Reddit reviews Pets on the Couch: Neurotic Dogs, Compulsive Cats, Anxious Birds, and the New Science of Animal Psychiatry

I really enjoyed this book. I also highly recommend Pets on the Couch: Neurotic Dogs, Compulsive Cats, Anxious Birds, and the New Science of Animal Psychiatry by Nicholas Dodman of Tufts Animal Behavior Clinic. He argues that humans and other animals share much of the same neurobiology, and that advances in human medicine can inform how to treat pets, and vice versa (note: this thinking is not particularly unique to Dodman, it's the basis behind plenty of basic science and clinical research that starts out with experiments on mice or other model organisms). Dodman employs lots of fascinating vignettes in this book to draw you in, and also some general explanations of the neuroscience behind the behavior or treatment. Obviously, the brain is incredibly complex and there are species-specific differences in how our neural circuits are wired. However, commonalities definitely exist, and when circuits go awry, they can manifest in similar behaviors among humans and pets.

These terriers are notorious for this spinning motion. This book talks about this breed specifically. The author believes it may be a disorder similar to autism. Super interesting read if you're a pet owner.