Inside Your Pet’s Mind: Dr. Stanley Coren Explains It All
This week on Animal Party, host Deborah Wolfe welcomes renowned dog expert and psychologist Dr. Stanley Coren for a fascinating deep dive into how pets think, learn, and behave—especially as they age. From quirky kitten behaviors like nighttime suckling and early separation issues, to the evolving personality of senior dogs, this episode explores the powerful roles of socialization, breed traits, and sensory changes. Dr. Coren breaks down why older dogs can become more fearful, how vision loss affects confidence, and why Border Collies may grow more anxious over time. Plus, practical advice on managing behavioral challenges—from leash techniques and training tools to choosing the right pet for your lifestyle. It’s an insightful and eye-opening conversation every pet parent won’t want to miss.
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Listen to Episode #264 Now:
BIO:
Stanley Coren is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. His undergraduate degree is from the University of Pennsylvania and his doctorate in Psychology is from Stanford University. He is best known to the public for his popular books on dogs and on general psychological issues, however within the scientific world he is also a highly respected scientist. He has published over 350 scientific reports in professional journals as well as 19 books for students and professionals. He has received many honors and awards for his scientific work, has been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and was named as one of the 2000 outstanding scientists of the Twentieth Century by the International Biographical Society.
His engaging writing style has made his books for general audiences extremely popular. All of these books, including “The Intelligence of Dogs,” “How to Speak Dog,” and “How Dogs Think” have reached bestseller status. His recent his book for children, “Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses?” received the Animal Behavior Society’s award for the best “Children’s book of the Year” and also the Red Cedar Award for best children’s informational book. His newest book, “The Modern Dog,” explores the relationship between dogs and humans. He has also received the Writer of the Year, from the International Positive Dog Training Association, for his most recent works.
Many professional associations have recognized Coren’s work with dogs. He has received awards from several major police dog organizations including the California Canine Narcotic Association who cited him for his “continuing contributions toward the understanding of canine behavior.”
Coren’s knowledge of dogs has often caught the attention of the media and he has been the subject of feature articles in USA Today, New York Times, People Magazine and others. He is a popular guest with broadcast media and has been featured on numerous television programs including Oprah, Larry King, Dateline, 20/20, Maurie Povich, Good Morning America, Charlie Rose, the Today Show and many more. He was the host of the nationally broadcast television show Good Dog! and is now seen regularly on Pet Central on the Pet Network. He is also a regular contributor to a number of dog and pet related magazines including Modern Dog, AnimalSense, Pets Magazine and Puppy and Dog Basics, among others.
Transcript:
Hello, you're listening to Animal Party on Pet Life Radio with me, Deb Wolfe, your host as always, and today's special treat, recurring guest, one of my favorites, the man to talk to about how dogs think, that's for sure. So we're talking to Dr. Stan Coren, professor of psychology and dog expert, author of many books including Intelligence of Dogs. Welcome to the show, Dr. Coren.
Glad to be here, Deb. So, okay, so I have a little bit of a politically correct, incorrect question for you. I had someone mail in about their dog and they were talking about how their dog, and I'm going to say this in quotes, their dog is a retard.
That's what they said. And then I had someone else tell me that they adopted two kittens and they were asking me, did we adopt them too young? One of the kittens is no problem, but the other kitten is constantly suckling. And they also used the R word.
They said, we think its development is retarded. Okay, so two brother kittens, one is somehow slow and isn't stopping nursing behaviors. The other one's fine.
Did they adopt those two too early? Hard to tell. Socialization is one of the most important things which we have in terms of our animals. You know, you go to Europe and a lot of people say, well, the European dogs are better trained than the dogs here in North America.
And the truth of the matter is that they're not. The big difference with the European dogs is that they are socialized. They are allowed to go out and be in a whole lot of places which are not permitted here in North America.
So on public transport, on trains, in cafes and restaurants and supermarkets and all that sort of thing. And so from the time they are very young, these dogs are being out and being socialized and that stabilizes the mind. It makes them more tractable.
It makes them easier to deal with and seems to cure a whole bunch of problems. Here in North America, the dogs are barred from all of that sort of thing. So socialization is really the important thing here.
Now, that's what a dog or a cat gets in the litter. And the rule of thumb which people use is that the dog could be adopted out around seven weeks of age. I think that that's too young.
I think that they're going to be closer to nine weeks of age. And the data seems to support that. So our dogs leave the litter already not quite as well socialized as the dogs in Europe.
So that's part of it. If the cats were taken away from the litter too young, that could be contributing to it. And if you have a submissive cat who is one who is not interacting as much with the other members of its litter, that cat can show what looks like developmental delay as though they have their lagging behind in terms of their socialization.
So I think that that's one possibility. But again, this is like practicing family medicine over the over the phone. I mean, I haven't seen the animals or that sort of thing.
Well, and I kind of think if one is OK and not exhibiting this behavior, then it may not necessarily be that they were taken away too early. It could be more of a different nature, like you say, like the submissive one is still doing submissive behaviors, which is this what appears to be nursing. But it could be something else.
It could be grooming. It could be something else. So the lady asks, OK, so she writes in, how do I get this kitten to stop suckling at night? It sneaks into the bed along with my other pets, but it does this obsessive suckling on the sheets and makes the sheets wet.
I pick it up. I toss it. I have reprimanded it.
I've sprayed it with a spray bottle. But no matter what, as soon as she falls asleep, the cat comes back like that song. The cat came back.
So so she's saying her sleep is really interrupted. Should she just lock it out of the room? That won't teach it, though, will it? What can she do to teach it? You're allowed in the bed if you don't do this suckling. But if you suckle, get out of here.
Well, I mean, you should do the same thing you do with a dog, which is you should kennel it overnight. I mean, that's what kennel crates are sort of magic for. The animal gets used to sleeping through the night and the owner gets to sleep through the night or just lock it out of the room when it does.
This would be an alternative because most people don't want a meowing cat in a kennel. Well, I mean, yes, I mean, locking it out of the room is good if you don't have a male cat who's then going to spray all over your your living room furniture while you're asleep. You don't sound like a cat fan, Dr. Cats are not my cup of fur.
No, I mean, I mean, we've had cats over time, but first of all, we pick our cats very carefully. Since I have a house full of dogs, we tend to get only ginger cats, the ones with the ones with the M or the W on their forehead. Yeah.
And they're genetically very different. I mean, 95 percent of them are male. And although they don't get along very well with other cats, they are wonderful around dogs.
And so if a cat's going to come into my house, it has to be dog friendly. And so when a cat comes into my house, it's adopted by my dogs and I don't have to worry about what's happening at night. The cat is sleeping with the dogs.
Oh, well, that's very nice. OK, we're going to go to break and come back and take a question that came in the form of a voice clip. So if you're listening out there and you want to send us a voice clip, you want to hear your question on air and you'd like it to be answered, you can send it to Deb at PetLifeRadio.com. You can also send typed out questions, too.
But we're going to come back from a commercial break and play a question from a lady in Ontario somewhere north of Toronto who has a border collie that's a little bit quirky. Stay tuned on Animal Party, Pet Life Radio. Hello, we're back on Animal Party, Pet Life Radio.
He doesn't like cats, but I do. I've got one on the back of my chair and one that was fiddling with my headset wire. Not exactly ideal during a live broadcast, but we've got Dr. Stan Korn on the on the line here and he's answering your pet questions.
Coming up, we're about to play a question about a border collie. So here we go. Hi, my name's Anne.
Firstly, I'd like to say great show, Debra, really good information for dog owners. I'm an experienced dog owner, having had several different breeds over the years. I currently have a 15-year-old female border collie.
Our family took Kira in when she was six years old after her owner passed. As a family, we immediately noticed she is incredibly smart, sensitive and loyal. However, she is quite skittish and like a generally concerned dog.
Maybe I call it nervous sometimes. So as she has transitioned into senior doghood, we have definitely noticed some really interesting behaviors and coping mechanisms. She has a boatload of quirks, as my husband would say, that are more magnified as she ages.
So firstly, I would say that she has never been truly interested in socializing with other dogs and less so now. It's almost gotten to the point when we are walking her, she doesn't even want to go past certain homes because she knows that there's certain dogs she doesn't like that live there, and it's gotten to the point where she might not even want to enter the street we're headed towards. Anyway, even when owners are coming towards us with their dog, like she really needs a big berth.
She will cross the street, anything to just kind of avoid that situation. And that is definitely more magnified as she's gotten older. Also now, I would say the second most noticeable thing in her behavior is the way she copes with her vision loss.
So I don't think she can see very well close up anymore. So this has actually been quite astonishing to see, but when she's uncertain about her surface, like let's say if she's walking on the hardwood floors and she has to cross onto a carpet, she will pause at the carpet's edge, turn around, and back up onto the carpet. It's almost as if she's like walking off a cliff otherwise, and she just can't deal with it.
So she has learned to just stop, back up, and get on that carpet without having to face it. It's really quite something to see, but definitely a coping mechanism for, I think, loss of some vision. The other thing I would say about Kira now is that she, as I said, she's very sensitive, so if she notices that I'm upset or even have a worrisome tone, she will actually come up to me and just, you know, rest upon me, whether on my chest or my leg, and she will literally look into my soul with concern.
And I mean, she did that before, but now it's just sort of on a different level, maybe because she's more nestled into our family, but certainly speaks to how sensitive a breed she is, but I would say that's more, um, more the case now that she's older. So I'm just kind of putting this out there. If there's any other Border Collie dog owners out there that are experiencing some of these funny things, these quirks as their dogs are getting older, I'd love to know, that's kind of a, I don't know, I didn't experience this really with my other dogs as much and certainly to these extremes.
So anyway, thanks for your time. Bye. Okay.
There's a lot to unpack there. Can you help her with any of this? Make it easier for the dog to go for a walk down streets where there's other dogs or make it easier to enter rooms? I mean, first thing comes to mind is nightlights. Maybe that will help with the vision.
I'm not sure what else we can tell her, but is this something common with Border Collies? That's her first question. Okay. The first thing which I should say is that there's going to be two factors here or three factors here.
One is breed, the other is age, and the other is sensory status. It turns out fortuitously, I suppose just last week, an article came out of a Toyos Leland University in Budapest, Hungary. That's Adam McCloskey's group, and it has some things to say, which are important here.
Let's start with the breed. Border Collies to start with are not particularly sociable dogs. If you're looking for a sucky-face dog, you get yourself a Retriever or a Spaniel.
Border Collies can be very friendly, but they are not clingy or that sort of thing. They'd rather herd sheep than go visit with other dogs, basically. That's right.
For Border Collies, their sensory status is very important. Border Collies, in some respects, are very much like the sighthounds, like the greyhounds or the whippets or that sort of thing, in that they're always scanning the horizon, looking for things. In their case, they're looking for things to herd or move around or that sort of thing.
When their visual status begins to deteriorate, that makes them very insecure. The adaptation to that sort of insecurity will vary from dog to dog. It sounds to me like, for example, the thing about the carpet thing.
You have to remember that all dogs are farsighted to begin with. So if the dog is losing its sensory status, its ability to see things which are near is going to deteriorate faster than their ability to see things which are far. So if the dog is trotting along and suddenly hits a change in the surface, that's going to bring them to, oh, stop, you know, let's figure out what's happening here, and that additional degree of cautiousness.
Now, that brings us to this newest research. This newest research was looking at what happens to the personality and the behavior of dogs as they age. And it's a fairly substantial study.
And it involved both a cross-sectional survey, and they also took a subset of dogs, which they monitored over two and a half years or more to look at direct changes within the individual. And one of the things which they found is that older dogs tend to become more fearful. I mean, that's it.
That's one of their major findings. Yeah, I've noticed that with Thunder, right? That's a key thing with Thunder as they age. Well, and they become spookier and they become spookier around other animals.
OK, in addition. So there's that generalized increase in fearfulness, plus the fact that they become more fearful, more anxious, sometimes more aggressive toward other animals as they grow older. That's one of the reasons why the rule of thumb in therapy dog use is that as the dog gets older, you have to be more cautious because they're going to be some point in time where the dog is going to become too quirky, even though it's been on the job for 10 years, it's going to become too quirky to use as a therapy dog.
So I believe that that's what's happening. I mean, the only border collie issue there, other than the fact that the dogs are clever enough to think themselves into trouble sometimes, is the fact that they are not the most sociable dogs to start with. And so you add to that the age related increase in fearfulness and anxiety around other animals, and that can pretty much account for the problems which she's dealing with.
Can you approach it the same way you would with a fearful young dog, where you just teach the dog, we're going to go down this street anyway, and I'm going to make sure you have no contact with that dog. Trust me, we're healing. That's what we're doing.
Don't worry about this dog. And you do it at a distance. And over time, when this dog learn a new habit that we can avoid conflict by listening to mom instead of avoiding the street.
Well, the trick here is the difference between this and a puppy is that for the puppy, you can expect that there will be improvement. But the march of time, if you will, is going on with the older dog. So your major tool in dealing with this sort of thing is your leash.
You never let that dog off leash. The dog, especially if it's visual problems are increasing. The dog draws security from having that leash on him.
They know that you're there. And most dogs feel more secure in the presence of their owner, especially if their owner is making contact with them. So, you know, my feeling would be the, you put the dog on a leash and you keep them on the leash when you take him out for a walk.
Lots of people, especially if you have a bright dog, will lose that leash and let the dog sort of range out ahead of them. And only call them back if they see an incident developing. I got the sense here that she's running this dog off leash for quite a bit of time because she talked about the fact that the dog will cross the street to avoid problems.
That means that the dog was probably not on leash. And the real solution here is that leash. That leash says, I'm next to you.
You're safe. Calm down, pussycat. OK.
OK. OK, I understand that. So we're going to go to break and come back and talk a little more with Dr. Stan Korn, professor of psychology, dog expert, renowned author.
Stay tuned, everyone, to Animal Party Pet Life Radio with me, Deb Wolfe. Hello. We're back on Animal Party Pet Life Radio.
Sounds like Dr. Korn doesn't really think cats make the best pets unless you're very particular. Sean Cullen, the comedian, I was watching him the other night and he was saying, well, in his opinion, the worst pet would be a clam. A clam would make a very bad pet.
And I think that is correct. You cannot cuddle a clam. He did a whole routine about it.
It was just hysterically funny. But I do think sometimes people get the wrong pet, don't they? Oh, yeah. This lady, she has the right pet.
And good for her to take it in at six, even though it was already quirky and stand by it through old age. And she's got the right pet. But some people, maybe they'd be better off with fish or a cat.
And they get a dog, a high needs dog or cute dog, but they don't realize a Dalmatian sporting or a golden doodle needs a lot of attention or a border collie needs to work. Have you got any examples you've come across where the people just totally got the wrong dog? Oh, I mean, thousands. The the most recent one is a gal, a French francophone Canadian who moved here to Vancouver, and she decided that the neighborhood which she was in was was not particularly safe and that sort of thing.
And she was going to pick out a dog. And all the dogs which she had had prior to that had been dogs like Coton de Toulier and Havanese. Yeah.
Sweet little dogs. OK, so she got herself a German shepherd. OK, which is a herding dog.
But people think they're guarding dogs. So it's kind of a strange one. They look tough, but they're a little bit nervous, I find.
Well, and they're very strong willed and they can be moody. Let's just put it that way. But the thing about this is this German shepherd is now already 80 pounds and she's all of 90 pounds and she has no control whatsoever on that dog.
And the dog has already, you know, leapt forward at one point in time and broken her little finger because the leash was tangled. Yikes. OK, yeah.
I heard there's a municipality in B.C. that's that's outlawing flexi leashes. And when you were talking about the Border Collie before, if this lady is used to running her dog loose, she may think a flexi leash is an answer to letting it have freedom, but still being there for it. I've had really bad experiences with these flexi leashes.
And this lady sounds like she might have been using one when she broke her finger. They can wrap around you. What do you think about them? If your dog is already under control, then I don't mind the flexi leashes.
They're not as comfortable to me as as a standard leash. And many times I have a wearable leash, which I can, you know, hook around my waist or over my shoulder or that sort of thing. And the dog still has a ten feet of flexibility and I don't have to use my hands.
So flexi leashes are sort of like pinch collars and E collars, you know, in the right hands, in terms of people who know what to do with them. They can be useful tools. But if you don't, you know, you get screwed up.
And the typical thing with the flexi leash, and it's one of the reasons why people in municipal politics levels have been getting bent out of shape about it, is that people don't know how to bring the dog back if the dog is out 16 feet in front of you and suddenly decides to go out of control and they don't know how to hold the dog back. There is a technique. You swing the leash forward, put your finger on the clamp, pull it back.
But, you know, one arm swing and then do the same thing again. Swing forward. Yeah, it's almost like a fishing rod.
You know, it's a weird sort of movement. You have to practice it. But it also I find even when the dogs aren't fighting or doing anything wrong, it can tangle around someone else's ankles so easily.
Those things, you know, dogs are happy to see each other and the other owner standing there on a regular leash. And now your dog's wrapping around it. So I don't love them, but I can see their uses, especially in senior dogs, you know, where you got one dog that's young and fit and the other one just wants to mosey.
I can see that. But I want to ask you, you mentioned pinch collars. So before we end the show, I don't like pinch collars.
When dogs arrive at Camp Good Dog with a pinch collar, I take it off and I put a regular on because I don't think they should be wearing them 100 percent of the time. What's your take on this? Is it really like the mama dog nibbling at their neck, giving corrections? Because that's how it's sold, right? Well, seems crazy to me. This mama dog thing is seems idiotic to me, actually.
They do. Have you heard people say that, though? Because that's how they're that's how they're marketed. I think I find I find that to be hilarious.
But look, the first thing you have to recognize is the pinch collars are like slip collars. They are training aids and they should not be worn all the time. They are just to be used during the training sessions.
So many people have their dogs on slip collars. And I believe that every two years or so, you know, we lose a dog from our class because, you know, they the dog basically themselves. Exactly.
They get hung up. So you're talking about choke collars, choke chains, that kind of thing. Put it on when you walk the dog, but leave it on the leash.
Your dog should be wearing a collar that is not going to choke it. That's right. I mean, our choice is the Martingale because.
Yeah, me too. It gives, you know, a brief, comfortable tightening. So the dog knows that the pressure is on, but then releases.
And it can't tighten any more than where the two rings touch each other. And so, you know, that's the safest. And that's one of the reasons why the Canadian Kennel Club allows Martingales in the ring.
You know, they don't allow a whole bunch of different kinds of collars. But but Martingales are allowed and slip collars are allowed in the ring. But they recommend that you take it off when you when you get out.
But anyway, pinch collars, you have to understand that they existed in a different form in Europe. In Germany, they basically took a leather collar and they took and drove through. Oh, God, I know what you're going to say.
Nails, nails. Yes, it's horrible. That sort of thing.
But they were introduced into North America by Bill Terrant, who is an incredibly famous and absolutely incredible field dog trainer. And he introduced the pinch collar the way that we have now with a bent prongs on them so that they actually are pinch rather than spikes. And he introduced those because he had seen so many dogs who had been damaged by handlers using a slip collar and jerking leash hard enough to damage the dog's trachea.
You think, oh, but my dog's a big, tough dog with a big, tough neck. Yeah, but the trachea is a tiny little pipe in there. It's so sensitive that you can't just jerk and jerk and jerk.
I remember in the 80s, there were trainers who used to hold the dog by its weight in the air till it surrendered on a choke. Oh, man, those people like trachea damage all the time. Terrible, terrible.
You just use a ball, just use a cookie. It's so darn easy. Come on, people.
You don't need to dominate every animal you encounter. I just hate that. You know what? We've run out of time.
I'm going to have you back right away there to do another show. So if people are listening, don't worry, we're going to have more Dr. Korn, but we have to go this time around. Stan, I'm so sorry.
We have to go now. Is there anything you'd like to leave people with before we wrap up this show? Well, the one thing I recommend for people, and it's something which I was recommending for the gal with the border collie. Whenever you are in doubt about your dog's behavior, put a leash on them.
And if your dog is acting out in the house, you put a leash on it and wear the dog around the house. It comforts the dog, gives you some control to keep them from doing anything absolutely disastrous. It's sort of a gentle restraint.
It reminds the dog that you're there. And the good side is if the dog's doing this stuff because of spooky feelings, it calms them. And if they're doing it simply because they're rambunctious, it reminds them that there is somebody who's going to control their behavior.
Oh, yeah. And it's one of the quickest ways to house train an older dog. You rescue an older dog that isn't house trained.
You leash it to yourself. Then you know when it's looking for a spot to have an accident. You're you're much more in tune with the animal and it's much more in tune with you.
So you'll house train it in a few days instead of maybe months of carpet accidents. OK, everybody, we're going to let Dr. Korn go, but we're going to have him back really soon on Animal Party. Pet Life Radio from us.
Be good to your animals.
You don't necessarily, I mean, it depends what you're growing. If you're growing something like the raspberries, you could just lay it in the ground and cover it up a little bit with dirt or compost. That would be fine.
But if you're working it into the soil where you're actually going to be digging in the soil, you don't really want the hairs coming back while you're working in the garden. So you want it deeper. But I've seen people wind it around plants and put it all on the surface as well as in the garden because it does deter slugs.
So the poodle hair especially is very sharp and you can wind it around the plants, you don't want them to attack. But it is 10 times the value of manure dog hair is. So if you don't want to grab a bag of stinky manure and put it in your garden and have to smell that for a few days, maybe you want to grab some dog hair, maybe you want to throw it in your composter, that's an even nicer idea because next year you'll have the benefit.
All right. So happy gardening, everybody. And be good to your animals.
From me, Deb Wolfe, and Animal Party, Pet Life Radio.