Thinking Dog Center at Hunter College

Look at recent TDC graduate .the.silkyterrier in that graduation cap! Sisko participated in our Knowledge Attribution Study and was an absolute 🌟! Congrats on your dog-ree, Sisko!!

To Our Paw-ticipants,

It is with bittersweet emotion that I share the news that I am leaving my position at the Thinking Dog Center (TDC) to take on a new role as Director of Canine Research and Development at Guide Dogs for the Blind. Sadly, this means that the Thinking Dog Center will be closing its doors effective June 30th. As the founder and Director of the TDC, I am so incredibly grateful to the dogs, cats, and their guardians for contributing to canine and feline science. Perhaps the best part of this experience has been getting to know so many amazing individuals. Thank you!

I could not be more appreciative to have had the opportunity to be a part of the CUNY and Hunter College community. Without the immense support of the College, the Psychology Department, and the Animal Behavior and Conservation program we would not have been able to create this environment truly geared towards understanding the thinking of our furry companion animals. Across the four years in which we have been open we have seen immense change, overcome unexpected challenges, and helped many students discover their careers in science.

It is my hope that you and your furry friend will continue your dedication and interest in canine and feline science! While the Thinking Dog Center will no longer be recruiting participants, there are canine cognition centers far and wide!

Soon, we will no longer be monitoring our social media accounts, email, and website. However, we will keep these accounts active to communicate with our past study participants about the outcomes of our TDC projects as they are published. If you would like to stay in touch, please don’t hesitate! You can follow me on Twitter (), reach out via e-mail ([email protected]), or stay up to date with my research on my website (https://sites.google.com/view/sebyosiere/home).

Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for letting the Thinking Dog Center into your life and the life of your companion animal. Your participation in our studies has paved the way for ground-breaking research into the lives of our dogs (and cats!). For this, I am forever grateful.

Best Woofs,
Sarah

Come see us at Museum of the Dog on June 16th! We will be bringing stickers, bandanas, and discussing canine science! 🐶

Phoebe wishes everyone a nice sunny day! ☀️ This cutie is one of our final Play Time study pawticipants! 🎾 Thank you to all of the wonderful dogs and owners who contributed to canine science! 🐶

🚨 New TDC Publication! Congratulations to TDC MA alum on her recent publication in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior! In 2020 (before the pandemic!) we conducted our Trick Training Study. This study looked at something called the contextual interference effect on dog acquisition and retention of trick training. What did we find? Well, not what we expected! We didn’t find any evidence of the effect in dogs, for now, but we do provide some guidance and suggestions for what these results might mean for dog training. This paper is open access, meaning it’s free to all to read! Please share widely - link in bio! 🐶 🎓

Congrats Charles! 👏 He just participated in our Play Time study! 🎾 Thank you for taking part in canine science! 🧬

Congrats Ruby! 💎 This fluffy girl recently completed our Play Time study and posed so nicely for the camera with her graduation certificate! 🎓

Hooray Kimchi! 🎉 .the.boston graduated from our Play Time study! 🎓 Thank you for pawticipating in canine science! 🐼

More yellow labs! 💛 Avina returned to the TDC for our Knowledge Attribution study! 📖 Our team loves playing with her! 🎾

In this photo, yellow Labrador Retriever Avina plays with a plush flashlight toy.

Welcome back Pumpkin! 🎃 This cutie just graduated with her PawhD from the Knowledge Attribution study! 🤔 We are always thrilled to see 🦴

Yay Cooper! 🎉 This sweet pup just graduated from our Knowledge Attribution study! 🐶 We hope he had a fun time with us! 🇦🇺

Velma braved the rain this weekend to join us for our Knowledge Attribution study! 🌧️ Check out her cute raincoat! 🌂