se animals are highly valued. The identification of one's pet as a family member is quite prevalentù99 percent of dog or cat owners entering a university veterinary clinic answered affirmatively to a survey question about their pet's status as a family member.
The literature on animals as human companions can be roughly divided into studies on naturally occurring pet ownership and studies in which pets have been introduced as a form of intervention. Neither group of these studies, however, provide much information on causal factors of behavior in companion animals.
A newer group of studies, however, is addressing the issues associated with companion animal behavior. The science that will find its way most frequently into everyday veterinary practice in the future is the study of companion animal behavior. It has been estimated that between 35 and 50 percent of the companion animals that veterinarians euthanize are killed because of aggressive or destructive behavior. While the empirical study of companion animal behavior is still relatively new, much has been learned. A great deal remains to be discovered, however, about how to understand and correct behavioral problems.
The study of animal behavior generally has been approached as a synthesis between comparative psychology and ethology. The researchers engaged in this study, however, frequently are divided over how the study of animal behavior should be approached. Some researchers even contend that the term "animal behavior" is an issue because it might be seen as excluding humans.
Much of the historical coherence of animal behavior has been provided by four questions concerning evolution, function, mechanism, and development of behavior. These questions explicitly encourage a balance of approaches and causal levels, establish boundaries to the field, and help highlight research concerns overshadowed by rapid developments in other topic areas. The questi...