There’s an important tool to help in the fight against puppy mill puppies sold through pet stores: They’re more likely to be aggressive with their owners, strangers and other dogs. They’re also more fearful and suffer more from separation anxiety. In a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association and led… Learn More

How do you approach your shy foster dog for the first time? And how can you prepare your family for when you bring the dog home? Knowing how to handle these situations can go a long way toward setting your foster dog up for success — and that’s exactly what you’ll learn in our new… Learn More

Are there dogs in your shelter or rescue who you honestly think can’t be adopted because of behavior problems? There might be a simple solution — and if it works for them, they’ll have a dog named Patty to thank. Kristen Auerbach, Deputy Chief Animal Services Officer at the Austin Animal Center, told Patty’s story… Learn More

By now you’ve probably seen the research showing dogs in shelters are quieter when they’re listening to soft rock, reggae, and (at least for short periods) classical music. You may have seen programs where children come in and read to shelter dogs. So here’s the question: Do dogs like listening to audiobooks? The answer is… Learn More

Most of us know dogs put a lot of store in how things smell, their noses are legendary for their sniffing ability. It’s not as widely known that the smells in a cat’s environment are a critical part of what makes a cat feel safe and free of stress, whether the cat is living in… Learn More

Problems related to urinating and defecating outside the litter box and living with more than one cat are among the top reasons people surrender cats to a shelter. Is that worse for cats who have been declawed? The average number of cats per cat-owning household is 2, indicating that multi-cat households are very common in… Learn More

Can something as simple as more frequent cleaning of food bowls and changing of water in a shelter cat’s housing get them adopted more quickly? A study soon to be published in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science suggests that it is. The study was conducted in Austria, where it’s illegal for shelters to… Learn More

Mary Kennedy Withrow, a staffer at the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, arrived at the shelter recently and found a woman standing outside with a gorgeous German Shepherd. She said she had found the dog running down her street, and wanted to have her scanned. “I would have kept her, but my other dog didn’t seem… Learn More

In 2009, veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker attended a presentation where veterinary behaviorist Dr. Karen Overall said something that changed his life: “Fear is the worst thing a social species can experience, and it causes permanent damage to the brain.” “I’d always thought of myself as a particularly compassionate veterinarian,” he said. “I had been exposed… Learn More

Shelter cats are happier, more playful, friendlier with each other, and less stressed when they have more room — 4 square meters, or 43 square feet, per cat, to be precise. In a study published in the June 2016 issue of Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Swedish researchers tested the play, mutual grooming, and inter-cat aggressiveness… Learn More