It's well known that dogs are exceptionally good at interpreting human behaviour but the same is not always true, vice versa.  Some of this is because we tend to impute human emotions to dogs.  For example, the owner who comes back to find his dog has trashed the house tends to yell and jump up and down and the dog - if he has any sense! - beats a hasty retreat.  He is not looking or feeling guilty - in fact he's probably long forgotten that he is the author of the mess - but he is alarmed at his owner's "unusual" behaviour.

Now a recent American study suggests that humans are able to detect a dog's emotion simply by looking at a photograph.  Using images of a Belgian Shepherd, they found that happiness was the easiest emotion to recognise with an 88% success rate.  Aggression was identified by 70% of the participants while 45% identifed fear in the dog.  Relatively few recognised sadness or disgust - but how could they be sure the dog was feeling sad or disgusted?  For me, the most interesting result of the study was that those who had very little experience of dogs were better at identifying negative emotions.  Is this because, as owners, we tend to fool ourselves and deny such emotions in our dogs?  For example, owners often use euphemisms when they tell me that their dogs are "not very friendly/good"with people or other dogs - when they are clearly highly aggressive.

Non verbal communication is good between humans and dogs but I would still argue that dogs are better at reading us than the other way round.

The Canine Behaviour Centre's Dog Psychology Course was founded 14 years ago although I personally have worked as a dog psychologist for 20+ years.  Since that time the Course has been imitated but never equalled and we have acquired a highly regarded reputation that we guard jealously. In order to become an Associate Member, students have to complete an arduous assessment and then agree to abide by a Code of Conduct.  If anybody makes a complaint about the behaviour of a Member, we investigate and if the complaint is upheld that person is expelled from our organisation.  Unfortunately we cannot do anything about anyone who enrols on the Course but does not complete it - but claims to have studied, rather than qualified, with us.  If you have any doubts about somebody claiming to have qualified with us please do contact us ... we take our repuation as the leaders in the professional field very seriously.

A Welsh bus company has upset some dog owners by charging dogs for every trip.  A single fare of £1 might not seem a lot but if you are travelling with half a dozen dogs it couuld be expensive.  And if you are carrying a Chihuahua tucked into your coat is it fair to pay the same as a Great Dane sprawled in the aisle?  Tell me what you think?  Should dogs pay to travel on buses and if so, should it be a standard fare irrespective of size?