There is a great deal of behavioural advice available to pet owners online and in books and magazines, however very little of this has received scientific scrutiny. Through my research I have attempted to scientifically validate treatment advice protocols, contributing to the evidence-base in clinical companion animal behaviour.
I am also interested in how and why problematic behaviours develop in some dogs, but not others and conduct more fundamental research looking at personality differences between individual dogs and how these might influence the development of behavioural disorders.
You can see some of the topics that I have published papers on here:
As a result of my television work I’ve become aware of the public appetite to help with science projects (citizen science). After a couple of successful dog owner surveys run in conjunction with Ch4, in 2015 my good friend and TV mentor Mark Evans and I set up the ‘Dog Science Group’, as a way of bringing together canine scientists and dog owners who are keen to get involved with citizen science, to help improve our understanding of the health and behaviour of 21st-century dogs:
