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 posi...

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...

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 ...

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 m...

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 cl...

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 thi...

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 s...

Episode 1: Welcoming a dog into your life – the Odyssey beginsIn 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 ...

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 Veter...

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, ...

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.amaz...

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 h...

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...

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 ...

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 wha...

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, wh...

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 ...

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 int...

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 ...

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 peop...

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 zool...

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 Adapti...

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 ac...

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 th...

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...