The Pawsitive Post in Conversation by Companion Animal Psychology

Zazie Todd PhD and Kristi Benson CTC
  • 4.1 (10)
  • Pets & Animals
  • Updated Monthly

The show about how to have a better relationship with your dog or cat. Get tips on dog training, dog behaviour, cat behaviour and training, learn about the science on dogs and cats, and find out which books we're reading (animal-related and more generally). Kind, humane, reward-based training methods only. Hosted by Zazie Todd PhD and Kristi Benson CTC of Companion Animal Psychology blog. Made in Canada.

  1. 1d ago

    Love in Their Hearts and compassion for animals with Marc Bekoff, PhD

    Leave us a voicemail! Marc Bekoff, PhD, joins Zazie and Kristi to talk about his new book Love in Their Hearts, his work (and upcoming book) with Jane Goodall, and what it's like studying canids. We talked about: Why Marc and his co-author Jeff Campbell wrote Love In Their HeartsThe time Marc's dog Jethro rescued a baby bunny, and stories of the grizzly bear known as 399The importance of naming animalsMarc's research on dogs, wolves, coyotes, and foxes, and how his work replaced theories of dominance leading to the dissolution of litters in the wildHow animals tell storiesMarc's work with Jane Goodall, how he first heard of her, and how she influenced his workThe educator's kit that goes with Love In Their Hearts and how it can inspire hope and activism in young readersThe book Marc recommended is Knowing Wonder: An Elephant Story by Merrill Sapp illustrated by Gareth Hooks. You can read Marc's interview with Merrill Sapp here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202412/an-elephants-world-from-the-mind-and-heart-of-a-matriarch Love In Their Hearts: A Celebration of Animal Emotions and a Guide to Compassionate Action is by Marc Bekoff and Jeff Campbell. Every Elephant Has a Name by Jane Goodall and Marc Bekoff illustrated by Gavin Scott will be published on Feb 8, 2027. Marc Bekoff will be at Bark! Fest to talk about Love In Their Hearts on Sep 23, joining Alison Pearce Stevens (Detective Dogs). Sign up here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1317856369316/WN_QnjJGASbSvyWmpRL-mp1lQ Find out more about Bark! Fest and sign up for the other events at companionanimalpsychology.com Marc Bekoff is professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has won many awards for his research and writing, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Exemplar Award from the Animal Behavior Society. He writes regularly for Psychology Today and has published more than thirty books, including The Emotional Lives of Animals and numerous scientific and popular essays. Visit marcbekoff.com to learn more. Find Marc's Psych Today blog here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions Support the show About the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website  Facebook   Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.  Instagram  BlueSky

  2. Jul 21

    Setting standards in dog training and animal behaviour with Fiona Cooke of the ABTC

    Leave us a voicemail! How can we set and maintain standards for dog training and animal behaviour? Zazie and Kristi are joined by Fiona Cooke, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Animal Behaviour and Training Council to learn all about their important work in the UK, and what anyone can do if they want to make a difference. We talked about: What the ABTC doesWhy it's so important to follow a compassionate, non-punitive approach in training and animal behaviourThe wide range of organizations who are part of the ABTC (and how they represent people who work with dogs, cats, horses, and exotics)The benefits of being on the ABTC register for practitioners in the UK, and how the public can use it to find a good trainer or behaviouristWe get a sneak peek of what the ABTC is working on right nowThe importance of collaboration and how people can increase awareness of the ABTC and support their workWe get Fiona's tips on what people can do to make a differenceAnd finally we find out what Fiona's been reading, which turns out to include an instruction booklet for building a wardrobe! The books Fiona recommends are The Secret Hour by Mick Herron and also his Slough House series, of which the first is Slow Horses. The Animal Behaviour and Training Council sets and maintains standards of knowledge and practical skills needed to be an animal trainer, training instructor or animal behaviour therapist and maintains the national Register of appropriately assessed practitioners. ABTC members include major animal welfare charities, organisations concerned with human-animal interactions, educational institutions and membership organisations for practitioners. The Council represents the training and behaviour sector to the public and to governments. Visit the ABTC website: https://abtc.org.uk/ Sponsor the ABTC: https://abtc.org.uk/sponsors/ ABTC merch: https://shop.abtc.org.uk/ Fiona Cooke is Chair of the ABTC Board of Trustees. She is Head of Specialist Services (vet, behaviour, training and research) at Woodgreen Pets Charity. Her PhD focused on the role of local government in the implementation and enforcement of animal welfare legislation. She is a lecturer in law and runs an animal behaviour company working with complex behavioural issues of dogs and cats. Fiona is a full member of the APBC and FABC as well as an ABTC registered CAB. Support the show About the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website  Facebook   Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.  Instagram  BlueSky

  3. Jul 7

    Can your dog tell if you're pregnant and smell if you're stressed? with Dr. Catherine Reeve

    Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi chat with scientist Dr. Catherine Reeve about her research to find out whether dogs change their behaviour when their owner is pregnant and if they can use their noses to detect when someone is stressed. We talked about: The survey that investigated whether women think their dog's behaviour changed when they were pregnantThe kinds of dogs that were most likely to show changesHow the scientists got scent samples from people who were stressedThe training to teach dogs to alert to the scentHow well the dogs did at the taskThe implications for ordinary dog guardiansThe papers we talked about are: Dog owners’ perceptions of their dog’s behaviour during pregnancy https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08927936.2025.2502241Dogs can discriminate between human baseline and psychological stress condition odours https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0274143The books Catherine recommended are The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry and The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica. Also mentioned: Earlier episodes on surveys and understanding research (Ep61), and on dogs and scent work (Ep56 with Melissa McCue-McGrath; Ep 46 with Bonnie Hartney; Ep35 with Kim Cooper and Cat Warren). Dr. Catherine Reeve is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Mount Saint Vincent University. She has a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Dalhousie University. She’s interested in applied canine behaviour, canine cognition, especially olfaction, and human-animal interaction. And she’s the head trainer at Epic Tails Canine Adventures in Halifax, Nova Scotia. University website: https://www.msvu.ca/academics/bachelor-of-science-bsc/psychology/faculty-and-staff/dr-catherine-reeve/ Epic Tails Canine Adventures: https://epic-tails.ca/ Support the show About the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website  Facebook   Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.  Instagram  BlueSky

  4. Jun 23

    How to evaluate the scientific research on dogs and cats: A guide

    Leave us a voicemail! New research on dogs and cats helps us to understand them better and give them better lives. But how do we know if the research is any good, and what about our feelings about the results? Zazie and Kristi chat about how to evaluate the science. We talk about: Taking an ethical stance on dogs and cats that recognizes that they are sentient beingsHow it can be tricky to assess research if you're not trained as a scientistThe research on training methods shows risks to using aversives and that it's much better to only use reward-based training methodsWhy we look for more than one study to teach us somethingWe consider different types of research, including the value of questionnaire studies and of experimentsWhat a meta-analysis isHow it can feel emotional if you don't like the results of a particular studyPeople's willingness to take part in researchA re-evaluation of a classic study on spanking children that is relevant to the discussionAnd finally we talk about the books we're reading The books we recommend this time are: People, Places, Things by Chuck PalahniukNew Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe by Julie Haworth Also mentioned is Zazie's post about a literature review on dog training methods: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2017/04/new-literature-review-recommends-reward.html Support the show About the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website  Facebook   Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.  Instagram  BlueSky

  5. Jun 9

    Resource guarding in dogs: What to do about it with Jean Donaldson

    Leave us a voicemail! Jean Donaldson has just published a new edition of her book Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs. If you have a dog who guards food, objects, people, or locations, you need this book! Jean joins Zazie and Kristi to discuss what to do if your dog guards food, locations, or other resources. We talk about: Why it was time for a new edition of Mine! and what it was like to write itHow to decide if your dog needs a regular training plan or a more incremental one to resolve their guarding behaviourWhy it's a myth that you should be able to take your dog's food away from themHow we can add food to puppies' bowls to help prevent food guardingWhy there's not really anything wrong with the personality of a dog who guards resourcesThe other behaviour issues that sometimes accompany guarding behaviourWhat it means to be "warmed up" or "cold" in a dog training planWhy dog trainers like the spicy dogsThe Olde English Sheepdog who was a bit of a challengeGuarding behaviour in Jean's dog Buffy and Kristi's dogs Archer and SoleilWhen to hire a dog trainer to help with resource guardingThe book Jean recommended to us is The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Kastor. To be the first to learn about Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers, sign up to the Companion Animal Psychology newsletter. Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs by Jean Donaldson is available wherever books are sold. Jean Donaldson is one of the world's top dog trainers, founder of the Academy for Dog Trainers, and author of the seminal book Culture Clash, which was named number one training and behaviour book by The Association of Pet Dog Trainers. In 2017, Jean authored and instructed Dog Training 101 for The Great Courses, another wonderful resource for dog guardians. Her most recent book is the second edition of Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs. Follow Jean at the Academy for Dog Trainers: Website: https://academyfordogtrainers.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AcademyforDogTrainers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/academy4dogtrainers/?hl=en You might also like: Understanding resource guarding in dogs and how to fix it with Lisa Skavienski  Support the show About the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website  Facebook   Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.  Instagram  BlueSky

  6. May 26

    Why children should Ask the Dog if they want to be petted with Steve Dale

    Leave us a voicemail! Kids are routinely taught to ask a dog's owner before petting the dog. Today, radio host Steve Dale joins us to talk about how they should also find out if the dog wants to be petted or not. We learn about Steve's new children's book, Ask the Dog, which is a fun story with an important message, and we also talk about some good news in cat health. We talked about: Why Steve wrote the bookThe importance of preventing dog bites, and why children are especially at riskWhy children should learn to ask the dogHow the relationship between dogs and children has changed over the yearsWhat it was like working with an illustrator for the bookThe work of the EveryCat Health Foundation and their research on taurine in cat food, FIP, diabetes, and heart diseaseHow research on cat health has also benefited human healthAlso mentioned: The EveryCat Health Foundation is at everycat.orgTheater of the Mind created by David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar is at the Goodman Theater in Chicago through August 30 2026 https://theaterofthemindchicago.com/Steve Dale's interview with David Byrne https://stevedalepetworld.com/blog/conversation-with-david-byrne-booth-46/The book Steve recommended is Bicycle Diaries by David ByrneAsk the Dog by Steve Dale, illustrated by Shelby Koehler, is available wherever books are sold. Steve Dale is a certified animal behavior consultant, a radio host, and his show Steve Dale’s Pet World is essential listening for everyone who loves pets. He co-edited Decoding Your Dog, written by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, and has written and contributed to many other books. Ask the Dog is his first children's book. Steve is the host of Steve Dale's Pet World on WGN radio and also hosts a Sunday afternoon talk show at WGN radio.  Learn more about Steve and sign up for his newsletter at stevedale.tv. Support the show About the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website  Facebook   Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.  Instagram  BlueSky

  7. May 12

    Dogs and cats, breeds and behaviour: Quick questions

    Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi ask each other rapid fire questions about dogs and cats, breeds and behaviour. But in this game of this or that, we also discuss the answers, illuminating ideas about training and enrichment. By the end of the show, you'll know Zazie and Kristi a lot better, but you'll also have learned something about dogs and cats. As you listen, be sure to shout out your answers too! Or you can leave us a voicemail and let us know. Do you have any this-or-that questions that you would like us to answer? Send them in! At the end of the episode, we discuss the books we've been reading: Detective Aunty by Uzma JalaluddinCrier's War by Nina VarelaSupport the show About the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website  Facebook   Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.  Instagram  BlueSky

  8. Apr 28

    Why we should love the beasties with Dr. Jo Wimpenny

    Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi chat with Dr. Jo Wimpenny, author of Beauty of the Beasts, to learn more about wasps, mosquitoes, vultures, sharks, and other unloved animals. We talk about:- why Jo wanted to write about the beastieshow everything is connectedthe value of wasps and mosquitoes to the ecosystemhow sharks are not necessarily out to get people (even if sometimes they are)whether some animals are over-ratedwhich animal Jo most loved writing aboutand finally Jo told us which book she's been reading. Beauty of the Beasts: Rethinking Nature's Least Loved Animals is available wherever books are sold. The book Jo recommended to us is The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay. Previous episodes with Jo: The Holiday Special 2025 (Ep48)Animal minds and our favourite fables (Ep15) Also mentioned: Kristi's blog post on making a living in the world. Jo Wimpenny is a zoologist and writer, with a research background in animal behaviour and the history of science. She studied Zoology at the University of Bristol, and went on to research problem-solving in crows for her DPhil at Oxford University. She’s the author of Aesop’s Animals, which we’ve talked about with her before, and her new book which is just out now is Beauty of the Beasts: Rethinking Nature’s Least Loved Animals. Jo's website: https://jowimpenny.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jowimpenny/ Support the show About the co-hosts: Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist. Kristi Benson's website  Facebook   Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.  Instagram  BlueSky

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4.1
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

The show about how to have a better relationship with your dog or cat. Get tips on dog training, dog behaviour, cat behaviour and training, learn about the science on dogs and cats, and find out which books we're reading (animal-related and more generally). Kind, humane, reward-based training methods only. Hosted by Zazie Todd PhD and Kristi Benson CTC of Companion Animal Psychology blog. Made in Canada.

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