Center for Human-Animal Wellness Research

🐾 Exciting news! We're growing our amazing team at Canine Companions in Santa Rosa, CA, and looking for passionate individuals to join us as a Research Technician III.

If you love learning about dogs, want to explore cognitive aging, working dog behavior, and human-animal connections, this could be the perfect fit for you! You'll collaborate with a friendly, innovative group making a real difference for people and pups alike.

Interested? Learn more and apply here: https://bit.ly/4w6kWbP

We're so excited to celebrate Canine Companions on receiving the Distinguished Partner in Research award at the University of Arizona's Convergence Awards! 🏆

This special honor from the University of Arizona Office of Research & Partnerships shines a spotlight on Canine Companions’ valuable collaborations and the amazing impact they have across different fields and communities.

Check out how the Center for Human-Animal Wellness Research and Canine Companions are working together to deepen our understanding of the human-animal bond and advance important research:

https://vetmed.arizona.edu/news/canine-companions-earns-u-highest-research-honor-transforming-service-dog-science?publication=20260414&utm_campaign=Center+for+Human-Animal+Wellness+Research&utm_content=We%27re+so+excited+to+celeb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

🎉 Huge congratulations to BRAY Lab undergrads Caitlin Hirabayashi and Abigail Marsters on their outstanding poster presentation at the Graduate and Professional Student Council – The University of Arizona Student Showcase 2026 — where they took 1st place in the Innovation, Technology, and Design for Impact category!

Their poster showcased the AURAL-Pet coding system (Audio-based Understanding of Relational Animal-directed Language), developed by our team at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine alongside our fantastic Psychology collaborators including Matthias Mehl, to capture how people talk to their pets. AURAL-Pet is part of the Waltham Petcare Science Institute's global Pets and Wellbeing Study (PAWS) — the largest global study on the impact of pets on human mental health.

A big thank you to their mentors Dara Jonkoski, Nicole Lorig, Kerri Rodriguez, and Emily Bray for their support and guidance.

We are incredibly proud of them! 🐾

Are you excited about animal behavior, research, and making a meaningful impact? 🐕 This might be your perfect role.

We’re hiring 2 Research Technicians to join our team at the UAZ College of Veterinary Medicine, working with the Behavioral Research Across Years Lab and the Arizona Canine Cognition Center.

In this role, you’ll work directly with dogs in cognitive and behavioral studies, help coordinate participants, and support research on canine cognitive aging.

📍 Tucson, AZ (in-person)
📅 Ideal start: May 2026

We’ll review applications as they come in, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible!

Apply here: https://tinyurl.com/AZDogResearch

👉 Know someone who’d be a great fit? Feel free to share!

‼️ The University of Arizona students: WE'RE HIRING ‼️

🦮 Are you interested in human and animal wellness? Do you have a passion for research? The Center for Human-Animal Wellness Research is seeking undergraduate student research assistants!

🔎 Excellent attention to detail & organizational skills are needed, but previous research experience is not required

📆 Positions available immediately and for Summer/Fall 2026

🧑‍🔬 There are three tracks that students can apply for with several positions available within each:
1. Psychology research on service dogs for veterans with PTSD
2. Marketing including social media & graphic design
3. Behavioral research on cognitive aging in dogs

‼️ APPLY ‼️ using the QR code or at https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bPArGLhJIGgC3XM

Ever notice you feel calmer during stressful situations if your pet is with you? There's science behind that!

We're excited to share new research out of our Human-Animal Bond Lab (HAB Lab) examining whether dogs provide a unique form of support during stress - and the results reveal some interesting patterns.

🧠 What we did:
We synthesized results from 30 studies that tested over 2,000 people's stress responses across different social conditions (dog present, alone, with another person, or with an inanimate object).

🔎What we found:
People showed smaller increases in heart rate and perceived stress with a dog present compared to other conditions. However, dogs had no differential effect on blood pressure or cortisol responses.

💡 Why it matters:
Having a dog present was more effective at buffering stress than having another person present - possibly due to dogs' nonjudgmental nature. This suggests dogs offer a different type of social support than people do.

📊 Led by PI Kerri Rodriguez, with contributions from Molly Delzio, Adelaide Ruekgauer, and UA Libraries.
🔎 Read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2026.2621532

📣 We’ve been building. Now we’re ready to share. 📣

After three years of research, collaboration, and growth, we’re excited to officially introduce the Center for Human-Animal Wellness Research at the UAZ College of Veterinary Medicine 🐾

Follow along as we work to create a better world for people and animals, one scientific study at a time.

Service Dogs Help Children With Autism, Research Proves - Canine Companions New research from the University of Arizona proves that service dogs can be life-changing for children with autism. Read more.

🎓Congratulations to our amazing undergraduate research assistants who graduated this December! The OHAIRE Lab is so grateful for each of you and your contributions to research.

🩵 We will miss you both, but are so excited to see you succeed in your futures!

❗❗❗WE'RE HIRING❗❗❗

🩵 Want to help make a positive difference in the lives of veterans with PTSD?

🔍 The OHAIRE Lab is seeking out highly organized, creative individuals to fill the position of a full time Clinical Research Assistant! We are looking for motivated researchers to start as soon as possible.

📅 The position will be open until filled.

📥 For more details and to APPLY:
https://arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/4/home/requisition/24639?c=arizona&sq=req24639

🧑‍🔬 Take a look at our 2021 cross-sectional pilot study about the effects of service dogs on veterans' medication use! We compared veterans with PTSD who have service dogs to those on a waitlist to receive a service dog, in order to identify differences in their medication regimens.

💊 The study was conducted with 96 post-9/11 veterans who self-reported their medication regimens throughout the study.

Read the full publication: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08927936.2021.1898219