What Makes You Click?

In this final episode we look back with Becky and Craig on their personal pet behaviour Odyssey and how far they have come. They share the insights they have gained and how this has helped to built their relationship. They discuss the many positives of the journey but also the challenges they met on the way. Every client is an individual and every case is a unique  learning opportunity for us as c...

When we ask clients to do something it is important that we support them throughout the process. What a client needs at this time is not the same as what they need to encourage initial action. At this time things like reinforcement for progress, become particularly important, as do helpful relationships that support the change process.  Again this is something that is perhaps not as widely appreci...

Individualising treatment for a given client and their pet is essential and so we have to go beyond the theoretical techniques used in human and animal behaviour modification. In the last episode we looked at the COM-B model of human behaviour change. COM-B stands for Capability, Opportunities and Motivations underpinning human Behaviour change. We also introduced the Theoretical Domains, like an...

In this episode we  talk about the process of implementing treatment. In particular we discuss the less often discussed issue of human behaviour change, with a  focus on how we consider the underpinning capability, opportunities and motivation of a client to enable more effective change. We introduce the theoretical domains framework. This is a synthesis of lots of different evidence based approac...

Separation related problems are commonly misunderstood, and the term separation anxiety is an unhelpful misnomer. Indeed our scientific understanding of separation related problems is rapidly being revised in light of new research. It is now clear there are four common forms of the condition, which represent different responses to the frustration that arises when a pet is left at home. These are t...

In the previous episode, we explored Becky and Craig's initial experience of seeking help for Drax, the challenges with finding a professional service and the strain associated with having a loved one with behavioural issues.  In this episode, we  look at  how we tend to structure our pet behaviour service, especially with regards to identifying where clients are in relation to what is known...

In this episode we pick up from where we finished Episode 1. We discuss in more detail the minefield that is the unregulated fields of animal training and behaviour. We explore Becky's and Craig's experience of seeking help from various sources for the behaviours that Drax was exhibiting. We discuss how things progressed; but more importantly, how they each felt on this part of their Ody...

Episode 1: Welcoming a dog into your life – the Odyssey begins In this episode we introduce you to Becky, Craig and Drax.  We find out how Drax came into Becky's and Craig's life, including the emotional background that so often underpins the decision to acquire a pet. We discuss their love and joy with Drax during these early days in their home, before they felt that things were not tur...

Find out more about the new spodcast series eries Pet behaviour odysseys  exploring the experience of having a problem pet, focusing especially on the client’s experience. The series is hosted by myself, Daniel Mills, Professor of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine at the University of Lincoln,  and my colleague at the Lincoln Animal Behaviour Clinic, Clinical Animal Behaviourist, MillyJones. Each we...

Pet behaviour odysseys is a podcast series exploring the experience of having a problem pet, focusing especially on the client’s experience. Each week myself, Daniel Mills and my colleague at the Lincoln Animal Behaviour Clinic, MillyJones, are joined by a family who have been on the pet behaviour odyssey.  The current eight part series is dedicated to the journey associated with an adorable littl...

In this episode I get to chat with longstanding friend, journalist and best selling cat author, Celia Haddon, with whom I have recently co-authored my latest book "Being your cat - what's really going on in your feline's mind" (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Your-Cat-Inside-Felines/dp/178840405X/ref=monarch_sidesheet). I learn that trying to interview a journalist is not an eas...

Bob Cook is a pioneering equine veterinarian and emeritus professor at Tufts University, working in the field of ear, nose and throat medicine, who has championed a reconsideration of how we interact and communicate with horses. In his career he has identified many performance and medical problems which he was the first to attribute to the use of the bit. I got to know Bob, through his work on hea...

I catch up with Turid Rugaas, who I first met at a conference at Cambridge, where she introduced her ideas on calming signals and reading dogs to many people in the UK for the first time. I immediately got where she was coming from, unlike some of the audience, as we both remember. We get to chat here about her early life (with horses) but also the issue of control, and our shared concern over wha...

In this episode I chat to long standing friend Debbie Horwitz. It is very informal and just like old times. needless to say we chat about cats (mainly our own cats) but also dogs. Debbie has one of the most amazing videos that she leant me  a long time ago, of a dog showing a sequence of signals before airsnapping in front of the technician who is ignorign all the other signals. I have taught so m...

I finally got to catch up and chat withKersti, who is a veterinary behaviourist certified in Australia, UK and North America. So she really does see the field from many perspectives.  For her MSc she did a pivotal study which looked at what puppies actually gain from socialisation classes. We discussed this and other things when we caught up. Please don't forget to subscribe to be kept inform...

A book that anyone with an interest in companion animal including horse behaviour should read is "beware the straw man". In my latest podcast I get to catch up with its author Linda Case - The Science Dog. A terrific communicator of science, who has a wonderful way of highlighting how we need to think about the various bits of science coming out. She has a particular passion for nutritio...

Pilley Bianchi, also known as Debbie Pilley, is the daughter of the late John Pilley, the Psychology Professor who owned  Chaser, the dog with the largest vocabulary of any dog ever recorded. In this episode, we catch up to chat about her life with both of these characters and her thoughts about their legacy, alongside her own own insights into how animals learn.  We  discuss  both of our experien...

In this episode I  chat with pioneering behaviourist and advocate for professional  standards in clinical animal behaviour David Appleby. We talk about his early experience with the RAF and Guide Dogs for the Blind before he moved into managing problem behaviour, his work on effect of early experience on later behaviour and separation related problems. Needless to say, given his role in leading th...

In this episode, I get to catch up with best selling author and canine psychologist Alexandra Horowitz. Famous for her research on the guilty look and olfactory mirror test in dogs amongst other things, we discuss this work further and her new book.  Alexandra  has long been interested in understanding the umwelt (the personal perspective) of other animals,  and like her book, she tries to discove...

In this episode I get to chat to someone I have always considered a deep thinker on human animal relationships and anthrozoology. I have often described him as  "healthy sceptic" of the reported claims concerning the impact of pets on people., but he is also a leading figure in highlighting are moral ambiguities towards animals. Some may find the content of this podcast challenging, but...

In this episode I get to chat with pioneer in HAI and visiting professor at Lincoln, Dr Sandra McCune.  Sandra qualified as a registered veterinary nurse (Royal College of Veterinary Nursing) in Dublin before completing a degree in zoology from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. She has a PhD in animal behaviour and welfare from the University of Cambridge, U.K. She has studied a range of companion...

In this chat I catch up with French veterinarian and behaviour scientist Patrick Pageat. Patrick is the father of pheromonatherapy, being the person who developed the first commercial pheromone products for companion animals (Feliway and Adaptil). He is also the originator of what has become known as the "French" approach to clinical animal behaviour and in this chat discusses how it cam...

In this episode I get to catch up with Kendal Shepherd, who has created a range of resources to help reduce the risk of conflict between dogs and humans of all ages. Kendal has a remarkable ability to simplify complex ideas to make them more accessible. She is also a leading expert witness in cases involving dog injuries and the Dangerous Dogs Act. #petbehaviourodysseys, #whatmakesyouclick #PBO

In this episode I get to catch up with my former tutor at Bristol, Prof Christine Nicol. She discusses how nerve-wracking it was to start out at Bristol, but how she came to lead the development of perhaps the biggest animal welfare group in the world. We discuss ethical and practical issues concerning animal welfare research and its communication to a wider audience (Would you eat an alien?);  al...

I have known Don for many years, indeed he was my PhD examiner, and we had great discussion then! He was the first professor of Animal Welfare in the world - a truly amazing pioneer. Always thoughtful and thought-provoking. We discuss his early career and influences, the emergence of animal welfare as a scientific field, as well as how he has got interested in the evolution of morality and religio...