More Animal Behavior Blogs

Hello!

I'm seeing the light at the end of the dissertation tunnel. It won't be long before I complete my final MSc coursework. I won't be blogging here any more, but I want to leave you with links to a few Animal Behavior Science blogs so that you may continue reading about this topic.

• UC Davis Animal Behavior blog - www.theethogram.com
• Dr. Jennifer Campbell-Smith's blog about Crow research - http://coyot.es/thecorvidblog/
• Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education - http://jmicaweactivities.blogspot.co.uk/
• Dr. Terese Hart's Field Research on Congolese Wildlife - http://www.bonoboincongo.com/
• Dr. Georgia Mason's Animal Behaviour & Welfare Lab - https://masonabwlab.wordpress.com/

We can talk to the animals!

This is why I study Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare! (& why my dissertation is on the complex social behaviour of African birds) I really should be writing and editing my dissertation now instead of posting an extra blog post. I have completed the required number of blog posts as an official blogger for the Veterinary school, but... LOOK AT THIS RESEARCH THAT WAS JUST PUBLISHED! It is really exciting. It totally builds on my last long, convoluted post about people learning from birds & humans and other species living in harmony. It also supports my point that we "Westerners" need to respect the abilities and views of indigenous people much more than we typically do.

A paper was just published in the journal, Science, on the ability of humans and birds to talk to each other. This is not 'parroting' or talking at birds and pretending that they are human, but actually working with and communicating with the birds. 

Look at this cool stuff:

http://www2.zoo.cam.ac.uk/africancuckoos/systems/honeyguides_mutualism.html

Dr. Claire Spottiswoode is my new awesome female scientist role model. 

Dr. Spottiswoode, if you happen to read this, I would like to do a PhD with you.

I really want to go to Africa to do field research. 

Ok, I'm done totally geek-ing out. I'll get back to writing my dissertation now. 

Just Keep Swimming

I took a break from working on my dissertation to go see Finding Dory last week. I really enjoyed it. I don't want to spoil the film for you, especially because it has not yet been released in the UK. In Finding Nemo, Dory sings "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming swimming..." when things are getting tough. Dory's song reminds me of a song from my childhood that went, "Inch by inch, row by row, I'm going to make this garden grow..." Both of these songs are about doing one small thing at a time, especially when things feel overwhelming.

Clinical Animal Behaviourists break behaviours or tricks that they are training into small steps for animals to learn. For example, I am training my dog to target or touch items with his rear feet, so I started by rewarding him for moving toward the target item, then for moving his hind legs in the direction of the item, then stepping backward near the item, then touching any part of the item with his foot, then touching the middle of the item with his foot, then holding his foot on top of the middle of the item for a few seconds. This is shaping and building a behaviour. Complex tricks like running an entire agility course or doing a circus performance can be trained step-wise in a similar way.

Despite my understanding of clinical behaviour and animal training, it is a challenge for me to break my own projects into smaller steps. I used to keep my schedule extremely full and work under extreme pressure at the last minute, i.e. writing a paper the night before it was due. I worked in that way throughout high school and during most of undergrad, but it became very unhealthy. Short-term stress is ok, but long-term stress takes a toll on health. I know not to push my dog too hard by training him for too long because it could make him irritable, stressed and negatively impact his learning. This year, I have been working to develop new, healthier work habits. Unfortunately, it takes a long time for new habits/behaviours to form. My dog will have to practice touching a target with his rear foot many, many times before it becomes a behaviour that he does quickly and reliably without hesitation. The same is true for human behaviour modification. I have learned a great deal during this MSc programme, but I often notice that even when I know something cognitively (for example, I know that leaving writing to the last minute is unhealthy for me), I have trouble converting that information into my behavioural habits. 

It is difficult to break large projects into smaller pieces and to do one piece at a time. I was able to do this when I was preparing for graduate school. Some of my steps toward my post-graduate studies were:

1. Complete a Bachelor's degree in Psychology 

2. Work in an Exotic veterinary practice

 a. excel as a veterinary assistant & learn best ways to handle exotic animals safely and humanely 

 b. gain promotion to veterinary nurse and learn veterinary skills

 c. read a book on Avian Behaviour which referenced studies at Dick Vet

 d. read veterinary journals and behavioural case studies which also cited research conducted in Scotland

3. Work in a not-for-profit veterinary practice with an Animal Welfare mission

a. learn about animal sheltering, TNR, spay/neuter, cat and dog behaviour

4. Take online classes in clinical behaviour, animal welfare and training

5. Clicker-train my dog, friends' dogs, my cat and my chickens 

6. Apply for Edinburgh's MSc AABAW programme

7. Attend the University of Edinburgh in Scotland...(write this blog, etc. etc.)

Now, I am starting to see a bit of light at the end of the MSc tunnel because my dissertation is due in about a month. I still have many, many little steps left. I am reminding myself to do one thing at a time. If I can keep doing on thing at a time (one graph, one outline, one sentence, one paragraph, one page, one section, one citation...) I should end up with a paper/dissertation. If I include the steps of editing, rewriting, proofreading, then I should have a good dissertation. I have already done many of the steps of this project, but I still have writing and more work to do. 

The good news is that, since this is an animal behaviour project, the animals were already behaving or at least had the ability to perform various behaviours. I am just decoding that behaviour and communicating the information in written scientific language (instead of greedily keeping the knowledge in my brain) so that, hopefully, animals will benefit in the future. I hope understanding animal behaviour can improve animal welfare. The focus of this master's degree and the mission of animal welfare science is understanding animal behaviour to improve animal welfare. I know that as my understanding of my dog's behaviour improved, his welfare improved because we were able to work and live together more easily. I know that learning about my chickens' behaviour has helped me promote their welfare, and that modifications to my home that are in line with promoting normal cat behaviour have improved the welfare of my cat. 

Nothing is perfect, but a little by little, we can create positive change in the world. 

Hello!

I'm so excited to be blogging about my experiences as a student in the MSc Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare programme at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh. I know that you probably already know the title of my course if you are visiting this blog, but I love saying it because I spent so much time working toward my dream and goal of coming here, and I am so happy to be sitting in Dick Vet school right now typing this! :)


Since this is my first (ever) blog post, I'll start by telling you a bit about how I got here. Life is amazing chain of events and I love to think about how everything in my life lead me to be here....but I'll save the early life experiences for some other time. The first time I heard about Dick Vet, I was a Veterinary Assistant at an Exotics only veterinary practice, and I was reading a book about parrot behaviour. I later read more about Dick Vet and Edinburgh University research in American veterinary journals. I had also read great things about other veterinary research in Scotland in these journals like the pain assessment scale for companion animals which was developed in Glasgow.


I've been here since September, but it still is only just sinking in that I am actually here, doing this programme. I literally keep reminding myself that I'm sitting in front of veterinary learning models in the Dick Vet school study landscape while I'm typing.
Working as a Veterinary Assistant, there was a lot of dreaming of the magical, mythical place called Vet Schools where exceptional people could go to become Doctors or Scientists.


Luckily, everyone here is much more down to earth than I ever imagined that Scientists working in a Vet School could be. The wonderful scientists and professors who present lectures to me spend a great deal of time actually deconstructing this idea that scientists or even science is perfect.
We've spent a lot of time talking about how scientists are human and how there is no escaping the fact that these humans doing science are coming from a certain cultural, ethical, or political background when planning their studies and interpreting their findings. Our lecture on Ethics emphasized the point that to do good science, it is important to be clear, honest and transparent about your ethical views and explain them up-front, as well as explain other views.


The field of Animal Welfare Science (and yes, that is a real, experimental, scientific field for any of you who started to panic when you read the word 'Welfare' right next to the word 'Science')* has its roots in the 1960s in Britain when a book about intensive farming caused the public to get the government to address that issue. The government founded the Brambell Committee which included scientists, who decided that animals were sentient/capable of suffering, and animal welfare should be assessed scientifically. This concept of addressing animal suffering scientifically is really interesting because it occurred while reductionist behaviourism was popular (behaviourists argued that scientists should not address internal, mental states of animals or people) but, in order to start doing Animal Welfare Science research you have to find a way to assess internal states of animals, such as suffering or distress. It is a dilemma that will make you go crazy if you think about it too much, and I've been spending a lot of time thinking about it do much. Add to my dilemma that I have studied psychology and I became interested in this master's degree because of classes taught by an old-school behaviourist. I have also studied animal behaviour, welfare and ethics with students of B.F. Skinner, the founder of behaviourism.


The scientist in the Brambell committee who said we should approach animal welfare issues scientifically...which sounds like a great idea because even behaviourists think that science is the best way of finding information to solve problems...was an ethologist. I don't have a background in ethology, but some students in my course have been taught by great ethologists.


The point I'm trying to make is that my lecturers and the scientists in this field are forced to question the history, philosophy, and ethics of science before they can begin to conduct research.


I did not expect to be learning about these issues or to have my entire world-view turned on its head multiple times when I started this course. It is very enlightening. I think I'm lucky to be in a field of science where the status quo is rigorously questioned.


A big part of higher education is to have your mind opened and to become a critical thinker.


*Animal Behaviour Science is also a real, experimental scientific field despite that one Imposter Syndrome nightmare I had in which people yelled at me that animal behaviour science was not a real science and smart people studied molecules, which was terrifying but also pretty silly. I'm obviously an amazingly smart Scientist because I'm studying at a Dick Vet School (I've clearly learned how to make really impressive circular arguments. lol.)