Hal Herzog

A New Checklist Helps You Choose a Healthy Dog The innate health assessment is a checklist of 10 characteristics to look for if you’re getting a puppy or dog. A score of 8 out of 10 signifies good innate health.

For @psychologytoday.com I wrote about the new innate health assessment for dogs and how it can help people choose a healthy dog or puppy (for puppies, assess both parents). It's a simple checklist and a score of 8 out of 10 is a pass www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fell...

What Did the Biophilia Hypothesis Get Wrong? Recent studies showing wide cultural and individual differences in biophilia call into question the claim that humans are instinctive nature lovers.

New research on cultural and individual differences in biophilia undercut the idea that humans have an innate need to affiliate with nature. Rather, biophilia is a trait, with individual differences roughly 50% due to genetic influences @psychologytoday.com www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...

I agree. I informally interviewed several zookeepers, but when I tried to do a formal study, the Knoxville Zoo denied my request to interview any of their employees. I wonder what they were afraid of. (They did let me do a study of the behavior of zoo visitors.)

The Surprising Link Between Pet Attachment and Mental Health Can you be too attached to your pet? More than 100 studies have found surprising links between strong pet attachment and psychological distress.

Can people be too attached to their pets? Results of over 100 human-animal bond studies suggest the answer is yes. My latest for @psychologytoday.com www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...

Why Do Dog Breeds With Genetic Problems Become Popular? Popular “flat-faced” dogs like French bulldogs suffer from a host of genetic disorders. New research shows the public and even owners prefer less extreme versions of these breeds.

Despite their genetic problems, French Bulldogs are now the most popular purebred dog breed in the US and the UK. A new study examines the causes of the growing popularity of "flat-faced" breeds and the consequences for animal welfare. @psychologytoday.com www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...

Great point about zookeepers. I wanted to do a research project on keepers at the Knoxville Zoo. However, the administration would not allow me to interview their animal care staff. Go figure.

Great point about zoo keepers. I talked with zoo keepers and wanted to turn this into a research project. However, the local zoo (Knoxville) would not give me permission to interview their animal care staff. Go figure.

A photo of the book Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat by Hal Herzog. A bearded dragon (lizard with a wide face and spiky chin) is resting her front feet on the cover, looking somewhere past the camera.

I really enjoyed reading @halherzog.bsky.social’s Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat. It’s a fascinating look about how we think about animals, with the only agenda being, yeah, none of us are rational. As a zookeeper, I felt like I had more I could contribute as well.

Why Do We Spend So Much Money on Our Pets? "Pet speciesism" explains why Americans spend 20 times more on the care and feeding of their pets than they donate to the cause of animal protection.

Was George Orwell right when he wrote, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others?" Here's the evidence from behavioral economics. @psychologytoday.com www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...

Why Childhood May Be the Ideal Period for Vegan Education Jared considers recent findings from developmental psychology regarding children’s relationship with animals and animal products, and explores why childhood may make an ideal period for vegan educa…

A nice overview of research on why children and adults think differently about the treatment of animals. @phair-society.bsky.social phairsociety.org/2025/02/10/w...

Dog Population in the USA Dog population studies reveal that 60% of the world’s dogs live in homes, not on the streets. New research links dog populations to human density, offering insights for pet policies and urban planning...

Surprise...Despite media claims, dog ownership in the United States has risen only slightly since 1950. @wellbeingintl.bsky.social wellbeingintl.org/dog-populati...

Will Spending Time with Your Dog Cheer You Up? A rigorous new study finds that just 10 minutes of interacting with pet dogs improves the emotional well-being of distressed owners.

I have been critical of some of the studies on the impact of pets on the health and well-being of their owners. But this new study is a good one. @psychologytoday.bsky.social www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...

No evidence for inequity aversion in non-human animals: a meta-analysis of accept/reject paradigms | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Disadvantageous inequity aversion (IA), a negative response to receiving less than others, is a key building block of the human sense of fairness. While some theorize that IA is shared by species acro...

Ouch...large metanalysis finds no evidence of equity aversion in non-human animals. Thanks @stevestuwill.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

I'm not sure what to make of this, but it looks interesting - using machine learning models to predict adult dogs' personalities from their behavior as puppies.

Does Becoming a Vegetarian or Vegan Affect Your Love Life? A new study finds that becoming a vegetarian or vegan may change who you spend time with and restrict your pool of dating partners.

From the archives -- does giving up meat change your friendships? @psychologytoday.com www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/an...

We are just beginning to see the deadly spillover effects of the COVID pandemic as Republican support for childhood vaccinations has plummeted to 26%!

We explain how we got here, where it's going, and what we can do to help stop it: www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/why-polari...

Quite a long article, but very interesting.
And hitting close to home too,having 2 #autoimmune diseases and taking one of the drugs mentionned 😔 #autoimmunelife #disabledvegan #chronicallyill #immunosuppressed

I've got a new post at Psychology Today

Do social cats have better problem-solving skills? - A new study looked at how cats' social behavior toward humans was related to their problem-solving abilities!

A new study looked at the relationship between cats' social behavior toward humans and their ability to solve a puzzle feeder! Read about what the researchers found on my blog!!

Link in bio/linktree or
whatyourcatwants.com/do-social-ca...

That's the program at Canisius. It has a good reputations.

Pet Ownership and Psychosocial Factors in Adults Aged 40 Years and Over: Results of a Large Nationally Representative Longitudinal Survey Thus far, few cross-sectional studies have investigated the association between pet ownership and psychosocial factors. As longitudinal studies on this topic are mostly lacking, this study aimed to an...

Yet another epidemiological study supports "the pet effect paradox." Pet ownership was not linked to better mental health. Cat ownership was associated with increased loneliness in men, and women with dogs had lower life satisfaction. www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/14...

Exploring the ‘Pet Effect’: Does Playing with Pets Contribute to Owner Wellbeing? Although many people strongly believe in wellbeing benefits of having pets (the ‘pet effect’), research on the ‘pet effect’ in actuality is highly mixed. Surprisingly, little research has explored the...

Surprise! "The current study indicates human–pet play does not contribute to the ‘pet effect’ nor social buffering, thus raising questions for future research regarding the exact purpose of play within the human–pet relationship."
www.mdpi.com/2813-9372/1/...

A New Take on Natural Selection Through a mix of fieldwork and laboratory experimentation, Yale Professor—and newly minted MacArthur Fellow—Martha Muñoz, PhD ’14, is gaining insight into how species’ behavior and physical traits sha...

“Natural selection isn't something that just happens to organisms,” she says. “They have capacity in that process. So, it’s a bit of a reframing of what we think to be true about nature.” gsas.harvard.edu/news/new-tak...

Erik, please add me to the Science feed. My background is in ethology and my main research is on the study of moral thinking and human-animal relationships. Hal Herzog
Google Scholar profile scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=e...

YouTube video by Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives Why Do Humans Have Language? | Gabriel Blanco Gomez

Why do humans have language? 🗣️

@mcgill.ca PhD student Gabriel Blanco Gomez explores how #genetics, #neuroscience & #culture shape human communication. Discover what makes our #language unique—and why it's one of science's greatest mysteries! 🧪🌟

Watch now: youtu.be/0hnktq_VH1s?...

#AcademicSky

Why it is important to publish null and negative results in "pet effect" studies.
"This study serves as a guidepost for human–animal interaction researchers as to the importance of including contextual variables in their studies before making claims regarding the impact of companion animals on youth

Talking Dogs: The Paradoxes Inherent in the Cultural Phenomenon of Soundboard Use by Dogs In recent years, dogs that appear to communicate with people by pressing buttons on soundboards that replay pre-recorded English words have become very popular on social media online. We explore how t...

New paper on using talking buttons w/dogs (but cats too): "although well intentioned and playful, this approach...runs the risk of replacing the ways that dogs truly communicate with people, such as barking and whining, with an infantile form of human communication" mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/22/3272

Pet Ownership and Family Involvement in Sports and Other Activities The impact that companion animals may have on adolescent engagement in sports and other activities is currently unclear. This study included participant data gathered from the Adolescent Brain Cogn...

Very excited to share new research out in Anthrozoös looking at how pet ownership may impact family involvement in sports and other activities using the #ABCD Dataset.

Free ePrint here for anyone interested:
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/K7KN7...

#HAI #Pets

A study of 15,000 students suggests recent increases in vegetarianism have been limited to women. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anim...