It’s been said that dogs personify all the virtues of humans without the vices. Henry James wrote that his dog was “most reasonable and well-mannered” and Plato that “a dog has the soul of a philosopher.” Over the years, dogs have taught us many things: loyalty, courage, and to turn around three times before lying down. Yet even in the face of millennia of evidence of thoughtful dogs, there has been little systematic scientific study until recently of what is actually going on in the dog’s mind, and some people even question whether dogs have the capacity for that...

In our profession, we deal with all manner of behavioural problems in dogs. Since moving to the United Kingdom 3 years ago, we find that we’re called on more and more to deal with aggressive dogs, writes Carol O’Herily in this special K9 Magazine report on causes of canine aggression and dog bites. In Australia, by far the most common problem was barking, followed then by aggression. However, here we find that around 70% of inquiries are from owners trying to deal with aggressive dogs, with most instances of barking being directly associated with problems of separation when the owner leaves...

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