HABRI Central

Latest Entries

1. Raising Our North Stars: Kumari's Puppies from Four to Six Months

   Entry #73

   21 Mar 2013

   6:07 pm

   Patty Dobbs Gross

   0 comments

   'Jack and North Star's Nardi' Kumari’s puppies are now six months old! This tender age typically marks the beginning of adolescence with dogs, a time when commands formerly obeyed with enthusiastic puppy charm are sometimes resisted as older pups learn to think for themselves; a pup that may...

2. Beasts on Trial: The Case for the Moral Agency of Animals

   Entry #72

   05 Mar 2013

   7:47 am

   Myrna Milani

   0 comments

   This excellent article by James McWilliams associate professor of history at Texas State University offers some surprising insights into the way human views of animals have changed over the centuries. It also serves as a good reminder that the concepts of animal morality, cognition, and emotion...

3. Don't Sell the Bond Short

   Entry #71

   01 Mar 2013

   10:13 am

   Myrna Milani

   1 comments

   What do you think of when you hear or read the words, “human-animal bond”? For many people, images of animals involved in some sort of animal-assisted therapy that improves a disabled person’s quality of life immediately come to mind. Others think of coping with the pain of pet loss, or heroic...

4. Complexities in the Human-Animal Bond: An Interview with Dr. Anna Chur-Hansen

   Entry #69

   26 Feb 2013

   10:38 am

   Megan Kendall

   0 comments

   Dr. Anna Chur-Hansen is a registered psychologist and professor at the University of Adelaide in South Australia. Much of her research is related to the human-animal bond and she was kind enough to take some time and share her experiences and current research with us. Dr. Chur-Hansen's own two...

5. Raising Our North Stars: Kumari's Puppies from Two to Four Months

   Entry #68

   18 Feb 2013

   6:18 pm

   Patty Dobbs Gross

   0 comments

   Kumari’s puppies are now four months old, and from this lovely litter of seven golden retriever puppies, three females have been selected to be kept back for North Star’s evolving breeding and therapy programs, with the remaining four male pups assigned to children who are on the...

6. Motivation and Animal Therapy: Meet Eileen Bona and her work at Dreamcatcher

   Entry #67

   14 Feb 2013

   10:08 am

   Megan Kendall

   0 comments

   The idea behind Dreamcatcher began as a simple wish to provide a means of communication for people struggling with brain impairments and mental health issues to express themselves effectively. Eileen Bona, the founder of Dreamcatcher, sat down for an interview to further explain the inspiration...

7. The Epidemiology of Dog Bites: An Interview with Dr. Locksley Messam

   Entry #66

   08 Feb 2013

   12:03 pm

   Kristyna M Oates

   0 comments

   Dr. Locksley Messam Dr. Locksley L. Messam is a post-doctoral scholar at the University of California Davis where he researches human-animal interactions, the effects of animals on human health and well-being and epidemiological methodology. HABRI Central staff interviewed Dr. Messam at...

8. Dog Walking and Physical Health: An Interview with Dr. Libby Richards

   Entry #65

   23 Jan 2013

   11:17 am

   Megan Kendall

   2 comments

   Looking for an excited workout buddy? Then there is no need to look further than your pet dog. It is a win-win situation for both dog and owner in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and simply involves a walk around the block. It is a quick and easy way to get active and one would be hard pressed to...

9. HABRI Central Update - January 22, 2013

   Entry #64

   22 Jan 2013

   6:24 pm

   Christopher C Charles

   0 comments

   We’re greeting the new year with a new newsletter, new log in options, and lots of new content! The first issue of the HABRI Central Newsletter, a monthly e-mail newsletter, has shipped to users who have signed up to receive it. The newsletter contains information on the latest resources...

10. Of Birthrights and Covenants: A review of Stephen Kellert’s "Birthright: People and Nature in the Modern World"

    Entry #61

    09 Jan 2013

    7:47 am

    Myrna Milani

    0 comments

    HABRI Central Reviews are book reviews with an interdisciplinary spin. Our views about a certain subject tend to be influenced by our own experiences and education. An interdisciplinary approach that uses multiple perspectives can better help us to understand complex concepts. The goal of this...

11. Raising Our North Stars: Kumari's Puppies from Birth to Two Months

    Entry #60

    27 Nov 2012

    7:20 am

    Patty Dobbs Gross

    0 comments

    by Patty Dobbs Gross North Star Kumari delivered seven healthy puppies on October 4th, 2012. Four of these puppies will be serving children on the autism spectrum as autism assistance dogs; the remaining three will be kept back to be evaluated for breeding to continue this quality line. North...

12. RK Anderson

    Entry #59

    26 Nov 2012

    2:16 pm

    Alan M. Beck

    0 comments

    All of us involved with trying to understand our relationship with animals have benefitted from Dr. Robert K. Anderson, known by most simply as RK. I do not remember when I first met RK, as our lives overlapped in both public health and the founding of the Delta Society. Leo Bustad asked each of...

13. At a Snail's Pace

    Entry #58

    22 Nov 2012

    10:29 am

    Myrna Milani

    0 comments

    At a Snail’s Pace Some people prefer to read only specific kinds of books related to certain kinds of human and animal interactions. Perhaps only heady academic tomes. Or fiction, or only those involving dogs or cats and humans interacting with each other in specific ways. My tastes tend to be...

14. HABRI Central Update - November 2, 2012

    Entry #57

    05 Nov 2012

    1:18 pm

    Christopher C Charles

    0 comments

    A new update to HABRI Central brings major improvements to several areas of the site. New search options are available for the HABRI Central Bibliography. General searches now look through a greater number of metadata fields (e.g., author, title, publication date, etc.) and results can now be...

15. Myth #5: Autism Assistance Dog Placements have Nothing to do with John Q Public

    Entry #55

    08 Oct 2012

    9:26 am

    Patty Dobbs Gross

    0 comments

    by Patty Dobbs Gross 'North Star's Hero with his boy Joel at Disneyland.' We should take a moment here to first review the various therapeutic roles that a dog can play in a child with autism’s life to help them to reach their social, emotional and educational goals, as only then can we...

16. Myth #4: There are no Scientific Studies to Support Autism Assistance Dog Placements

    Entry #51

    04 Oct 2012

    5:27 pm

    Patty Dobbs Gross

    0 comments

    by Patty Dobbs Gross The years tell us much of what the days never know. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson 'Aaron and North Star's Bingo meeting for the very first time.' Anecdotally speaking, we have known that a dog can be a valuable therapeutic tool since Jingles did his thing with a progressive...

17. Myth #3: The Biggest Danger from an Autism Assistance Dog is the Hit to the Pocketbook

    Entry #49

    21 Sep 2012

    11:30 am

    Patty Dobbs Gross

    1 comments

    by Patty Dobbs Gross 'Danny & Madison' Of the top five myths about autism assistance dogs that I will cover in this column, this myth is by far the most dangerous. If you partially believe in this emerging field, at least enough to attempt to create an autism assistance dog partnership with a...

18. That Restless Time of Year

    Entry #35

    17 Sep 2012

    8:29 am

    Myrna Milani

    0 comments

    Every month for more than a decade I’ve posted a commentary to my website ( www.mmilani.com ) the majority of which deal with some facet of animal health, behavior the human-animal bond, and the inextricable interaction of the three. For the past 4 years or so, I’d added weekly podcasts to the...

19. More Animals in the Classroom: Interview with Maggie O'Haire

    Entry #29

    27 Aug 2012

    9:46 am

    Ross E Blythe

    0 comments

    Children with autism can have difficulty fitting into social settings and reading people. Empathy is often hard to cultivate. Research has indicated that in some cases, children with autism are able to connect with animals in a way that is difficult for them to do with people (see this resource...

20. Myth #2: Training is the Key to Success with Autism Assistance Dogs for Children

    Entry #26

    10 Aug 2012

    11:57 am

    Patty Dobbs Gross

    0 comments

    by Patty Dobbs Gross I get by with a little help from my friends. ~ John Lennon ''David and North Star's Lego'' One of the biggest misunderstandings about the emerging field of autism assistance dogs is that it is all about the training of the dog to be partnered with the...