Rethinking Dog Research

In the not so distant past, people who focused upon domestic dogs as their favorite subject for academic research were viewed by the overarching animal behavior community as crazy dog lovers who were barking up the wrong tree. 

Okay, that is an exaggeration; I guess I was more referring to myself, back in the day, as a dog-obsessed, self-proclaimed dog trainer lacking an academic degree. The scientific literature pertaining to man’s best friend was out there; it just wasn't easy to find, and that reinforced my sense of loneliness and insignificance as one who desired to study, not just boss around or snuggle, dogs.

While investigating these matters, despite my fervent desire to see published dog behavior research juxtapose a breath of scientific reason into the library of entirely anecdotally-based dog nonfiction in my town's public library, I did not yet have a high school diploma (dropped out; long story). I was not in a position to break the ice and begin filling the void with accessible scholarly insights into the canine mind.

Luckily, other, more studious, disciplined individuals kept their noses to the academic grindstone and forged their way into just what was needed; modern scientific dog behavior research. Yea! This seems to have really caught on, along with the pet dog's rise from sort-of-subject status as a "pet" to family member/ surrogate child in most developed nations. Now universities around the world are rising to the occasion (and the more readily available grant money?), popping up with canine cognition laboratories where they perform dog studies and then publish their experiments and results.

Here are some awesome examples (I’d work for any of them if they begged me to). This list was put together by Julie Hecht and shared by Patricia McConnell on her blog:

Canine Cognition Research Groups 

Once lumped with the likes of snake charmers and dog whisperers, dog behavior researchers are becoming the rock stars of the animal behavior field. They get to interact with their subjects, and sometimes even engage with them in fun games posing as exciting experiments. They give Tedtalks and present lectures the public (nonacademic) actually care about; they get to publish crossover books that enlighten the average pet owner about the underpinnings of their research subjects, and people actually buy their books. (How many fairy wren researchers can say that!?)

Doing good animal behavior science requires respect for boundaries and a desire not to corrupt or compromise results. Besides being the way science is done right, perhaps this is because anthropocentrism is so attractive and full of whimsy. Despite the attraction to animals as not-quite-Others (“you are just like me!”), when people directly interact with nonhuman beings, things generally get weird/ bad. Applied behavior work with animals used to mean things like taming tigers for circus acts. 

My thoughts turn to a man named Roy, getting dragged away to a Las Vegas tiger’s den for snack time. According to Roy, in interviews from his near-death bed, this tiger, Mantecore, had purely altruistic, loving, “motherly” intentions; he simply wanted to extract Roy from the stress of the stage, the lights, and the thousands of staring audience members’ eyes, to whisk him away by the jugular—er, scruff of the neck—to “protect” him. According to Roy, Mantecore severed his artery as a deliberate, protective act of bloodletting, to relieve his brain of dangerously-building blood pressure. Stuff like this may impact the researcher contemplating the study of dog behavior as a hands-on science. On the one side, it sounds like fun: puppies! But then again it could also induce scientist-shame: interaction = meddling! Nobody wants to be the academic Roy.

But wait, there’s more! In this case, where we actually live with companion dogs in shared environments, academic meddling in the name of research is part of the bigger behavior-analysis picture. We NEED to be involved, in order to understand the ways dogs are impacted by, and respond to, us… so yes, PUPPIES!

Dog behavior researchers get to jump into the attractive gap between human kind and nonhuman others--that anthrozoological boundary area where most animal behavior research demurely, respectfully peers through a self effacing one-way mirror, or, where it looks for the deleterious impacts of us upon them. Dog behavior studies allow the researcher to (in a controlled manner) tear the membrane, step in, and engage with subjects in full, species-specific awareness of one another. They engage with their subjects (or have their assistants engage with their subjects) in search of understanding domestic dog behaviors and ways of responding to  human beings and the shared environment. The dog researcher basically is rewarded for getting right up into the nonhuman side of the anthrozoological divide, while still holding a position of academic respectability.

Despite getting to roll around with the puppies while enjoying the guilt-free leap into the limelight of academic acceptance and—dare I say it?—credibility, might empirical dog studies still get inadvertently bogged down by a muddy line drawn in the shape of a heart? People share a bond with dogs that transcends the feelings generated by bees, fairy wrens, and other creatures of interest to the animal behavior researcher. We name dogs (and occasionally tigers), consider them friends, and many of us sleep with them when we are not at work studying them; we care for, and accept care from, dogs. Does this set the stage for confirmation bias? If so, I guess confirmation bias in companion animal research is yet another area of study just waiting to be explored!

All of this thinking/ rethinking aloud has served to make my mind up; its time to start a dog behavior research program! 

Now accepting volunteers with all of the following: 

• PhD in a related field
• Access to an illustrious academic institution with an awesome lab
• Must love dogs
• Lack of distracting, competing animal behavior research interest specific to tigers or other animals that tend to eat people

What do you think?

So far, this blog has just been me, me, me. Now I need to invite you to take a shot and share some of your insights into the human-nonhuman animal intersection, from whatever perspective you fancy. Obviously, I talk a lot about dogs, because that's my thing with work. In my personal life, I find every life fascinating.

How do you merge and converge with the other living beings that we share this planet with, either personally, professionally, or both? What do you think about?

Original art by Danny Coeyman

Time to Get Writing!

ASI-WAS Undergraduate Prize

The Animals and Society Institute (ASI) and Wesleyan Animal Studies (WAS) offer an annual prize for undergraduate students who have written papers in Human-Animal Studies.

According to information published on the Animals and Society website, http://www.animalsandsociety.org,  

ASI and WAS offer a prize to an outstanding, original theoretical or empirical scholarly work that advances the field of human-animal studies. Papers can come from any undergraduate discipline in the humanities, social sciences or natural sciences, and must be between 4,000-7,000 words long, including abstract and references. The winning paper will be published in Society & Animals, an interdisciplinary journal that publishes articles describing and analyzing experiences of and with non-human animals. Topics can include human-animal interactions in various settings (animal cruelty, the therapeutic uses of animals), the applied uses of animals (research, education, medicine and agriculture), the use of animals in popular culture (e.g. dog-fighting, circus, animal companion, animal research), attitudes toward animals as affected by different socializing agencies and strategies, representations of animals in literature, the history of the domestication of animals, the politics of animal welfare, and the constitution of the animal rights movement.

Applicants must be currently enrolled on a full or part-time basis in an academic program at a college or university, or have graduated from a college or university within the 12 months of the application.  Papers are accepted on August 1 each year. 

Read more about the ASI-WAS Undergraduate Prize here: 
http://www.animalsandsociety.org/pages/asi-was-undergraduate-prize

Help Wanted: Anthrozoology Professors!

For this new school to truly get up and running, the first order of priority is to wrangle some anthrozoology professors. I need some savvy sorts from several different academic disciplines to hustle on in and start offering up some inspiring, thought-provoking anthrozoology instruction! 

According to Dr. Jo Swabe, from the now defunct Humans and Other Animals website:

"In reality, there is little homogeneity in anthrozoological research, certainly as far as disciplinary approach, methodology and theory is concerned. The academic backgrounds of anthrozoological researchers can be extremely varied. There are, for example, social scientists, psychologists, zoologists, ethologists, historians, philosophers, veterinarians and even physicians studying the human-animal relationship."

That certainly opens the door to a whole slough of volunteers! We (just two so far) homeschoolers are ever so open-minded, eager to learn and just waiting for you to open doors otherwise closed to us :'(

I imagine there are many of you out there, chock-full of knowledge, thoughts and valuable insights, ready to inspire ground-breaking homeschool grad school research! Think of all of the papers that might otherwise never get published, if not for your answer to the higher calling of giving your time away :'( 

Conflict of interest, you say? Pshaw!  Sign up now, and get your sign-on bonus as well as guaranteed tenure (provided we like you).

Submit your CV by clicking this link:
Homeschool Grad School Anthrozoology Professor Application

He Barks, She Barks, It Barks: The assignment of gendered stereotypes to neutered pet dogs

            Following on the heels of my last post and specifically my childhood dismay at discovering Lassie was actually portrayed by a series of male dog actors, I suggest the re-gendering of neutered dogs as a fascinating human-animal, conflict-related, anthrozoology research topic. The pet dog is a unique boundary category that often serves as a blank canvas upon which human owners assign meaning and expectation, sometimes in conflict with the biological reality of the species. The conflict aspect of neutering, and later reassigning stereotyped gender, to pet dogs may not seem immediately apparent; dogs have no “say” in whether or not they will be de-sexed, or re-sexed, for the sake of more harmonious cohabitation amongst humans. One might argue dogs are not cognizant of the neutering procedure or its after effects; and I am not arguing for pet dogs to suddenly be liberated or allowed to run amuck in intact sexual abandon. What I am interested in is human perceptions of, and responses to, dog sexes both before and after surgical sterilization.

            Launching off my daughter/ research partner Monica’s areas of research interest, I find it curious that people purchase dogs as commodified animals, but then immediately after their purchases many elevate their pets to the social status of beloved, gendered, family members, even claiming to view them as surrogate male or female “fur-kids.” As these pet-owner identified  canine “children” reach their teen years and begin showing signs of puberty or sexual maturity, their "personhood" may again be temporarily suspended—at least long enough for their owners to have them surgically altered.

            In my professional experience as a dog behavioral trainer, elective surgical neutering of companion dogs is generally argued to be warranted as an act of population control; however it also seems to frequently be motivated by peoples' expectations for post-operative behavioral changes. My clients have cited anticipation of neutering-mitigated behavioral changes including reductions in perceived sexually driven behaviors such as “urine marking,” "roaming," “aggression,” "humping," and "spotting" (from females in estrus.)

            Once dogs have been "neutered," many pet owners reassign the status of gendered personhood to their pets, evidenced by purchases of stereotypical male and female dog "clothing" and equipment in either frilly, sparkly, prissy, "feminine"--or bold, clean-lined, "masculine"--colors, prints and designs. One of the more extreme products available for the regendering of neutered male dogs is "Neuticles"--prosthetic testicles for post-castration implantation in vacated dog scrotums. I am not making this up.

            I would like to conduct research specific to peoples’ perceptions of dog sexes and behavioral expectations both before and after surgical sterilization. My hope is that this research might include interviews with pet owners who have had their dogs implanted with a set of Neuticles, to explore whether quality of life is improved for either the masculinity-enhanced dog or his human family members.

            If any of my imaginary readers would like to join Monica and me in this research, or if any bored Anthrozoology professors would like to sign up to mentor us and guide our homeschool grad school research, please get in touch!

Anthrozoology Drop-Out :(

So, quite recently I was an Anthrozoology graduate-student-to-be, proudly but anxiously enrolled at Canisius College. This only lasted for a week or so...because I dropped out before classes ever began.

I was also a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Continuing Scholar Graduate Award recipient for a few weeks as well...but I dropped that, too.

I do not feel good about my decisions at the moment, but a couple of months ago, on the heels of graduating with a bachelor of arts degree from North Central College in...what else?...Anthrozoology!...I became completely overwhelmed and exhausted, and sadly, just saying no seemed like a solid idea.

Now I am feeling some regret.

I balked at the thought of writing one more paper, added to the existing load of a disabled daughter, a house under construction, a husband about to undergo surgery, a fifteen year old son on high school swim team, a dog training business to run, and a brand new litter of German Shepherd puppies born two days before my graduation, well...yeah. I was pretty overwhelmed. And I have no vices to fall back on, to aid coping during those tough times that seem to crop up WAY too frequently. I try to ride stress out, but sometimes it rides me, and wears me down.

Did I mention that I am 53? (Actually I'll be 54 in less than two months.)
No, but there it is; I am. Old. At least for my college years.

I was a late bloomer. I dropped out of school at 17 to pursue self education and self employment. Despite being perpetually interested in almost everything, especially animal behavior, I was really lonely. I missed out on a large part of the learning experience, namely discourse, though I didn't know that up until four years ago. That is when, one cold January day, I took the GED at our local (wonderful!) community college, the College of DuPage. I did pretty well, there, and they featured me in some press: Student Spotlight: Peggy Moran.

My late-in-life scholarly pursuits have been good for me, if grueling; and now, unplugged and a drop-out again, I feel pretty discouraged.

But enough about me; I want to talk about Anthrozoology, the multidisciplinary academic field also known as human-nonhuman animal studies.

I intend to use this blog as my own, hopefully-not-but-probably-once-again-pretty-lonely, compensatory attempt to self-educate. No more scholarship? No problem!

I am going to be a grad school homeschooler!  

Despite that sounding just as weird as it is, if you are reading this, please consider being my classmate. I am not trying to get a degree, or even a better job; I am just very, very interested in connections, especially ones that pertain to other living beings of both the human and nonhuman sort. Maybe you are, too.

Perhaps we can learn together, you and I--provided there is a you out there, reading this...
I sure hope so!