The year in review at Companion Animal Psychology and the most popular dog and cat posts of 2022.
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| Photo: vubaz/Shutterstock |
By Zazie Todd PhDThis page contains affiliate links which means I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you.
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It’s always fun to look back on the year and see which posts were the most popular. For me, the highlight of the year was the publication of my second book Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. Thank you to everyone who has supported the book including everyone in the Purr Party. It’s been especially nice to receive notes of thanks from readers for the tips included in Purr and to see photos of people’s cats with the book.
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| Melina with a copy of Purr |
This year I was lucky to publish some wonderful guest posts by Dr. Katherine Cronin; Koltan Nelson; and Izzy Swanston, Sienna Taylor, and Ben Brilot. I’m delighted that two of these have made it into the year’s top 10.
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| A copy of Purr (and look closely, Wag too!) on Keith Baldrey’s bookshelf on Global BC News on 2 Dec 2022 |
Kristi Benson, Special Correspondent, has written some amazing pieces both here and for The Pawsitive Post, where she also presented two fun and informative webinars. I’m thrilled that a very special piece that she wrote has made it into the top 10 (see below).
Companion Animal Psychology celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. It’s a huge milestone and I feel very lucky to still be able to blog after all this time. That’s thanks in large part to everyone who has supported the blog whether by being on my email list, sharing posts, and supporting me on Ko-fi, via The Pawsitive Post, or by buying merch. Thank you so much for your support!
As part of the anniversary celebrations, Kristi Benson, Lili Chin, and Sassafras Lowrey joined me for Reading Cats and Dogs, an online event that almost 500 people attended. If you weren’t one of them, you can catch the recording on Youtube.
As always, I’ve done many media interviews, too many to share here. One of my favourite pieces from this year that I’m quoted in is this one in The Atlantic by Katherine J. Wu about purring is a love language no human can speak, not least because my tabby cat Harley gets a mention. As well, I loved speaking with Radio New Zealand’s Jim Mora about happy cats, more on cats, how we know your dog loves you, and more dogs. Another favourite was North by Northwest with Sheryl MacKay on CBC radio (listen for my interview starting at the 53 minute mark).
And The Animal Book Club had fun reading another 10 books this year.
The dog and cat posts of the year
These were the top posts of the year on Companion Animal Psychology:
10. David and Patrick’s fairy tale land of kindness could be our gift to dogs (Kristi Benson, Special Correspondent)
9. CAP10 dog training and behaviour advice from the experts
8. What do dogs want? Social choices and varied breeding for better welfare (on research by Meyer et al 2022)
7. Are scent work classes the new form of enrichment for your dog (Izzy Swanston, Sienna Taylor, and Ben Brilot)
6. Upcoming events at The Pawsitive Post
5. The resource guarding signs to watch for in dogs
4. Staying safe: Management for fearful dogs
3. Scientists surprised to learn that cats are freeloaders (Dr. Katherine Cronin)
2. Manners, cues, management, and the language of a better relationship with dogs
1. Why does your cat rub their head on you?
The top posts at my Psychology Today blog, Fellow Creatures, were:
3. How to tell if your pet actually wants you to pet them
2. 2 ways to make a cat happier
1. 10 things people shouldn’t do to their cats
The most-viewed recording of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation was episode 6 on the benefits of tricks training for dogs and cats with Erica Beckwith of A Matter of Manners Dog Training.
Even though The Pawsitive Post is coming to an end, Kristi and I have decided that we will continue to record these conversations. We have some exciting guests already lined up for early next year.
Wishing you all the very best for a happy, healthy, and all-round-fabulous 2023.
Zazie
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