Abstract:
Studying the behavior of domestic pets is difficult due to their habit of living in private homes where they are relatively inaccessible to direct behavioral observation. To help overcome this difficulty, we developed the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), a validated survey instrument originally designed to investigate the frequency and severity of behavior and behavior problems in the dog population by tapping into the knowledge and experience of dog owners and dog handlers. Since its publication in 2003, this survey has found multiple scientific and clinical uses, far more than we could have anticipated when we created it. In this presentation, I will review some of the more fascinating and intriguing discoveries that have been made using this proxy measure of dog behavior.
Speaker:
James Serpell is Emeritus Professor of Animal Welfare at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He received his BSc degree in Zoology from University College London, and his PhD in Animal Behavior from the University of Liverpool, UK. His research focuses on the behavior and welfare of dogs and cats, human attitudes to animals, and the history and psychology of human-animal relationships and interactions. He has published more than 200 articles and book chapters on these and related topics, and is the author, editor, or co-editor of several books including Animals & Human Society: Changing Perspectives (1994), In the Company of Animals (1996), Companion Animals & Us (2000), and The Domestic Dog (2016). In 2003, he created the C-BARQ—currently the world’s most widely used canine behavioral assessment instrument (http://www.cbarq.org), and, many years before that, helped to establish both the Society for Companion Animal Studies (SCAS) and the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ).
