Research Bites
The Fastest, Easiest Way to Stay Current with Dog Behavior Science
Monthly research reviews, live discussions, CEUs, and a community of professionals who want evidence-based practice — without drowning in academic papers.
Research Bites is $35/month. Cancel anytime.
Are you a trainer or behavior professional who:
Wants to keep up with the latest research
Wants to apply science thoughtfully — not just follow trends
Doesn’t have time to read dense journal articles
Cares deeply about humane, evidence-based work
Believes staying current shouldn’t feel overwhelming.
Between client sessions, admin work, and continuing education requirements, most professionals simply don’t have the time to sift through research on their own.
That’s where Research Bites comes in.
Each month, Dr. Kristina Spaulding selects an important study (or set of studies) and breaks it down into:
What the researchers actually did
What they found
What the findings likely mean
What they don’t mean
How to translate the insights into practice
You get clarity without oversimplification.
Depth without overwhelm.
And a structured way to think about science that strengthens your professional judgment over time.
As a Research Bites member, you receive:
A live monthly webinar (with replay access)
Quarterly research review webinars
Real-world case studies
Coffee Break Q&A discussions
Access to the growing webinar archive
A community focused on translating science-to-practice
CEUs available
Whether you attend live or watch later, you build a cumulative understanding of behavior science — one paper at a time.
This Month's Webinar:
How Social Rank May Influence Stress and Social Behavior in Dogs
Interest in dogs’ relationships with humans has grown substantially, but one important aspect of their social lives is often left out of the conversation: social hierarchy.
Within many positive reinforcement communities, dominance has become so closely associated with outdated training practices that discussing the underlying science of social relationships can be difficult. Yet rejecting dominance-based training does not require us to conclude that dominance relationships—or social hierarchies—do not exist among dogs.
In this webinar, we will examine a study investigating whether a dog’s relative social rank within a multi-dog household is associated with differences in stress-related behavior and interactions with an unfamiliar person. Although the researchers approached the question through the lens of attachment, the most interesting findings concerned social rank, stress, age, and friendliness toward a stranger.
The paper raises broader questions about how researchers define and assess social rank, what dominance does and does not mean, and how a dog’s position within a social group may be associated with behavior in unfamiliar or stressful situations.
This study does not settle the dominance debate or provide simple rules for practice. Instead, it gives us an opportunity to examine the evidence more carefully and develop a more accurate, nuanced understanding of canine social relationships—without returning to dominance-based explanations for every behavior.
Paper: Bakos, V., Vékony, K., & Pongrácz, P. (2025). Hierarchy-Dependent Behaviour of Dogs in the Strange Situation Test: High-Ranking Dogs Show Less Stress and Behave Less Friendly with a Stranger in the Presence of Their Owner. Animals, 15(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15131916
Register to join us live on October 13th or receive the recording.
Live webinars are held at 7 pm ET and run for 70 - 90 minutes.
What others are saying
Curious what it’s like inside Research Bites?
Listen to a recent Coffee Break conversation below.
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Recent Webinars
August 2026: Hearing Loss, Aging, and Behavior in Dogs
This month’s paper asks us to think more deeply about hearing loss in aging dogs—not simply as a stand alone sensory change, but as something that interacts with many different aspects of the dog’s life. The study examines the relationship between hearing loss, cognition, and quality of life in senior dogs. In this session, we’ll look at what the findings suggest, where the limits are, and how sensory decline influences behavior. We’ll also discuss what this means in practice, including how hearing loss may affect communication, responsiveness, stress, and the expectations we place on senior dogs.
Paper: Fefer, G., Khan, M. Z., Panek, W. K., Case, B., Gruen, M. E., & Olby, N. J. (2022). Relationship between hearing, cognitive function, and quality of life in aging companion dogs. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 36(5), 1708–1718. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16510
July 2026: When Behavior May Signal Pain: Recognizing Cases That Need Veterinary Evaluation
As behavior professionals, we often find ourselves asking a difficult question: Is this a behavior issue, a pain problem, or both?In this Research Bites webinar, we’ll examine a set of cases in which dogs were referred to a veterinary behaviorist for behavior concerns and then evaluated for pain. We’ll consider how a deeper understanding of the relationship between pain and behavior can improve assessment, support collaboration with veterinary teams, and lead to better outcomes for dogs with complex behavior concerns.
Paper: Kwik, J., De Keuster, T., Bosmans, T., & Mottet, J. (2025). Detection of maladaptive pain in dogs referred for behavioral complaints: Challenges and opportunities. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 19. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1569351
April 2026: New Insights into Arousal and Training: What Helps Learning Stick
We know from experience that arousal plays an important role in behavior—but exactly how it influences learning and memory is far less straightforward. This month’s Research Bites paper examines how arousal—during and after learning—affects memory consolidation in scent detection. Scentwork folks will be particularly excited about this topic, but the findings have much broader implications for anyone interested in learning, memory, and arousal. We’ll dig into what this research can—and can’t—tell us about tailoring training strategies to individual dogs, moving beyond one-size-fits-all rules about “optimal” arousal levels.
Paper: Collins-Pisano, C., Krichbaum, S., Lazarowski, L., & Katz, J. S. (2025). The effect of arousal during and post-training on memory consolidation in detection dogs. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 25822. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-09902-2
May Bonus 2025: Arousal and Sleep
Papers:
Bódizs, R., Kis, A., Gácsi, M., & Topál, J. (2020). Sleep in the dog: Comparative, behavioral and translational relevance. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 33, 25–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2019.12.006
Bunford, N., Reicher, V., Kis, A., Pogány, Á., Gombos, F., Bódizs, R., & Gácsi, M. (2018). Differences in pre-sleep activity and sleep location are associated with variability in daytime/nighttime sleep electrophysiology in the domestic dog. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 7109. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25546-x
Tooley, C., & Heath, S. E. (2022). Sleep Characteristics in Dogs; Effect on Caregiver-Reported Problem Behaviours. Animals, 12(14), Article 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12141753
March 2024: The impact of high- and low-value rewards on the brain and behavior
Paper: Cuaya, L.V., Hernández-Pérez, R., Andics, A. et al. Representation of rewards differing in their hedonic valence in the caudate nucleus correlates with the performance in a problem-solving task in dogs (Canis familiaris). Sci Rep 13, 14353 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-40539-1
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to attend the webinars live?
Research Bites webinars are presented live and recorded. So, if you cannot attend live, you will have access to the recording. However, it is recommended that you attend live is possible so that you have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in the discussions.
Are CEUs available?
Yes! CEUs are available from CCPDT and IAABC. Other organizations are available upon request. Note that CEUs are only available for webinars that are presented while you are an active member.
What other benefits are available through Research Bites?
I’m so glad you asked! In addition to the monthly webinars, members also receive the following benefits:
- Quarterly bonus webinars on a variety of behavior topics
- Coffee Break sessions with fellow members and Dr. Spaulding three times a month. We discuss a wide variety of topics including recent research, working with clients, and difficult cases. This is one of the most popular membership benefits!
- Discounts on Science Matters courses, including Unlocking Resilience
Can I cancel my Research Bites membership at any time?
Yes! Memberships can be canceled by e-mailing us at sciencerocks@sciencemattersllc.com. This will prevent your membership from being renewed.
Do I lose access to Research Bites webinars when I cancel my membership?
Yes. Once you cancel your membership, you will lose access to all Research Bites material at the end of the current billing cycle.
Staying current in science doesn’t require hours online.
It requires the right structure.
Join Research Bites and build your scientific thinking — one study at a time.