Animal Behavior

Barking Up the Right Tree offers proof that aversive punishment seldom works to eliminate undesirable behavior or to get the dog back on track. Dunbar presents numerous nonaversive yet highly effective solutions for misbehavior and noncompliance—simply by using the words you teach, and without even raising your voice.

Pet birds are intelligent, affectionate, and rewarding companions. No matter what bird you choose, you need to set up a happy home for him with the right stuff. You also need to keep your bird healthy by performing routine care and knowing what a healthy bird looks like and how he behaves. This friendly guide describes the birds that make the best pets, explains how to select the bird that's best for you, offers tips on bonding with your feathered friend, and provides expert advice on feeding and environmental enrichment that will keep these intelligent pets engaged.

Have you ever wondered what your dogs are thinking? What they're feeling? Now you can finally know! The answers will surprise and delight you as scientist and dog owner Alexandra Horowitz explains how our four-legged friends perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human.

From the best-selling author and star of National Geographic Channel's Dog Whisperer, the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives - as well as those who have already brought a dog home - Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, "Yes, you can raise the perfect dog"! It all starts with the proper foundation in the early years. Here, Cesar tells you everything you need to know to create the best environment for a well-balanced dog.

Enjoy this Listening to the Horse-inspired book, packed full of stories, lessons, case studies, and exercises for you and your horse. This book is the first book in the Equine Listenology trilogy.

We keep dogs and are kept by them. We love dogs and (we assume) we are loved by them. We buy them sweaters, toys, shoes; we are concerned with their social lives, their food, and their health. The story of humans and dogs is thousands of years old but is far from understood. In Our Dogs, Ourselves, Alexandra Horowitz explores all aspects of this unique and complex relationship that “dog lovers will savor and absorb” (Shelf Awareness). As Horowitz considers the current culture of dogdom, she reveals the odd, surprising, and contradictory ways we live with dogs.

Animals plainly know where they're going, but how they get there has remained surprisingly mysterious - until now. In Supernavigators, award-winning author David Barrie catches us up on the cutting-edge science. Here are astounding animals of every stripe: Dung beetles that steer by the light of the Milky Way. Ants and bees that rely on patterns of light invisible to humans. Sea turtles and moths that find their way using Earth's magnetic field. Humpback whales that swim thousands of miles while holding a rock-steady course.

Cats are well known for being difficult to understand, but in actuality, their behavior is fairly easy to read once you take a moment to learn why they do what they do; What this book aims to teach you is exactly that! We'll cover everything from how cats interact with their human companions and other cats, to how to read and interpret their body language and vocalizations, and even how to train your cat; And yes, they are in fact trainable!

Honeybees make decisions collectively-and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honeybees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, as world-renowned animal behaviorist Thomas Seeley reveals, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective decision making.

More than 90 percent of dog owners consider their pets to be members of their family. But often, despite our best intentions, we are letting our dogs down by not giving them the guidance and direction they need. Unwanted behavior is the number-one reason dogs are relinquished to shelters and rescue groups. The key to training dogs effectively is first to understand why our dogs do what they do. And no one can address this more authoritatively than the diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists.

Scientists are confident that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Yet rather than taking a realistic approach to what aliens might be like, we imagine that life on other planets is the stuff of science fiction. The time has come to abandon our fantasies of space invaders and movie monsters and place our expectations on solid scientific footing. But short of alien's landing in New York City, how do we know what they are like?

This delightful narrative takes listeners on a powerful search to unlock the secrets of dog cognition, based on evidence from trainers, owners, behaviorists, and the animals themselves. With in-depth reporting and more than a few personal adventures, best-selling author Jennifer S. Holland digs into what intelligence really means.

When the opossum feels threatened, she becomes paralyzed. Her body temperature plummets, her breathing and heart rates drop to a minimum, and her glands simulate the smell of a putrefying corpse. Playing Possum explores what the opossum and other creatures can teach us about how we and other species understand mortality, and demonstrates that the concept of death, far from being a uniquely human attribute, is widespread in the animal kingdom.

From dinosaurs fighting to their deaths to elephant-sized burrowing ground sloths, this book takes listeners on a global journey deep into the earth's past. Locked in Time showcases fifty of the most astonishing fossils ever found, brought together in five fascinating chapters that offer an unprecedented glimpse at the real-life behaviors of prehistoric animals.

Generations of dogs have been labeled training lemons for requiring actual motivation when all along they were perfectly normal. Numerous other completely and utterly normal dogs have been branded as canine misfits simply because they grew up to act like dogs. Barking, chewing, sniffing, licking, jumping up, and occasionally (just like people) having arguments are as normal and natural for dogs as wagging tails and burying bones.

Being a Dog is a scientifically rigorous book that presents cutting-edge research with literary flair. Revealing such surprising facts as panting dogs cannot smell to explaining how dogs tell time by detecting lingering smells, Horowitz covers the topic of noses - both canine and human - from curious and always fascinating angles. As we come to understand how rich, complex, and exciting the world around us appears to a dog's sense of smell, we can begin to better appreciate it through our own.

Remarkable new discoveries affirm the octopus as one of nature’s most intelligent and complex animals. This new book brings us closer than ever to these elusive creatures. The companion to the highly anticipated National Geographic television special, this book explores the alluring underwater world of the octopus—a creature that resembles an alien lifeform, but whose behavior has earned it a reputation as one of the most intelligent animals on the planet.

The domestic cat—your cat—has, from its evolutionary origins in Africa, been transformed in comparatively little time into one of the most successful and diverse species on the planet. Jonathan Losos, writing as both a scientist and a cat lover, explores how researchers today are unraveling the secrets of the cat, past and present, using all the tools of modern technology, from GPS tracking (you’d be amazed where those backyard cats roam) and genomics (what is your so-called Siamese cat . . . really?) to forensic archaeology.

A funny audiobook, with some funny stories that help us understand the unusual behavior and personalities of our cats. Lynn Allen is an expert when it comes to deciphering their unique quirks, and loves to help and train people to be a good person to their cats.

From the psychology of aggression to the secrets of "silent correction", this book is your essential guide to dog behaviour problems - and how to deal with them. In 10 short chapters, experienced vet Gordon Roberts guides you through the challenges of life with "man's best friend". You will learn how to tackle everything from excessive barking to food aggression and why these problems arise.