Links post

• Are clicks better markers than words? (The Other End of the Leash): Patricia McConnell gets nerdy about the mechanics of operant conditioning (in this case, animal training).
• Massachusetts Animal Coalition’s Pit Bull Spay/Neuter Task Force: “The task force recognizes that Pit Bulls are the most common breed surrendered to adoption centers and found as strays and that spaying and neutering that is affordable is key to reducing the number of homeless pit bulls in our state.” A constructive approach to the pit bull problem.
•  “Animal connection” helps separate humans from other species (Nobel Intent): Nice post reviewing a journal article about our domestication of various species, with a particular emphasis on how we domesticated dogs. If you want to read more about how humans and dogs developed together, and what the process of canid domestication might have looked like, I recommend reading Dogs: a new understanding of canine origin, behavior, and evolution, by Coppinger and Coppinger.