Animal Behavior

Essential Reads Chosen by the editors

Why Do Dogs Love Bones? The Answer Involves Fat, Climate and Evolution

By Stanley Coren, Ph.D. on January 27, 2010 in Canine Corner

Why would a dog, or any other carnivore, seem to want such an apparently non-nutritious food source to such a degree that it is willing to spend hours working, crushing and grinding it so that it can be consumed?

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Can Animals Cry?

By Anneli Rufus on February 8, 2010 in Stuck

Watching a national dog show on TV two nights ago, my husband and I marveled at the beautiful creatures striding and sleeking around the stadium. "Look how happy that one looks," my husband said of the Siberian husky. The standard poodle looked snooty. The Irish setter looked proud. But were they, really? Were what looked like smiles and smirks just functions of each species' particular anatomy -- or were we actually discerning the dogs' emotions in their eyes? Not long ago, I interviewed Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson about animal emotions. He used to own dogs. But not anymore. And never again, he said.
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Going to slaughter: Should animals hope to meet Temple Grandin?

By Marc Bekoff on February 6, 2010 in Animal Emotions

The lives of slaughterhouse animals are marked by constant fear, terror, and anxiety and cannot be made humane by any acceptable definition of the word Read More
Tool use in animals: Mammals, birds, and other animals make and use tools and do other "surprising" things

By Marc Bekoff on February 5, 2010 in Animal Emotions

Mammals, birds, and other animals make and use tools and show many other complex patterns of behavior Read More
Who's moral? We're not alone in the moral arena

By Marc Bekoff on February 4, 2010 in Animal Emotions

We're not alone in the moral arena - a follow-up Read More
I Am Billy

By Gay Bradshaw on January 31, 2010 in Bear in Mind

Billy loved spaghetti. He would stick his fork right in the middle of pile of noodles, lift it dripping with tomato sauce, and slowly twirl until each noodle had wrapped around the tines. Read More
Why Do Dogs Love Bones? The Answer Involves Fat, Climate and Evolution

By Stanley Coren, Ph.D. on January 27, 2010 in Canine Corner

Why would a dog, or any other carnivore, seem to want such an apparently non-nutritious food source to such a degree that it is willing to spend hours working, crushing and grinding it so that it can be consumed?
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Animals in media: Righting the wrongs

By Marc Bekoff on January 25, 2010 in Animal Emotions

The misrepresentation of animals continues even as knowledge about them shows how remarkable they. Read More
Perfect in Herself

By Gay Bradshaw on January 24, 2010 in Bear in Mind

Who then is free? Read More
Siege at Druid Peak: Wolves, Social Networks, & Feedback Mechanisms

By Lee Charles Kelley on January 18, 2010 in My Puppy, My Self

Dogs and wolves can't text each other; they don't have thumbs. But due to the way wolves evolved as social predators -- able to read each other's social signals instantly, in the heat of the moment -- and the way dogs expanded on those abilities when they began domesticating us, dogs give us a window into the most miraculous social network ever created. Read More
Is the Sentimental Value of Your Dog Worth Money? A Court Decides

By Stanley Coren, Ph.D. on January 14, 2010 in Canine Corner

A California court has decided that not requiring payment for emotional distress and loss of companionship when a pet is killed through negligence is ultimately in the best interest of all pet owners. Read More
Are nonhuman animals more moral than human animals? Yes they are

By Marc Bekoff on January 13, 2010 in Animal Emotions

Humans and nonhuman animals are highly cooperative and empathic, more so than we've previously believed. And you don’t find mass warfare in animals as you do in humans so if you want to cast it that way, you could say animals are more moral. Read More
Why Do Dogs Mark Their Territory?

By Lee Charles Kelley on January 11, 2010 in My Puppy, My Self

It doesn't make sense that a dog would have the intelligence necessary to use his urine to leave messages for other dogs. In order to do so he would have to be capable of hypothetical thinking, fantasy, mental time travel, not to mention a full-blown theory of mind. If that's true, is there a simpler, more logical explanation for this behavior? Read More
Affirmationomics: Following the honey trail to what REEEAALLY drives us

By Jeremy Sherman, Ph.D. on January 10, 2010 in Ambigamy

"Every life could be said to be defined by two great love stories. The first -- the story of our quest for sexual love -- is well known and well charted. Its vagaries form the staple of music and literature; it is socially accepted and celebrated. The second -- the story of our quest for love from the world -- is a more secret and shameful tale. Read More
Of Mice and Mutts IV (Conclusion): All Dogs Are Good Dogs at Heart

By Lee Charles Kelley on January 4, 2010 in My Puppy, My Self

Behavioral science techniques are known to be ineffective at resolving behavioral problems in dogs. Part of the problem is that behavior analysts believe all animals learn the same way. They don't. However, they do obey the same set of rules. The problem is they may not be the rules of Pavlov and Skinner, but of Newton, Joule, and Maxwell. Read More
Why Dogs Touch Noses: Communication and More

By Stanley Coren, Ph.D. on January 4, 2010 in Canine Corner

Nose to nose touching in dogs may serve as a friendly greeting or may gather information about what the other dog has been doing or eating. Read More
Do Less Harm: Ants and a Simple New Years Resolution

By Marc Bekoff on December 31, 2009 in Animal Emotions

Ants are amazing animals. Cutting off their legs isn't a mere "makeover." What did the ants think and feel about being mutilated? Read More
Tribute

By Gay Bradshaw on December 31, 2009 in Bear in Mind

I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart. I am. I am. I am. - Sylvia Plath
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Patience may be a virtue, but it is also really hard.

By Art Markman, Ph.D. on December 29, 2009 in Ulterior Motives

My dog eats two meals a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. She is trained to sit until the bowl is on the floor before she leaps to start eating. She does it, but it is a real challenge. She gets excited from the moment that she sees the food being put in the bowl, and it requires a tremendous act of will to keep from leaping to the bowl before it is set down.
This daily routine has an important lesson for behavior change. Read More
Who we eat is moral question: Vegans have nothing to defend

By Marc Bekoff on December 27, 2009 in Animal Emotions

Vegans don't have to apologize for, or defend, their humane and ethical choices of who to put in their mouth Read More
The Best Bromance Ever

By Steven Schlozman, MD on December 21, 2009 in Grand Rounds

He is the most uncomplicated thing in my life.
I have never once received a text message from him. He doesn’t seem to care about twitter, and he is utterly disinterested in my CV or my academic promotion.

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Animal Behavior Blogs

Animal Emotions
Do animals think and feel?
By Marc Bekoff
Canine Corner
The human-animal bond
By Stanley Coren, Ph.D.
Made For Each Other
Exploring how people and animals bond--and why it makes you healthier and happier.
By Meg Daley Olmert
Minds of Animals
The cognitive abilities of non-human animals
By Alexandra Horowitz
My Puppy, My Self
How dogs make us human.
By Lee Charles Kelley

Animal Behavior Basics

Pets are among life's greatest joys; they can also be our greatest teachers. The study of animal behavior is a cornerstone of experimental psychology, shedding light on complex human emotions. And pets have a unique therapaeutic hold over humans, especially people who are socially isolated or who are coping with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum.

Go to the Animal Behavior Basics page for more on Animal Behavior including:

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