What can science tell us about dogs? – with Jules Howard

Does your dog really love you? Can dogs understand human emotions? And what's the history of dogs and scientific research? Watch the Q&A here:    • Q&A: What can science tell us about dogs? ...  

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Join zoologist Jules Howard as he explores how we gained our current understanding of what dogs are capable of and what the new breed of scientists are discovering.

This lecture was recorded at the Ri on 12 May 2022.

0:00 Intro - how dogs help to answer questions of animal cognition
4:18 How well can dogs understand language?
7:46 Can animals feel emotions like humans?
9:53 Can animals emotionally attach?
12:52 Can animals understand human gestures?
16:05 Do animals have theory of mind?
18:25 The history of dogs in science
27:12 Pavlov and his dogs
32:36 Colonel Konrad Most and negatively training dogs
34:52 The history and myth of ‘alpha dogs’
39:02 BF Skinner and radical behaviourism
42:40 The most influential dog behaviour study you’ve never heard of
47:27 1999 and the family dog project
50:16 The future of research: are dogs conscious?

Jules Howard is a UK-based wildlife expert, zoologist, science-writer and broadcaster. He is the author of four non-fiction books, including 'Sex on Earth' and 'Death on Earth' (Bloomsbury), the latter being shortlisted for the Royal Society of Biology Book Prize.

Jules writes for the Guardian, BBC Wildlife and BBC Focus. He appears regularly on TV and radio shows, including Good Morning Britain, BBC Radio Five Live, BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 4, Springwatch Unsprung and Channel 4's Sunday Brunch.

Jules also hosts and performs each year at a number of festivals and live events including Wilderness, Green Man, Blue Dot, Edinburgh International Science Festival and Cheltenham Science Festival. His warm and light-hearted delivery has seen him compared to Bill Bryson, Stephen Jay Gould and Jon Ronson. National Geographic have referred to his work as 'refreshingly self-aware' and Science have called his writing 'Eye-opening, engaging and enjoyably humorous'.

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