Dogs Unknown

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Genetics and Behavior with Dr. Jessica Hekman and Trish McMillan Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

We have two incredibly intelligent and talented guests today to talk about a complicated and sometimes controversial subject; genetics and behavior. I promise this is worth listening to, and our guests bring a unique mix of scientific and practical knowledge that makes this episode one you don't want to miss.
Guests:

Dr. Jessica Hekman is a postdoctoral associate at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and teaches online classes about the biology and genetics of canine behavior. Jessica received her Ph.D. in Animal Sciences (Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics) in 2017 from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, where she studied canid behavioral genetics. Previously, Jessica graduated from the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in 2012 with a dual DVM/MS degree. Her Master's work was on the behavior and cortisol responses of healthy dogs to being hospitalized overnight. She also completed a shelter medicine veterinary internship at the University of Florida Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program. Jessica's current work focuses on the genetics of behavior in both pet and working dogs through a citizen science approach.
She’s also on the Darwins Ark team; a group that is working with pet owners to answer important scientific questions about genetics and behavior in dogs. I highly recommend you check that out at DarwinsArk.org. You can also view Dr. Hekman's website at dogzombie.com and her research at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jessica_Hekman

Trish McMillan is a certified professional dog trainer and certified dog behavior consultant who holds a Master’s degree in Animal Behavior from the University of Exeter in England. She is an internationally recognized speaker, sharing her expertise in behavior modification, defensive handling, and animal welfare to trainers, shelter workers, veterinarians & vet techs, and dog daycares across the country and around the world. She specializes in training and behavior modification work with dogs, cats, and horses.

Trish spent 7 years with the ASPCA, where she gained a wide variety of experience in the field of animal behavior. For three years she was the director of the animal behavior department at the ASPCA’s New York City shelter, helping staff, volunteers, and adopters work with animals and make great matches. Trish has also helped assess and rehabilitate animals from cruelty, hoarding, and dogfighting cases, as well as pets rescued from natural disasters. In addition to writing for the ASPCA’s Virtual Pet Behaviorist and other publications, she helped create and present several very popular webinars on dog and cat behavior and handling for the ASPCA Pro website.

When she is not traveling around educating animal professionals, she lives at her farm, Pibble Hill in Asheville, NC, with a host of very cool animals including her (famous) pitbull Theodore, and sees clients through her consulting business, McMillan Animal Behavior. She is also Vice President of Behavior and Training with Instinct Dog Behavior & Training. Also, check out Pibble Hill and Pibbling with Theodore on Facebook (I misspelled this in the episode). I promise you’re missing out if you aren’t following her.

Play Bows and Visual Perception with Dr. Sarah Byosiere Mar 05, 2020

Show notes

Today’s episode is “Play Bows and Visual Perception”, with Dr. Sarah Byosiere. This is a fun one, and the discussion will help you understand the function and evolution of your dog’s play bows, and how your dog visually sees the worlds.

Guest Bio:

Dr. Sarah Byosiere is the Director of the Thinking Dog Center at CUNY Hunter College where she focuses on studying the behavior and cognition of domestic dogs and other canids. Dr. Byosiere began her career at the University of Michigan where she studied the function of the play bow in adult pet dogs throughout her undergraduate and master’s degrees. She has worked as a research assistant for various canine cognition and behavior research groups including the Duke Canine Cognition Center, the Clever Dog Lab and the Wolf Science Center. Dr. Byosiere earned her PhD at La Trobe University in Australia under the supervision of Dr. Pauleen Bennett and the Anthrozoology Research Group. Her dissertation focused on evaluating whether or not dogs are susceptible to visual illusions. More recently at the Thinking Dog Center, her work has expanded to include applied research topics, including dog training methodologies and sheltering practices, and was my thesis advisor for my master’s degree. Dr. Byosiere has published her research in peer-reviewed scientific journals, presented her findings at conferences, and has been featured on NPR’s Science Friday, The New York Daily News, Gizmodo, and CuriosityStream.
References:
Dr. Byosiere's Play Bow Studies: https://www.researchgate.net/project/The-Function-of-Play-Bows-in-Canids

Dr. Byosiere's Visual Perception Studies: https://www.researchgate.net/project/Visual-Perception-in-Dogs

Making Sense of Smell with Jessica Schulte Feb 18, 2020

Show notes

Today’s episode is “Making Sense of Smell” with our guest, Jessica Schulte. It’s a fascinating conversation about how this superhuman ability informs the ways in which our dogs perceive, navigate, and understand the world around them. It also provides insight into the value of adding structured or competitive nosework into your dog’s routine.
Our Guest:

Jessica is a certified dog behavior consultant and a certified professional dog trainer and is one of the first Nose Work instructors certified on the East Coast and has been teaching Nose Work classes for over a decade. She has been the Odor Recognition Test National Coordinator for the NACSW, as well as the editor for the NACSW newsletter.

She is also a Certifying Official, and also a licensed AKC Scent Work judge, approved to judge all levels and classes for AKC Scent Work trials.

Jessica competes with her own dog, Trix, in K9 Nose Work where they compete at the elite level. They also compete in Rally, Rally Free, and Freestyle. Jessica works with Instinct Dog Training and Behavior in NYC teaching manners, obedience, and solving behavioral issues for dogs and their people.

Episode References:

J.E. Hayes, P.D. McGreevy, S.L. Forbes, G. Laing, R.M. Stuetz, Critical review of dog detection and the influences of physiology, training, and analytical methodologies, Talanta, Volume 185, 2018, Pages 499-512, ISSN 0039-9140,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2018.04.010.

A. Kerepesi, G.K. Jonsson, A. Miklosi, J. Topal, V. Csanyi, M.S. Magnusson, Detection of temporal patterns in dog-human interaction, Behav. Process. 70 (1) (2005) 69–79.

C. Mariti, E. Ricci, B. Carlone, J.L. Moore, C. Sighieri, A. Gazzano, Dog attachment
to man: a comparison between pet and working dogs, J. Vet. Behav. 8 (3) (2013) 135–145.(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039914018303552)

Horowitz, A., Hecht, J., & Dedrick, A. (2013). Smelling more or less: Investigating the olfactory experience of the domestic dog. Learning And Motivation, 44(4), 207-217. doi:10.1016/j.lmot.2013.02.002

I. Gazit, A. Goldblatt, J. Terkel, The role of context specificity in learning: the
effects of training context on explosives detection in dogs, Anim. Cogn. 8 (3)
(2005) 143–150. [108] G. Lupfer-Johnson,

L. Lit, J.B. Schweitzer, A.M. Oberbauer, Handler beliefs affect scent detection dog outcomes, Anim. Cogn. 14 (3) (2011) 387–394.

D. Lefebvre, C. Diederich, M. Delcourt, J.-M. Giffroy, The quality of the relation between handler and military dogs influences efficiency and welfare of dogs, Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 104 (1–2) (2007) 49–60.

Dr. Alexandra Horowitz Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/alexandra_horowitz_how_do_dogs_see_with_their_noses?language=en

PBS Nova: https://www.ted.com/talks/alexandra_horowitz_how_do_dogs_see_with_their_noses?language=en

Dog Field Study (The Art of the Walk): http://www.dogfieldstudy.com/en/pulse-study/at-the-heart-of-the-walk

Instinct Dog Behavior & Training (To Sniff or Not to Sniff): https://www.instinctdogtraining.com/sniff-not-sniff-dog-follow-nose/

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