OUR Projects

Canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) is a neurodegenerative disease, likened to Alzheimer's, most commonly seen in dogs over the age of 10 years. PhD candidate Tracey Taylor is currently recruiting senior dogs for a study into the effectiveness of participating in group training classes to mitigate the signs of CCD.

Susan Hazel and Torben Nielsen have
been doing research into cat management in local council areas of South Australia to find out what the problems are with cats in neighbourhoods and peoples’ attitudes to cat management.

Dog attacks cause significant physical and emotional burden to both humans and other animals. Susan Hazel and Torben Nielsen are currently researching dog on dog attacks presenting to veterinary clinics to determine potential risk factors and inform evidence based policy

Behaviour ecology aims to understand animal behaviour patterns and their adaptive significance in an ecological and evolutionary framework.

Almost half a million Australians undergo the shared experience of acquiring and raising a puppy every year but despite the popularity of this journey, we know very little about what this experience is like for owners.

Play is both an indicator and promoter of welfare and wellbeing in many species. However, little is known about how much play time is optimal for a cat or how enabling play time impacts cat behaviour and welfare/wellbeing. This study aims to start to fill in this gap by assessing play and its impacts on affective state and welfare in domestic cats.