The why of dog play has been the subject of some recent research. Yet the fundamental question is not being asked: How does a “play bow” indicate an invitation to play? Yes dogs often play thereafter, but not always. In fact, fearful and aggressive dogs misconstrue the enthusiasm invested in a play bow as a […]

The latest science on why dogs roll over onto their backs in play is in (bearing in mind that it took the current models of analysis all these years to question the concept of submission, but better late than never) and what is the takeaway from this research that has generated world wide attention? “This […]

I’m the object of a regular beat-down on the site of the Unknown Scientist and I return to these “discussions” because they so clearly demonstrate the internal contradict at the heart of modern Behaviorism. {Of course these are the same theocrats who criticized me in the seventies, eighties and nineties when I argued that wolves […]

Thanks for collectively straining over the puzzle as to what flocks of birds cavorting aloft, Orcas porpoising alongside boats, Orcas collectively knocking a seal off an ice flow, a horse and dog playing, and in fact we could extend it to all the things that animals do, have in common. Below is a compilation of […]

http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2013/09/24/study-explains-why-women-want-to-eat-babies/ “The researchers concluded: ‘These results show that the odor of newborns undoubtedly plays a role in the development of motivational and emotional responses between mother and child by eliciting maternal care functions such as breastfeeding and protection.” Researcher Johannes Frasnelli said: ‘What we know now and what is new is there is a neural […]

On Dog Star Daily there is a self-contradicting logic loop generated by two articles, one by an unidentified author, the other by Dr. Roz. (1) “When puppies reach adolescence, food lures temporarily lose effectiveness. The owner and their food lures now have to compete for the dog’s attention with all the more interesting stimuli in […]

From time to time I want to point to science that while studying a different subject, can nevertheless shed light on the nature of animal consciousness. The main premise of my model for the animal mind is that the hunger/balance processes of the body and brain, do double, triple and ever-more elaborate duty in their […]

Thank you for your great answers and I feel each response is a variant of the same underlying phenomenon. In other words, there’s no “reason” why children love seesaws and swings, rather their bodies and minds (just as it is for all living beings) evolved to feel good when (1) riding on a wave and […]

Some recent questions posed by Heather really bring us to the heart of the matter. 1) Heather: “It is good that we don’t have to understand the physics when 2 dogs are in motion ;)” KB: Yes, while the laws of motion are simple, the actual computations are vast and too complicated for most of […]

Neil Sattin of the Natural Dog Blog recently hosted a conference call with Kevin Behan. As he had mentioned in an earlier interview, he wanted to provide owners with the opportunity to speak directly with Kevin to get their most important questions answered. Below is an excerpt from Neil’s site about the conference: “We had […]

“Hey Kevin, my name is Ben Grubbs and I’ve been (trying) to practice NDT ever since I discovered it, and I’m a frequent poster on your blog– I was hoping you had a moment to take a look at a video I shot this morning. I am dogsitting a friend’s dog named Milo who is […]

All animals play, especially when young, and often with objects. But when you throw something for a dog, it’s like a boomerang: with just a bit of deft management it comes right back to your hand. Why? Because the dog wants its “self” back. We often wonder how dogs see themselves. Do they see themselves […]