Back in the fall of 2008, I presented a blog titled A Reading List in Animal Behavior, Part One. I went on in that article to say, “So here I present a highly personal reading list in ethology.  In this entry, I suggest some reading in basic ethology, and in a later entry, I will focus in readings in applied animal behavior.”

But it never happened.. no follow-up blog on the most relevant material, applied ethology!  So, forthwith, the rest of my list… the disclaimer, as before: this is a personal list.  These are the sort of readings, applied in this case, that I would, and have, “required of students of this field, beginning at the undergraduate level and right on through graduate or board-certification work in ethology.  These are the books that my students, graduate and undergraduate, read.  And these would provide the foundation for an excellent library in animal behavior.” Note: We’ve made book and DVD recommendations about dog behavior, cat behavior, and parrot behavior on the Companion Animal Solutions web site under the Books & DVDs section. For the books below, we’ve linked the titles of these books to places you can order them.

Applied Animal Behavior for the Lay Audience

These are books for the educated owner: I hope that most trainers, veterinarian technician and veterinarian with an interest in behavior have read these. The first three are simply classic, must-reads: I strongly encourage all dog owners, and all of my behavior-issue clients to read these.

Donaldson, Jean.  1997.  Culture Clash. James and Kenneth. This book focuses on the differences between primate [human] and dog behavior, social organization, and communication. Jean’s other fantastic books include Dogs Are From Neptune, Oh Behave! Dog From Pavlov to Pinker, and practical problem solving books like Mine! and Fight!

McConnell, Patricia.  2002.  The Other End of the Leash. Ballantine Books.  This book focuses on dog-primate communication, or the lack thereof.  Based on Trish’s PhD dissertation work and a lifetime of learning about dogs and humans.

Pryor, Karen. 1999.  Don’t Shoot the Dog!  The New Art of Teaching and Training. Bantam. This is the original book that defined the new field of positive-approach dog training.

There are some follow-ups to the themes described in the books above:

McConnell, Patricia.  Various. Trish has an extensive series of How To booklets, all of which are excellent: Cautious Canine, Feisty Fido, Surviving a Multi-Dog Household, I’ll Be Home Soon, et al.  These build, in more practical terms, on the ideas developed in her best-seller books.

Reid, P.J., 1996.  Excel-erated Learning: Explaining in Plain English How Dogs Learn and How  Best To Teach Them.  James and Kenneth Publishers, Oakland, CA

Ryan, T. 1998.  The Toolbox for Remodeling Your Problem Dog. Howell Book House, New York.

These two books are by leading canine learning specialists, and build on the concepts of a positive reinforcement approach, and understanding the broader behavior of your dog, the context in which your dog behaves.

Wright, J. C. 1994.  Is Your Cat Crazy? Macmillan Publishing Co., New York.

Wright, J. C. 1999.  The Dog Who Would Be King.  Rodale Press,  Emmaus, PA.

And then, how does all this conceptual material come together: first, John’s books bring you into the world of a behavior specialist, an academic bringing the science that we have learned about dogs, and cats, to bear on specific behavior problems… and at the same time, educating about dog behavior and learning in an entertaining way.

Markowitz, H. 1981.  Behavioral Enrichment in the Zoo, Van Nostrand Reinhold. Finally, as an ethologist, I find this book to be fascinating: applied animal behavior principles, but with application to exotic animals.  This is the behind-the-scenes story of a series of imaginative, and highly successful, attempts to produce natural behaviors in captive animals.

Puppies and Puppy Selection

Then how about the big issue: what kind of dog should I get?  Here are two good suggestions for reading on this subject, again based on good science.

Hart, B.L. & Hart, L.A. 1988.  The Perfect Puppy. How to Choose a Dog by Its Behavior.  W.H. Freeman, New York.

Rutherford, C. & Neil, D.H.  1992.  How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With, 2nd Ed. Alpine Pub., Loveland.

More Advanced and Professional Books

There are many references used by behavior specialists, certified applied animal behaviorists and board-certified veterinary behaviorists: these are a few of the more accessible ones.

Askew, H.R., 1996. Treatment of Behavior Problems in Dogs and Cats. Blackwell Science, Cambridge, MA.

Bradshaw, J.W.S.  1992.  The Behaviour of the Domestic Cat.  C.A.B. International, UK.

Fraser, A.F.  1992.  The Behaviour of the Horse.  C.A.B. International, UK.

Hart, B.L. 1985. The Behavior of Domestic Animals.  W.H. Freeman and Co., New York.

Hetts, S.  1999.  Pet Behavior Protocols.  What To Say, What To Do and When To Refer. AAHA Press, Lakewood, CO.

Voith, V.L. and P.L.Borchelt, Eds. 1996.  Readings in Companion Animal Behavior. Veterinary Learning Systems, Trenton, NJ.

Serpell, J., Ed. 1995.  The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People. Cambridge Univ. Press, New York.

Thorne, C., Ed.  1992.  The Waltham Book of Cat and Dog Behaviour. Pergamon Press, New York.

Turner, D.C. & Bateson, P., Eds. 1988. The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour. Cambridge University Press, New York.

Waring, G.H.  1983.  Horse Behavior. Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ.

So that’s my reading list in applied animal behavior, from both an academic and a popular view.  Combining the books in this list with the previously listed readings in general ethology would generate an impressive library in ethology with a focus on applied animal behavior.

Feel free to leave me a comment if you have a favorite book to recommend, or a question about a book you’ve seen or read, or a specific topic in animal behavior for which you would like a reading recommendation.  Time to read!

** I must credit my colleague, Daniel Estep, PhD, for developing the original form of these reading lists, which I have modified and annotated considerably.  Any changes and added editorial opinions are strictly my own, unless Dan likes any of them.

I see many, many new dog behavior cases each year and I love my work, but sometimes, I need to branch out and learn about the behavior of other companion animals. My partner in Animal Behavior at Companion Animal Solutions is Jim Ha, PhD, CAAB. Jim sees all of the cat and parrot cases that we take. I’ve been privileged to learn about animal and bird behavior by riding along with him on his private behavior consultations with our clients. The ride along opportunities that I enjoy the most are the parrot cases. I love cats, don’t get me wrong, but the parrot cases fascinate me. When I first embarked on my parrot behavior and training research, I was disappointed at how difficult it was to find quality information about parrot behavior and training. The internet is rife with dog training information (some of it excellent and some of it awful and downright harmful), but information about parrot behavior is harder to come by. After some time consuming research, I began to compile a list of resources that include the most respected researchers, veterinarians, applied animal behaviorists, and trainers. I wanted to share what I’ve learned with our readers interested in parrot behavior and training.

For those of you who live in the Seattle, Washington area, your first stop for finding like minded people should be the Northwest Exotic Bird Society. When I attended my first meeting, I was surprised and thrilled to discover that many of the people attending the monthly meeting brought their birds with them and many of those birds were getting the opportunity to socialize with one another and fly freely around the room! The members of NWEBS were very knowledgeable as well as being friendly and welcoming. I was hooked! I went right home, logged on to the web site and joined. Once you’re a member, you can attend the monthly meetings at the Lawn Bowling building at Greenlake, receive their informative newsletter, and gain membership to the yahoo group. Members of NWEBS also belong to the Northwest Avian Flyers. The Northwest Avian Flyers conduct “indoor free flight” sessions twice a month. The Northwest Exotic Bird Society’s website is full of scientifically correct and practically useful information about caring for, living with, and training your feathered friends.

The next stop on our parrot learning tour is Barbara Heidenreich, owner of Good Bird Inc. Barbara is a leading authority on parrot behavior and training as well as being a huge proponent of clicker training and learning theory based training for parrots. I was shocked to learn that there are “dominance” and “punishment” based training proponents in the parrot world too (so sad). Barbara is a voice of reason and practical alternatives to those outdated and harmful proponents. If you’d like to learn about modifying your parrots behavior or clicker training your parrot, Barbara Heidenreich is a necessary resource in your toolkit. If you’ve spent any time on the Companion Animal Solutions website, you know that we highly recommend Barbara’s books and DVDs. I’m a enthusiastic subscriber to Good Bird Inc magazine which now comes in electronic form (PDF) as well as the traditional paper copy. If that weren’t enough, Barbara writes a blog and produces Wings ‘n Things podcasts available on Pet Life Radio. Barbara just released a new DVD titled Get Your Bird Back! about what to do if your parrot flies away. This DVD contains a wealth of resources such as lost bird flyers, lists of people to contact and a variety of parrot calls.

When I contacted Barbara about listing her books and DVDs on our web site, I asked her if she had recommendations for other authors and she was gracious enough provide me with more resources. Here are some of Barbara’s picks for books, DVDs, and blogs: Happily Ever After with Parrots (DVD) by Ellen Cook, DVM,  Captive Foraging (DVD) by Scott Echols, DVM, DABVP, A Parrot for Life (Book and Blog) by Rebecca O’Conner, and bloggers Sid Price, and Linda Rasmussen.

Susan Friedman, PhD is a professor at Utah State University. Dr. Friedman’s specialty is behavior analysis and she offers online workshops for veterinarians, animal behaviorists, and trainers. The Behavior+ Works website contains useful information on parrot behavior, behavior analysis, and learning theory, just download the free PDF files.

Another nice online community for parrot owners and advocates is the Nationwide Parrot Place Organization. You can become a member of this 501(C) non-profit organization for an annual membership fee of $12 per year. A new online resource for beginning parrot owners has recently come online called The Parrot Forum. This is an online forum where owners can ask questions and learn important information about Health, Nutrition & Diet, Housing, General Parrot Care, Parrot Species, Basic Training, Trick Training, Recall Flight and Indoor Freeflight. As with any forum dedicated to helping people and their pets, please be polite at all times and thank people for the time and effort they spend answering questions.

I informed via the Northwest Exotic Bird Society group that Chris Biro will be presenting at their meeting on Thursday, November 19th at 7:00PM. His topic will be Parrot Training and Free Flight. This will also be the first time that a presentation will be webcast so that viewers can watch from home. The webcast includes a chat feature so that Internet viewers have the ability to submit questions to the speaker. The webcast can be found at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chris-biro

That brings me to the end of my list of resources for parrot owners. Do you have other resources for parrot behavior and training you’d like to share? If so, please post a comment.

I have a little Quaker Parrot (or Monk Parakeet). Her name is Kiwi, she’s about 12 years old, and I’ve owned her since she was a baby. Unfortunately, when she first came to live with me, I was young and inexperienced. Because of this, Kiwi has not had the picture perfect upbringing – not because I don’t love her dearly or because I don’t care about her behavior problems, but because I didn’t know better. As a result, she and I have some challenges to overcome, not the least of which is her desire to reduce my toes to shreds when they are placed in her line of sight. Plastic bags, salt and pepper shakers, hats, anything remotely stick-shaped, and anyone who has the audacity to come into her presence without the standard gift of applesauce are also on her List.

This latter hatred is my biggest concern with my bird, and I have been working with her fairly regularly to counter-condition her reaction when someone new enters the house. Kiwi’s fear aggression became particularly problematic for me when I decided to marry the human being she hated most: The Competition. My husband has been incredibly patient with Kiwi- the man should get a medal. She’s taken advantage of my distraction to bite him on multiple occasions- his toes, his ears (he really did want them pierced anyway), his face. And she’s survived to laugh about it later. (She reliably cackles maniacally when I rescue him.)

When Nick entered my life (and Kiwi’s), I didn’t understand much about associative learning or operant conditioning. Because Kiwi has always been fairly sensitive to new people and the way they react to her, and because Nick has not experienced birds other than Kiwi, they did not immediately get along. I did one of the worst things I could have done when she began to react badly towards him- I began to put her away every time he came over. The learning that happened was not “bird behaves badly and is timed out,” but “Nick arrives and bird is alone.” Birds are social creatures, and by returning her to her cage, even with her toys and treats in it, Nick’s presence came to predict isolation, which to Kiwi is the ultimate punishment. As Nick and I spent more time together, Kiwi’s reaction became increasingly worse, and Nick’s began to get defensive, and Kiwi figured out that screaming and rushing at him across her cage would make him go away. And her stupid mommy (me) would occasionally stick around and try to soothe her, which meant she was running the competition out and then receiving all of my attention once he was gone. As I have become far more learning savvy, it has become painfully clear to me how many things I did wrong with Kiwi early on, and how much more work I have to do with her as a result.

Enter the applesauce. I spent a fortune on twenty or more different kinds of baby food, a variety of yogurt, fruits, veggies, dried goods, etc, and discovered that the treat she really loves (and is easiest to deliver) is applesauce. Once this had been determined, we set out to change Kiwi’s association with Nick and isolation to Nick and gooey goodness. Every time Nick came to visit, he told me in advance, and Kiwi would be in her cage before he arrived, and we open the jar of applesauce, put it on a spoon, and Nick would bring it to her in her cage. At first, she attacked the spoon (she hates anything stick-like, as I mentioned before). But when she went to bite it, she accidentally got applesauce on her beak, which was enough to make her rethink the situation. We’d have Nick feed her a few more times with me watching from the doorway, and then we’d leave the room. A minute or two later, we’d return with more applesauce, and she’d rush the cage again, get the good stuff, and decide the spoon was not so bad.

Eventually, we could move Kiwi to the top of her cage and not worry about her flying at him, then we moved to the living room with her on the back of the couch, or sometimes sitting with me. The process has evolved now that we’re all in the same household, and we’ve had a number of setbacks. But here’s the step-by-step version of our “protocol.” We do change up the treat Nick offers her to make sure she doesn’t get bored (and if we accidentally run out), but generally she prefers gooey things that can be delivered on a spoon. We prefer those, too, since it means Nick doesn’t risk his fingers if she happens to be in a particularly wenchy mood. We are teaching Kiwi that all treats come from this guy, and she’s getting it! Here is the process that we’ve been using for her:

1. Kiwi is on her playstand or on top of her cage, Nick has a bowl of Something Good. Nick approaches and talks nicely to her. At first, Kiwi would start whacking her beak on the playstand and screeching as he approached, then attack the spoon when he offered it. The benefit of gooey things on a spoon is that when she tries to bite the spoon, she accidentally gets the good stuff, which usually makes her pause for a split second to re-evaluate. CLICK-TREAT! As long as she stays quiet and calm, Nick clicks and treats her.
2. If she starts screaming, he pulls the spoon away and we wait for her to quiet down again. In this situation, I do not ask him to walk away, because for Kiwi this would probably be a strong reinforce of her behavior- she screams, The Competition leaves.
3. If the screeching continues for more than about 30 seconds, I’ll tell her “That’s enough.” If she quiets down, Nick clicks and treats her. If not, “Too bad” and she goes to sit on the towel rack in the bathroom with the door closed. When she stops screaming about it, I’ll bring her back out. I try not to use her cage for time outs because I really want her to be happy in it.

During training time, I try to be as neutral as possible. I don’t want to be the one reinforcing her, because she already loves me most of the time. We also try to keep the sessions to a manageable length. Kiwi has a small stomach and a limited tolerance for frustration, so if we push her to tolerate Nick for too long, she’ll be angry at the end of the session. When we’re done, she gets to have some cuddle time from me while Nick feeds her whatever is left on the spoon. We do change up the treat Nick offers her to make sure she doesn’t get bored (and if we accidentally run out), but generally she prefers gooey things that can be delivered on a spoon. We prefer those, too, since it means Nick doesn’t risk his fingers if she happens to be in a particularly wenchy mood.

We are teaching Kiwi that all treats come from this guy, and she’s getting it! Kiwi learns pretty quickly, and has been figuring this game out. We have gradually moved to the point where she is stepping up on Nick’s hand and spending some time with him. I came home from work recently to find them sitting calmly at the computer with her preening his ears and hair. This is not a reliable situation, and you can bet that he was paying attention to how frantically she preened, but it’s huge progress. Another bonus of this work is that she doesn’t feel the need to scream at him every time he enters the bedroom (where her cage is), and if I hug him in her presence she’s far more likely to give him a kiss than to take a chunk out of his neck. Progress!

We have a long way to go, but we’re getting there. I have resigned myself to the fact that it is going to take a while for a variety of reasons- I’m not as diligent as I should be, even Saint Husband gets angry once in a while when he’s a victim of Kiwi’s surprise attacks, and Kiwi is a middle-aged parrot and fairly set in her ways. But I don’t mind rowing a little upstream for these two.