It is easy for you to look into your pet’s eyes and feel that there is a soul trapped inside that body that thinks very much like you do. In reality, this is further from the truth than many people usually like to acknowledge.

We have developed a course to help you better understand what animals are really thinking.

When you understand what is going on in an animals brain, whether pet, livestock or wildlife; you are far better positioned to manage that animal's behaviour both for their own welfare, and the best outcome for any people who come in contact with the animal.

Goats are one of the easier animals to keep. They can be kept as a farm animal or pet, in large numbers or as a single animal.

They may be used to produce fleece, meat or milk; or to control weeds.

Read on and learn more about goat care.

Learn about Feeding Goats and other Animals click to see our course

Read this article to learn more about how to produce honey and beeswax.

Find out more about our Beekeeping and hive production course.

I held my dog in front of a mirror several times yesterday, and yet again he doesn’t seem to recognise himself at all.  Why? Dogs are intelligent and adaptable, but according to Liz Stelow of the University of California, they lack the cognitive development to recognise themselves visually.  So they don’t recognise themselves in a mirror, photo or video. 
 
Researchers can test if animals can observe themselves in a mirror by painting red dots on the animals face. If the animal starts to touch their face then we know that they self-recognise. Animals that do self-recognise include elephants, magpies, some great apes and dolphins.  Even human babies can take about 18 – 24 months before they recognise themselves in a mirror.
 
So why don’t dogs self-recognise? Well dogs have evolved to communicate through their sense of smell and make use of scent rather than visual recognition.  
 
Marc Bekoff, a biologist, argues that dogs are self-aware, they are just not particularly interested in visual cues. They are more interested in scent, so can recognise their own scent compared to the scent in other dog’s urine.  So dogs do self-recognise but usually the scent in their own urine!

From our Psychologist, Tracey Jones