & Wiersma Yolanda. (2011) Easier citizen science is better. Nature, 471(7336), 37. DOI: 10.1038/471037a  

  • September 24, 2012
  • 05:57 PM
  • 355 views

The science of carrots and sticks

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Hi Julie, Today I want to tell you all about the great time I had last week. But first, you have to know about my lovely friend, Kate. We originally met through our research group at Monash University. We’re colleagues who have completing our PhD’s (both aiming to complete SOON) in common, but we also share a background in Zoology and the fact we have been juggling our research with our work for the past few years. Kindred spirits!This is Kate!Kate works primarily as an animal behaviourist (........ Read more »

Haverbeke A., Laporte B., Depiereux E., Giffroy J.-M., & Diederich C. (2008) Training methods of military dog handlers and their effects on the team's performances. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 113(1-3), 122. DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2007.11.010  

  • August 30, 2012
  • 06:23 PM
  • 350 views

I'll show you mine if you show me yours!

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Yep - that adult (green coat) having more fun than any kid? That's me.Hey Julie,We had a fun weekend, there were miniature trains involved, so how can that be anything other than fabulous? I hope you did too! Can I firstly say – !!!! – how awesome is EthoSearch?! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing that with me – I can’t believe I didn’t know about it and will certainly be starting any conversations with new students in my research group with “Hi, I’m Mia, and here is the link for ........ Read more »

Broom D.M. (1986) Indicators of poor welfare. British Veterinary Journal, 142(6), 526. DOI: 10.1016/0007-1935(86)90109-0  

Dawkins Marian Stamp. (2008) The Science of Animal Suffering. Ethology, 114(10), 945. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2008.01557.x  

Stafford Kevin. (2006) The Welfare of Dogs. (Book). DOI: 10.1007/1-4020-4362-7  

  • October 26, 2012
  • 03:10 PM
  • 350 views

Video Special: Cutest thing ever? Paws on the face!

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

I'll start with some eye candy Hi Mia, "What do you think is the most common role of dogs these days?"              As I read that in your last post, I blurted out, "companionship" (the guy sitting next to me in the coffee shop didn't even flinch. New Yorkers are expected to talk to ourselves. I succeed). For many people in many societies and cultures, dogs are brought into our lives to be companions.  But what are the behaviors that make u........ Read more »

King Tammie, Marston Linda C., & Bennett Pauleen C. (2009) Describing the ideal Australian companion dog. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 120(1-2), 93. DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2009.04.011  

Horowitz Alexandra C., & Bekoff Marc. (2007) Naturalizing Anthropomorphism: Behavioral Prompts to Our Humanizing of Animals. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People , 20(1), 35. DOI: 10.2752/089279307780216650  

  • October 10, 2012
  • 01:13 PM
  • 336 views

Size matters. ‘Specially when it comes to your tail

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Hello hello Mia!I'll come back to "cute" next week, but I want to stick with the topic you brought up. As you mentioned, tail docking and ear cropping regulations differ across the globe. Both practices are common here in the States, but the American Veterinary Medical Association, “encourages the elimination of ear cropping and tail docking from breed standards.” Even so, docking and cropping are often seen as normal parts of dog pedigree and sometimes built into breed standards:AKC Boxer B........ Read more »

  • September 1, 2012
  • 10:30 PM
  • 334 views

Working like a dog

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Hello Julie,Having consulted two of my fabulous friends who happen to be ‘real world editors’ I can happily report that the technically correct format would be “Hi there, Mia”. This is to clarify that my name is not ‘there Mia’, although one friend said “no one does it on the internet”, so maybe you can’t win – or can’t lose?! I’m just happy you said “Hi”.It's so true that there are welfare issues all around us – even when perhaps we’re not expectin........ Read more »

  • October 31, 2012
  • 05:06 PM
  • 332 views

Ideally amicable: beauty and behaviour (part 2)

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Hellloooo Julie,(source)Isn’t it interesting that bigger eyes are a preferred attribute for attractiveness, yet we find animals covering their faces (and therefore obscuring their eyes!) super cute? The eyes have it, but they obviously aren’t the full story. I look forward to hearing more!While you tell me about what rings our bells in terms of physical looks, I'd like to get back to telling you about Tammie King's research into behaviour assessment and contemplating what behaviour........ Read more »

  • December 11, 2012
  • 05:36 AM
  • 313 views

The Science Surrounding Children & Dogs: Part 3 (The Ugly)

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Cute or feeding an unrealistic fantasy? (source)Hey Julie,You raise such an important point! In the same way that popular culture can influence our perceptions and interpretations of ‘cute’ in domains like body image and kawaii, photos of babies with dogs can set us up with unrealistic expectations that might lead to ugly situations and devastating outcomes. And it’s some of The Ugly side of the science surrounding children and dogs that I want to share with you today. Dogs can hurt c........ Read more »

Shewell P C, & Nancarrow J D. (1991) Dogs that bite. BMJ, 303(6816), 1512-1513. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.303.6816.1512  

Reisner I. R, Shofer F. S, & Nance M. L. (2007) Behavioral assessment of child-directed canine aggression. Injury Prevention, 13(5), 348-351. DOI: 10.1136/ip.2007.015396  

Ozanne-Smith J, Ashby K, & Stathakis V Z. (2001) Dog bite and injury prevention--analysis, critical review, and research agenda. Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention, 321-326. PMID: 11770660  

Avner J R, & Baker M D. (1991) Dog bites in urban children. Pediatrics, 88(1), 55-57. PMID: 2057274  

Zasloff Lee R., Hart Lynette A., & Weiss Joan Melrod. (2003) Dog training as a violence prevention tool for at-risk adolescents. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People , 16(4), 352-359. DOI: 10.2752/089279303786992044  

  • November 7, 2012
  • 03:25 PM
  • 311 views

Dogs help in natural disasters. They just do.

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

(Australian bushfires are big. Really big. source)Hey Julie,What an important topic to raise. It's so important that we stop to consider what animals are experiencing in times of natural disaster and 'rescue'. It got me thinking about a different kind of natural disaster that struck my local community in February 2009, the series of bushfires (wild fires) that came to be known in Australia as the Black Saturday bushfires.  It was horrible.&n........ Read more »

Blue Gladys F. (1986) The Value of Pets in Children's Lives. Childhood Education, 63(2), 85-90. DOI: 10.1080/00094056.1986.10521747  

Vormbrock Julia K., & Grossberg John M. (1988) Cardiovascular effects of human-pet dog interactions. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 11(5), 509-517. DOI: 10.1007/BF00844843  

Lyons R. F., Mickelson K. D., Sullivan M. J.L., & Coyne J. C. (1998) Coping as a Communal Process. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15(5), 579-605. DOI: 10.1177/0265407598155001  

Irvine Leslie. (2007) Ready or Not: Evacuating an Animal Shelter During a Mock Emergency. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People , 20(4), 355-364. DOI: 10.2752/089279307X245482  

  • September 16, 2012
  • 05:03 AM
  • 301 views

AAWS-struck: effecting change in animal welfare

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Prepare to be AAWS-struck: animal welfare, working dog projects and oh yes - a youtube debut.... Read more »

McGreevy Paul D., Starling Melissa, Branson N.J., Cobb Mia L., & Calnon Debbie. (2012) An overview of the dog–human dyad and ethograms within it. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 7(2), 117. DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2011.06.001  

  • December 3, 2012
  • 11:07 PM
  • 301 views

Dogs and babies: Not always cute

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Hi Mia, Oh, Arf! Based on the way I treated him, it's a good thing he was stuffed. I remember dragging him around by his leg (or maybe it was his ear) so we could "spend time" together. Given he was a stuffed animal, I have to admit it's pretty cute. Nowadays, it seems like one of the functions of social media is sharing cute stuff. You can't go a day without seeing something posted, tweeted or shared that elicits an, "Aww cute" response. Some photos mix and match baby animals: Baby animal........ Read more »

Daniels Dawn Marie, Ritzi Rovane B. S., O’Neil Joseph, & “Tres Scherer L R. (2009) Analysis of Nonfatal Dog Bites in Children. The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care, 66(Supplement). DOI: 10.1097/TA.0b013e3181937925  

Horowitz Alexandra C., & Bekoff Marc. (2007) Naturalizing Anthropomorphism: Behavioral Prompts to Our Humanizing of Animals. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People , 20(1), 35. DOI: 10.2752/089279307780216650  

  • October 1, 2012
  • 08:39 PM
  • 293 views

Heroes - and - why do we feed our dogs to death?

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Hey Julie,I’m glad you’re a fan of Paul McGreevy’s too! I admire so much of the work he’s done (and facilitated or helped others to do). He’s not afraid to raise sensitive topics and tricky questions through his science and I appreciate that enormously.Your last post got me thinking about who my canine science (or general doggy-people) heroes are – I’m still pondering on this, but there are plenty of them!(source)I think I’ll get back to you with my conclusions and explanations ........ Read more »

Rohlf Vanessa I., Bennett Pauleen C., Toukhsati Samia, & Coleman Grahame. (2010) Why Do Even Committed Dog Owners Fail to Comply with Some Responsible Ownership Practices?. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People , 23(2), 155. DOI: 10.2752/175303710X12682332909972  

  • December 18, 2012
  • 05:37 AM
  • 281 views

'Tis the season to be Doggy, fa la la la laaaa...

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

Hey Julie, I absolutely LOVE Project: Play with your Dog study and how the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab are crowd sourcing using citizen science! I don't think a better way of contributing to scientific understanding can possibly exist! I look forward to hearing updates about how the research goes. I will certainly participate - next time we head to the river to play, we'll take our camera to get some video! So you might have noticed the silly season of festivity has landed upon us... Assumi........ Read more »

  • November 12, 2012
  • 10:01 AM
  • 280 views

Post-Sandy and The Power of Cute (Kawaii!!)

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

(Post-Sandy reunited)Hi there Mia, This is all incredibly moving. When natural disasters strike, the damage looks so different depending on geography. Our natural disasters don’t tend to include koalas, although Sandy did cause major trouble for the NYC Aquarium (water was the big problem).Post-Sandy SupportThe local aid and support has been tremendous. Animal Aid and GrantsAs of today, a Facebook group called Hurricane Sandy Lost and Found Pets has 25,158 likes, up from 7,200 likes on 11........ Read more »

  • January 25, 2013
  • 03:24 PM
  • 275 views

Dogs and Cats in the Home: Happiness for all?

by Cobb & Hecht in Do You Believe In Dog?

(Source)Hi Mia! Looking forward to hearing more about your upcoming conference, ‘When coping is not enough - Promoting positive welfare states in animals’. I was recently thinking about positive welfare in animals, sort of by accident. This past Monday, I was part of a Cats In Context conference at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. The conference was put together by ISHAR, the Institute for the Study of Human Animal Relations. Last year’s conference covered The Future of Zoos -- and a........ Read more »

Boissy Alain, Manteuffel Gerhard, Jensen Margit Bak, Moe Randi Oppermann, Spruijt Berry, Keeling Linda J., Winckler Christoph, Forkman Björn, Dimitrov Ivan, & Langbein Jan. (2007) Assessment of positive emotions in animals to improve their welfare. Physiology , 92(3), 375-397. DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.02.003  

Daniels Dawn Marie, Ritzi Rovane B. S., O’Neil Joseph, & “Tres Scherer L R. (2009) Analysis of Nonfatal Dog Bites in Children. The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care, 66(Supplement). DOI: 10.1097/TA.0b013e3181937925  

Horowitz Alexandra C., & Bekoff Marc. (2007) Naturalizing Anthropomorphism: Behavioral Prompts to Our Humanizing of Animals. Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People , 20(1), 35. DOI: 10.2752/089279307780216650  

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