Companion Animal Psychology Book Club March 2018

"...award-winning journalist David Grimm explores the rich and surprising history of our favourite companion animals."

The Companion Animal Psychology Book Club choice for March is Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs by David Grimm.

From the inside cover,

"Dogs are getting lawyers. Cats are getting kidney transplants. Could they one day be fellow citizens? 

Cats and dogs were once wild animals. Today, they are family members and surrogate children. A little over a century ago, pets didn't warrant the meager legal status of property. Now, they have more rights and protections than any other animal in the country. Some say they're even on the verge of becoming legal persons. 

How did we get here—and what happens next? 

In this fascinating exploration of the changing status of dogs and cats in society, pet lover and award-winning journalist David Grimm explores the rich and surprising history of our favorite companion animals."

Are you reading Citizen Canine too? Please leave your thoughts on the book in the comments.

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Companion Animal Psychology Book Club February 2018

"...Bradshaw explains how an affinity for animals drove human evolution and how now, without animals around us, we risk losing an essential part of ourselves."

The Companion Animal Psychology Book Club choice for February 2018 is The Animals Among Us: How Pets Make Us Human by John Bradshaw. In the UK, the title is The Animals Among Us: The New Science of Anthrozoology.

From the inside cover,

"In The Animals Among Us, anthrozoologist John Bradshaw argues that pet-keeping is nothing less than an intrinsic part of human nature. Throughout history, empathy for animals has increased our ability to survive. As our relationship with animals evolved, from the earliest domestication of wild animals thousands of years ago to the ubiquity of modern household pets, this connection grew ever stronger. Today, we can no more set aside the attachment that many of us feel for animals than we can ignore our sweet tooth. 

Drawing on the latest research in biology and psychology, Bradshaw explains how an affinity for animals drove human evolution and how now, without animals around us, we risk losing an essential part of ourselves."

Will you be reading the book too? Leave your thoughts on it in the comments below.

Companion Animal Psychology is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Companion Animal Psychology is also a participant in the Etsy Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Etsy.com.

Companion Animal Psychology Book Club December 2017

"...a clarion call for reassessing both how we view animals and how we treat them."

This month, the Companion Animal Psychology Book Club is reading The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy ― and Why They Matter by Marc Bekoff (with a foreward by Jane Goodall).

From the cover,

"Based on award-winning scientist Marc Bekoff’s years studying social communication in a wide range of species, this important book shows that animals have rich emotional lives. Bekoff skillfully blends extraordinary stories of animal joy, empathy, grief, embarrassment, anger, and love with the latest scientific research confirming the existence of emotions that common sense and experience have long implied. Filled with Bekoff’s light humor and touching stories, The Emotional Lives of Animals is a clarion call for reassessing both how we view animals and how we treat them."

Will you be reading the book alongside us? Leave your thoughts on the book in the comments below.

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Companion Animal Psychology is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Companion Animal Psychology Book Club November 2017

"It will forever change how we see our aquatic cousins - the pet goldfish included."

The Companion Animal Psychology Book Club choice for November 2017 is What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins by Jonathan Balcombe.

From the back cover,

"Do fishes think? Do they really have three-second memories? And can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? In What a Fish Knows, the myth-busting ethologist Jonathan Balcombe addresses these questions and more, taking us under the sea, through streams and estuaries, and to the other side of the aquarium glass to reveal the surprising capabilities of fishes. Teeming with insights and exciting discoveries, What a Fish Knows offers a thoughtful appraisal of our relationships with fishes and the planet's increasingly imperiled marine life. It will forever change how we see our aquatic cousins - the pet goldfish included."

Why not join us in reading the book? You can leave your comments below!

You can also follow Jonathan Balcombe on twitter.

Companion Animal Psychology is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Companion Animal Psychology is also a participant in the Etsy Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Etsy.com.