Meet Richard H. Polsky, Ph.D., CAAB ....


Richard H. Polsky, Ph.D., C.A.A.B
Certified applied animal behaviorist
 

Richard Polsky began his career as an academic conducting research in animal behavior at various universities in the United States and England (Ph.D. from the University of Leicester (England), 1975; Post-doctoral fellow at the University of Birmingham (England) (1974-1976) and Post-doctoral fellow and Research Associate in animal behavior at UCLA, (1976 - 1981). After 10+ years in academics, Dr. Polsky phased-out his career in academics in order to pursue a career in applied animal behavior. He open his office in Santa Monica, CA. in 1981. At that time he limited his work to dogs, and in 1984 he expanded the practice to include cats. Shortly thereafter he moved his office to the Rancho Park section of Los Angeles where he has been ever since.

In 23 years of practice, Dr. Polsky has been called on to help owners solve a wide variety of behavioral problems, ranging from territorial and dominance aggression in dogs to litter box problems and compulsive disorders in cats. In 1985, he started his Head Start Puppy Training Classes. The Head Start program functions to train owners to train their puppies in humane and scientifically proven ways in order to prevent behavioral problems from developing later in the dog's life. To date, Dr. Polsky has trained and counseled owners and their dogs and cats on over 10,000 occasions. He is certified as an applied animal behaviorist by the Animal Behavior Society.

 
In addition to the behavioral counseling services he provides dog and cat owners, Dr. Polsky has served as a paid consultant in animal behavior to Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation and the Los Angeles SPCA. He was the person who formulated the behavioral guidelines used in determining dangerous dogs by the hearing officers at the Los Angeles City Department of Animal Control.

Dr. Polsky has been public speaker and seminar leader on many occasions to veterinary groups and dog clubs in California. He is author of the text User's Guide to the Scientific and Clinical Literature on Dog and Cat Behavior, 2nd edition and, in addition, he has authored over 50 papers published in the animal behavior and veterinary literature.

In recent years, Dr. Polsky has been frequently retained by attorneys as an expert witness in both criminal and civil matters. In 2001 he served as the expert for the defense in the well-publicized San Francisco dog mauling case, and he has served both prosecution and defense in other dog mauling cases throughout the United States.

His professional affiliations include memberships in the Animal Behavior Society, American Psychological Association, International Society of Applied Ethology, American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
 
As an academically trained animal behaviorist, Dr. Polsky has a strong interest in keeping abreast of the current scientific literature in dog and cat behavior for the purpose of applying these finding, whenever possible, to real-world situations. He continues to conduct research and submit papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Polsky lives in Los Angeles with his family and two dogs: a male Standard schnauzer named Obi-won and a female Border collie mix named Swoozy.
richardhpolsky@mac.com