Gaby Dufresne-Cyr

Author

I am an author and animal behaviour specialist whose work explores learning, attachment, and social cognition across species. I am the founder of Dogue Shop and Dogue Academy, and the developer of Social Cognitive Animal Training (SCAT).

My work brings together animal behaviour, social cognitive learning theory (SCT), and attachment frameworks to explore how relationships shape learning across species.

Through writing, teaching, and applied training, I focus on the conditions that allow behaviour and connection to remain adaptive, responsive, and alive.

For over forty years, I have studied, taught, and worked with both humans and animals, returning consistently to one central question: what allows a relationship to endure and adapt through challenge.

This question has guided my work across disciplines, from behavioural science and family systems to interspecies communication.

I recommend beginning with the Writing section, where ideas, reflection, and observation come together. It is the most direct entry point to understanding who I am and what I do.

Writing

Learning & Behaviour

The Evolution of Friendship

Learning does not occur in isolation. It takes shape within relationships that influence attention, regulation, and the meaning assigned to experience.

Relationship & Attachment

Neuroscience of Friendship

Friendship is a philosophical, emotional, and a biological experience rooted in neural processes that shape our emotional regulation, connection, and overall well-being.

Personal Reflections

Human–Animal Bond Pathway

A near-death experience revealed that healing emerges through connection, where love and relationship form the foundation of meaning across both human and animal lives.

Social Cognitive Animal Training (SCAT) is a framework for understanding learning and behaviour. It views behaviour as a process shaped by relationships, perception, and lived experience across species.

The Three Core Conditions of SCAT

SCAT operates through three foundational conditions that shape how learning is supported in practice.

1. The possibility of choice

The animal retains the genuine ability to disengage or refuse participation. Choice is meaningful, not symbolic, and is respected.

2. Learning is not measured through speed or repetition

Understanding unfolds through individual cognitive and emotional processing. Time, pause, and variability are part of learning, not indicators of failure.

3. Responsibility for clarity lies with the human

The environment, timing, and communication are adjusted by the human before additional demands are placed on the animal. Confusion is treated as feedback within the system.

Work

My work extends these ideas into applied animal training, professional education, and experiential learning environments.

This endeavour has developed over several decades of practice across both human and animal learning environments.

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