BEHAVIOUR - IAABC Behavior Live on Facebook will Feature Animal Experts

The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) is taking advantage of Facebook Live Video and launching an educational series called IAABC Behavior Live.

The series of one-on-one interviews with behavior experts will be hosted by IAABC President Mike Shikashio (and others) on their public Facebook page.

Viewers can ask questions of the speakers, get to know others in the field, and have access to these professionals in a relaxed and informal way.

Chats will be 30 minutes long and recorded episodes will remain on the IAABC Facebook page indefinitely.

(Dr.Chris Pachel)

The first live broadcast will be this Wednesday, May 17th at 2:00pm EST and features Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist Dr. Chris Pachel.

Pachel is the owner and primary clinician for the Animal Behavior Clinic in Portland Oregon and became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists in 2010.

He lectures regularly throughout the US and Canada, and has taught undergraduate and professional courses in veterinary behavior at the University of MN and at the Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.

Times and dates for future IAABC Behavior Live episodes are to be determined and will include Alexandre Rossi, Dr. Susan Friedman, Kristyn Vitale, Steve Dale, and other animal behaviour professionals.

The IAABC was founded in 2004 with a goal to standardize and support the practice of companion animal behavior consulting, while providing resources for pet owners needing advice.

BUSINESS - PetSmart Adds Mood Music for Pets and Sales

People are used to the being serenaded by “muzak,” that ubiquitous music first found in elevators and now found everywhere from grocery stores to call centres.

Now PetSmart will be bringing their own mood music to each of their 1450+ stores and PetsHotel boarding facilities.

PetSmart has hired Mood Media to develop playlists that will appeal to customers and employees in their stores.

The PetsHotel locations will have “modern mellow tunes” to help keep their animal guests calm, and these playlists will also be used when rescue groups host adoption events at PetSmart locations.

Although music for human shoppers is pretty standard, introducing music for companion animals is fairly new.

But there is science to support PetSmart’s move to use music in their PetsHotel facilities and during adoption events.

Pets do appreciate music, and they are particularly interested in species-specific music. The right sounds can have a positive effect on animals, helping keep them calm even in stressful situations.

Some animals, including dogs, appreciate sounds in the same range that humans do.

Charles Snowdon, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert in animal responses to music, told National Geographic that music made for humans has “positive effects on dogs, elephants, and chimpanzees, and negative or no effects on gibbons, baboons, horses, and lambs.”

The reason is that animals prefer music with rhythms and tempos similar to what they find within their own species.

So cats prefer music that includes the pitch changes and sliding vocalizations that they’re used to, and tamarins prefer music that has a quicker tempo to match the tempo of their calls, which is much faster than human speech.

The right music can even increase egg production in chickens and milk production in dairy cows, and despite the fact that animals often prefer species-specific music, there is evidence of empathetic responses when listening to cross-species songs.

One can assume the decision to play specific types of music is as much for PetSmart's retail business as it is for the animals.

Numerous studies have shown that different types of background music can impact sales, with low tempo music increasing purchases in retail stores and restaurants, and classical music inspiring shoppers to buy more expensive merchandise.

Mood Media global senior vice president, Danny Turner, told CBS that they were searching for “a solution that combined both organic textures and atmospheric styles.”

Mood Media is a global company that supplies music for high end spas and hotels throughout the world, and PetSmart is counting on them bringing the same attention to detail and quality to this project.

“Muzak” has become a term associated with any background music found in public spaces, but the word comes from Muzak, the company that first popularized music in elevators and shopping spaces in the 1930s and 1940s. Mood Media purchased Muzak Holdings in 2011.

By Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a writer, editor, academic, and animal lover who came late to her appreciation of pets. At 18, a rescue pup named Tasha saved her from a depression and she hasn't looked back. She has worked as the canine behaviour program coordinator for the Calgary Humane Society, and was a dog trainer specializing in working with fearful and reactive dogs for many years. She doesn't have any pets right now, but makes up for it by giving her petsitting clients (and any dogs she comes across on her frequent coffee shop adventures) extra snuggles.

Pet Heroes: Why do They Rescue People?

Pets are known for their many protective ways.

A cat, for instance, can protect an elderly owner from loneliness while a dog can get its owner out for walks, guarding against obesity.

But there are many pets – dogs, cats, birds and even pigs – who take protection to a whole new level, earning them hero status.

Good Housekeeping profiled many such pets including a three-legged, 15-year-old dog who literally took a bullet to protect its owners from home intruders and a mutt who became three-legged after sustaining injuries to protect his people.

A newborn was dubbed 'Baby Jade' after the dog who led its owner to the abandoned infant, while a dog named Ace gave his teenage owner a (face) licking, literally, to wake him up in time to escape a burning home.

The feature on fabulous pets doesn't exclusively extol the virtues of dogs.

There is a cat named Meatball who saved 11 lives by alerting people to a fire, a pot-bellied pig credited with fending off would-be intruders from the family home and a bird honoured for screeching to alert its family to a fire.

While many of the animals, including cats, alerted owners to fires a rescue dog named Max became a rescuer when he woke up his elderly owner just in time to escape a home filling with carbon monoxide and a dog named Buddy led an Alaska state trooper to the scene of a fire.

In other pet heroics featured on-line, a five-pound Chihuahua scared off a rattlesnake while Honey the dog ran and summoned help for his owner trapped in an overturned SUV.

Tara’s feline fury was caught on tape (attracting five million online viewers in two days,) when she attacked a dog which lunged at her young owner, and a dog injured its paw after breaking a pane of glass and barking to get attention of passersby and ultimately help for its ailing owner.

The hero stories aren't just about pets stepping up to save humans.

Scarlett (neatorama.com)

Napoleon, an English bulldog, went for a swim to retrieve a burlap sack full of discarded kittens and a death-defying Scarlett repeatedly ran back into a burning building to save her kittens.

“Scarlett pulled the kittens out one at a time. She was burned and her eyes were blinded by blisters,” states a story about the feline's heroics on Neatorama. “Still, she kept going back to get her kittens until the last one was safe...before collapsing from exhaustion.”

But why do they do it?

People rescue pets all the time but there isn't much literature on why pets rescue people.

No doubt, there is an amazing bond between some pets and their humans – and that might be part of the explanation.

A Georgia Regents University study, published in Anthrozoos, showed forty percent of people more inclined to save their pet over a foreign tourist from an oncoming bus.

And on a daily basis, people adopt pets from animal shelters - they and the shelter rescue them.

“It not only gives them a sense of purpose, I think, but ... really lifts their spirits up to do something good for something suffering,” Karin Winegar, author of 'Saved: Rescued Animals And The Lives They Transform,' told KPBS.

“And, you know, unlike people, I always say animals have all of our virtues and none of our vices. They really exemplify gratitude and joy and love, unconditional love ... and you can never have too much unconditional love.”

There is evidence to show, from a pets' perspective, people are important, too.

Studies highlighted in Science.Mic claims “the most direct dog brain-based evidence they are hopelessly devoted to humans comes from a neuroimaging study about odor processing in the dog brain.”

And that shows the “aroma” of humans and the scent of their owner “actually sparks activation in the reward centre of their brain.”

But before anyone takes pet heroics too personally, consider this; some researchers suggest cats protect people because they consider them property while pack-animal-pooches are intent on safeguarding the pack leader (who supplies food, water and shelter,) against any threat.

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

INNOVATION - Computer Software Shows What Horses are Thinking

Dr. Steve North (www.horseandhound.co.uk)

If and when inroads are made by a computer scientist in the equine world, it might well lead to a very valuable HABIT.

Dr. Steve North's work on an animal-computer interaction software (Horse Automated Behaviour Identification Tool or HABIT) is aimed at creating an interpreter of sorts - enhancing human understanding of horse behaviour.

“We are certainly trying to give animals a voice,” says North, a researcher at the University of Nottingham's Mixed Reality Laboratory. “A way to allow them to comment on things.”

North isn't doing the work on his own but collaborating with experts in the fields of animal computer interaction, equitation science, animal behaviour and biomedical engineering to develop a software program which will automatically identify behaviour horses are exhibiting and determine whether the horse is stressed, sick or suffering.

“Horses and all non-human animals are entitled to interaction technologies that enrich rather than exploit, North says.

“Anthropocentrism limits our understanding of human interaction in a multi-species world and currently there isn't any software that can reliably analyze video footage and log what behaviours it sees and when. We hope HABIT will also be able to assess how animals react to new surroundings."

His work garnered funding allowing him to gather an interdisciplinary team of experts to explore the project.

Researchers anticipate the software will be a viable application used everywhere from farms, to at homes on pets as well as in zoos and veterinarians' offices.

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is an emerging scientific discipline of animal-computer interaction (ACI) – this research just another endeavour to build on resources in the realm.

Understanding horses, in a way uncompromised by human interpretation, is a valuable tool, says Dr. Carol Hall, whose research at Nottingham Trent University's School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences focuses on the behaviour and welfare of horses, in particular ridden horses.

"This project has the potential to ...increase the objectivity and accuracy of recording behaviour,” she says.

Hall says the project will also reduce time taken to analyze video.

“Currently, if you want to actually record horse behaviours, either in a research setting or in a performance analysis setting, it's all based on human judgement ... watching video clips and recording behaviour they observe,” she says.

“There is a problem then with consistency and experimenter bias but the main problem is the time it takes. So, for an hour of video footage, you could be spending several weeks analyzing the behaviour that you see.”

Computerizing the task, she says, would mean enormous amounts of data could be sifted through and processed quickly.

Dr Clara Mancini, who heads the Animal Computer Interaction Laboratory at the Open University, says it is a natural evolution to see such software developed.

"We are coming to a point where technology is so widespread in society that animals are becoming exposed to it and interacting with it,” she says.

“However, we are still in the very early stages of developing technology that can interact with them in a user-centered way."

What's good for humans is also helpful for the horses, says Dr. Mandy Roshier, an equitation science expert and project collaborator says.

"It is really important that our vet students can interpret what an animal is telling you through its body language. This can go some way to understanding its emotional state,” she says.

“Using equipment that can help us measure and understand behaviour would provide important insights into how we can communicate with animals more."

North says the plan is to see the program work with video – not necessarily created in a pristine lab or even a horse stable environment – but from amateur video or footage found on YouTube, for instance, and be able to identify and analyze horse behaviour.

“We want to be able to look at a group of horses or individual horses and say, 'What are the behaviours these horses are actually exhibiting and are these natural behaviours?'”

That would include, for instance, being able to determine if a horse is relaxed or stressed, he says.

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia Moharib is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

RESEARCH - Is the Goat the New Dog?

(Dr. Christian Nawroth)

Researchers suggest the domesticated dog could be trumped by the capra aegagrus hircus (the domesticated goat) which is said to be brighter than its reputation might suggest and capable of creating deep emotional bonds with owners.
 

The findings done by Queen Mary University of London researchers, documented in the Biology Letters journal, show goats being impressive in finding solutions to treat-earning tasks and displaying that 'look of love,' dog owners know so well when they need help figuring something out.

For the Canis familiaris (the domestic dog) that gaze has long been considered to be a form of communication.

“Our results provide strong evidence for complex communication directed at humans in a species that was domesticated primarily for agricultural production and show similarities with animals bred to become pets or working animals, such as dogs and horses,” Dr. Christian Nawroth, one of the study’s authors told The Telegraph.

While the study looks into the bond-forging possibilities between a goat and its owner, it also takes a stab at stereotypes which suggest the quintessential farm animals are not so bright.

Researchers claim the animals studied at Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats in Kent, England demonstrated the ability to learn how to break into a sealed box - for treats, of course.

In another experiment, goats were given a box impossible to open and what they did in those scenarios, researchers attest, speaks to their intelligence and bond with human handlers.

“Goats gaze at humans in the same way as dogs do when asking for a treat that is out of reach,” Nawroth, told The Telegraph.

Study co-author, Dr Alan McElligott, says the curious creatures are often misunderstood.

“From our earlier research, we already know that goats are smarter than their reputation suggests, but these results show how they can communicate and interact with their human handlers even though they were not domesticated as pets or working animals,” he says.

“We know that in some areas goats are as intelligent as dogs, but there has been a lot more work done on dog behaviour and we are really just scratching the surface with goats.”

While dogs have long been companions to humans, goats have been domesticated for some 10,000 years.

There are a billion goats worldwide.

More than a source of milk, meat and cheese – researchers hope to highlight the pet potential of the goat, but more importantly the goal of their work is to improve the plight of the animals.

“If we can show that they are more intelligent, then hopefully we can bring in better guidelines for their care,” McElligott says.

Got your goat?

First-time owners of goats as pets need to do their research according to various organizations familiar with the practice.

For starters, goats are known for being curious creatures with a penchant to roam which means they must be kept confined with good fencing and given shelter from the elements.

The friendly farm animals can be destructive and, just like dogs, need regular vet visits to stay healthy. Because they are social creatures and typically like the company of other goats, they may fare better in pairs.

As well, the ruminants are incessant chewers who can be annoyingly loud and like to head-butt.

Although Queen Mary researchers say goats may well rival dogs as pets, but people will be disappointed if they expect to see a pet goat be anything like canine companionship.

“They won't purr or roll over; they also won't climb on to you to ask for food or a pat. Goats, actually, are more of a rebellious type of animal. They are wanderers and prefer to explore different things,” according to Ted Allen's How to Raise Goats webpage.

“They may eat your notes, memos, or upholstery. Putting it on a lap for a pat may not be possible because it wants to be kept free. Training goats the way similar to dogs may be possible, but its wandering nature will always take the better of it. Behind all these hardships in taking care of a goat also comes as its own rewards. Keeping goats for pets can be very rewarding once the owner has been successful in finding the personality of the goat.”

The average lifespan of a goat is about 12 years.

Ted Allen's How to Raise Goats might be a place to get some starter tips.

Keep in mind however, many jurisdictions (like Calgary, Alberta, for instance) consider goats livestock and not appropriate as pets.

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia Moharib is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

RESEARCH - Fish Can Recognize Human Faces

(newscientist.com)

A recent study conducted by scientists at University of Oxford in the U.K. and the University of Queensland in Australia on archerfish reveals that fish are capable of facial recognition.

The study was printed in the journal Scientific Reports and is the first of its kind.

It would likely lead scientists to research other types of recognition capabilities by fish. Most notably, it’s an exciting possibility for fish owners to know that their aquarium pets may actually be able to recognize them.

According to Dr. Cait Newport, study co-author and member of the University of Oxford’s zoology department, scientists began their research with the intention to learn about how animals with simple brains (like fish) are capable of facial recognition.

The archerfish, a tropical reef fish dubbed as ‘the sharpshooter of the animal kingdom,’ was chosen because of its ability to indicate a clear choice – as in through its ability to spit jets of water at insects.

Scientists conducted the study by training the fish through a reward system to select between two pictures of human faces; through trials lasting anywhere from a few days to weeks, the fish demonstrated their ability to recognize a familiar face a surprising 81% of the time.

This accuracy was increased to 86% when the scientists tried to make the experiment more difficult – by changing the pictures to black and white and evening out head shapes; the study revealed that archerfish have a strong ability to recognize patterns.

The study will open the doors to further investigation, but it lends credence to the theory that it is not just big-brained organisms (primates) who possess the ability to differentiate between faces.

Although fish lack the sophisticated visual cortex of primates, the researchers found the archerfish capable of distinguishing one (familiar) face from 44 new faces.

‘Finding Nemo’ may have a whole new meaning.

By Lindsay Seewalt

Lindsay is an experienced journalist and mother of three whose heart and home is always open to a four-legged friend. With her Corgi, Angie, as household editor-in-chief, Lindsay gives back to the animal planet through the written word on anything and all ado about pets. She is passionate about topics regarding animal welfare and responsible pet ownership, which she aims to instill in both her readers and children to be compassionate animal lovers who are conscious and considerate that furry friends around the globe deserve a voice.

B4 U GET A PET Check Out This New Website

Have you ever found yourself going from site to site, searching for information on getting a pet? Wondering what type of animal would be best for you or how much you should budget for one?

B4U GET A PET was developed with people like you in mind. Created by a group of researchers from the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) in Guelph, Ontario, this website is a valuable resource for potential pet owners.

“It’s important for us to choose a pet that matches our lifestyle and expectations so we are sure to find the right personality for our situation and household,” says Dr. Jason Coe, faculty with the OVC Department of Population Medicine. “Research has shown that the success of a human-companion animal relationship is influenced by whether an owner’s expectations can be met by the pet and whether the needs and lifestyle of the owner and personality of their pet match.”

Coe and his team have loaded the website with practical, evidence-based information in an accessible, easy-to-use site.

There is a fun cat and dog quiz to test your pet knowledge and customizable budget forms to fill in that give a clear idea of costs. Information about bringing pets home and introducing them to other animals and children can be found.

The website also provides specific questions prospective owners can ask whether they are sourcing their new pet from a breeder, animal shelter or rescue, pet store, online source or from a friend.

“Regardless of the source, there are a number of questions we should be asking when getting a new pet. We want to make sure we are making an informed decision, because ensuring a lasting relationship even before it starts is in both the pet’s and our best interest,” says Coe.

Not only is the website a great source of information for the potential pet owner, shelters, breeders, animal control, pet stores and others in the animal industry can use B4 U GET A PET as a one-stop-information-shop for their clients.

Australia Uses Sheepdogs to Save Penguin Colony

Australians have put Maremma sheepdogs, typically guardians which protect sheep against attacks by wolves, to use protecting Little Penguins.

On a wee island near the coastal town of Warrnambool, the sheepdogs behind the Middle Island Maremma Project which began in 2006, have proven productive in guarding the smallest of the penguin species from would-be-predators, particularly foxes.

The dogs, which are white with floppy ears and weigh in at about 75 to 100 lbs, can be traced back thousands of years and have a reputation for guarding herd animals from wild predators and thieves but are also known for being gentle and devoted to humans and other animals in their posse. Unlike other herding dogs which nip and chase those in their care, Maremma dogs form social bonds with the animals they are protecting.

And they have done remarkably well in their duties to safeguard penguins. Little Penguins' population in Australia peaked at about 1,500 but was down to about 700 in the 1990s. In the following years, the population was subjected to havoc wrought by foxes who killed dozens of the birds, particularly in nocturnal sprees (in one bloodbath foxes killed 180 penguins) while humans trampled their fragile environment.

By about 2005 numbers of the penguins, once common along Australia's southern coast, were down to about 10. That changed when two men mused that territorial Maremma sheepdogs should be deployed.

A local farmer, known as Swampy Marsh, saw how the Maremma dogs had done well protecting his free-range chickens from becoming dinner for prey and suggested the canines help remedy the penguins' plight. But, he once bemoaned to reporters, “the powers that be wouldn't listen to me until it got down to six penguins.” With a green light from local authorities, they launched a short-term trial which was extended given it worked so well. 

By 2015, Little Penguin numbers had climbed back to triple digits.

Later, two puppies purchased by fundraising efforts were trained to bond with sheep and also to see if they could be put to work to protect bandicoots, a small marsupial not seen outside captivity since 2002. If successful, the trial could result in the creation of a Fighting Extinction Dog Squad, a specially trained squad of dogs that protect and help monitor a host of native wildlife.

The hope is the experiment down under will potentially offer a template for global conservation.

Log onto www.warrnamboolpenguins.com.au for more information.

By Nadia Moharib
Nadia Moharib is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

INTERVIEW: Dr. Rebecca Ledger: Digital Journalist Scholarship Applicant

Dr. Rebecca Ledger writes for the Vancouver Sun about animal welfare issues including animal legislation, pet care/health, and animal behaviour. Her articles may also be found in the National Post, the Leader Post, the Calgary Herald, The Star Phoenix, The Windsor Star, the Montreal Gazette and the Ottawa Citizen. Dr. Ledger is also active on her Twitter account and in in the process of creating her Animal Behaviour and Welfare Consulting website.

Dr. Ledger is a Faculty Member at Langara College, teaching Basic and Advanced courses in animal behaviour, animal welfare, animal law and business. She was awarded her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of London, her Masters Degree in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare from the University of Edinburgh (The Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies) and her Doctorate in the assessment and treatment of behavioural disorders in shelter dogs from Brunel University.

InfoStream (IS): Your passion for animals is evident; tell us more about how this came to be.

Dr. Rebecca Ledger (DRL): I was just born this way! I can't remember a time when I wasn't drawn to animals and experienced a respect for them. I was lucky that my family were like-minded and nurtured this calling.

IS: The pet experience is big for you. Tell us about your pets.

DRL: We have a dog (Poppy, a 2 year old English Springer spaniel), a rescue cat called Gilly (11 years old) and recently we adopted two stray guinea pigs, Guiness and Fred. The g-pigs had been abandoned by a bus stop and were picked up by Vancouver Animal Control.

IS: How do you use media in the pet industry?

DRL: I have a privileged opportunity to write animal related articles for PostMedia. The articles are published biweekly in the Vancouver Sun, and often picked up by the other newspapers. So far, the articles have been reprinted in the The National Post, Ottawa Citizen, the Leader Post, Montreal Gazette, the Calgary Herald, the Edmonton Journal and the Windsor Star and the Star Phoenix. This provides an opportunity to bring animal-related news to the whole of Canada. It is astounding how many people these stories reach, both in print and on-line.

IS: What is the main focus/goal of your use of digital media?

DRL: To bring science-based information on animal health, animal behaviour and animal welfare to Canadians. There are plenty of non-science based opinions on 'the internet', pushing practices that are actually bad for animal welfare. My goal is to help Canadians make evidence-based, informed, effective and humane decisions regarding their pets.

IS: What do you see as the greatest risk for the pet industry as you know it? What is your greatest concern?

DRL: Overall, I have fewer concerns now than I did 10 years ago. Things are progressing and generally getting better. Dog over-population and humane training is getting better. And, I find that owners are now also better informed on positive pet keeping practices than they were before. But, some challenges still exist. Cat over-population and the management of feral populations is still a challenge. So too is where pet seekers should acquire their new pets from. As Canadians are becoming more responsible at spay / neutering and pet identification, so the number of adoptable pets in shelters is going down. This is good for pet welfare. So, where are owners getting their next pet from now? We are seeing an increase in un-regulated rescue groups and owners taking on challenging pets that have not been adequately vetted. I see owners with these challenges daily in my practice.

IS: What in your history has taken you to where you are now?

DRL: A very convoluted and complex career path, which I'm not sure could ever be easily replicated! Apart from years of study (a BSc in Biology, a MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour & Animal Welfare, a PhD in the behavioural assessment and treatment of dogs with behavioural disorders and three Fellowships in animal behaviour & animal welfare), I have had the good fortune to work with some of the best animal welfare scientists and organizations in the world, across Europe and North America. I think that the diversity of animal organizations that I have had the privilege to work with has given me both a deep and broad understanding of the field. These include humane organizations, Universities, the military, sled dog companies, pharmaceutical companies, pet food companies and the veterinary profession.

IS: What motivates you to share your knowledge to promote the well-being of pets?

DRL: The positive impact that I see it having. Seeing first hand how knowledge can transform how someone understands and manages their pet for the better makes it all worth while. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a pet and their owner live a happier, less stressful, more fulfilled life as a result of something you been able to teach them.

IS: Thank you!