New Guinea Singing DOgs
PhD Dissertation - Betwixt and between: A qualitative study of New Guinea singing dogs and their owners
I am currently studying the relationships of New Guinea Singing Dogs living as companion animals. New Guinea Singing Dogs are unique in that they live in Papua New Guinea as wild dogs and village dogs, in Europe and North America in zoos, and in North America as companion animals. Previous research has only documented the lives of New Guinea Singing Dogs in the wild and in zoos with some sparse information about village dogs. At the time of this research, there were no published papers on New Guinea Singing Dogs as companion animals and my recently published paper is the only one on the subject.
Presentations on my work:
Sumridge, Molly (November 2022) “Studying Liminal Identities” - Developing a multimodal approach to explore the lives of New Guinea singing dogs living as companion animals Anthrozoology as International Practice (AIP) conference, University of Exeter, England
Sumridge, Molly (July 2022) “Re-Viewing the Many Dimensions of Domestication”: A hermeneutic review of animal domestication. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Anthrozoology, Boise ID
My study is now in the final writing phase. I am post data analysis from owners of New Guinea singing dogs, living as companion animals, and as animals in personal collection or sanctuaries. I am now in the final stages of writing and summitting my work for review. I look forward to sharing my findings as soon as I am able. For more information, visit this link.
Past work on the topic:
Poster Presentation:
Sumridge, Molly. (July 2019). Owner-reported attachment and behavior characteristics of New Guinea singing dogs living as companion animals. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Anthrozoology, Orlando, Florida.
Winner: “Best Student Poster”
Dog Sports
Tens of thousands of dog sports competitions take place every year around the world. While a handful of papers have been published on the subject describing the interests and lifestyles of competitors, there are still many topics worth exploring including competition sports rituals, and power across different sports.
Presently I am working on a study on the interactions and expectations of owners and their dogs at dog sports events. More to come, with data collection anticipated for Summer 2024.
Past work on the topic:
Conference Presentation:
Sumridge, Molly. (March 2019). Rituals in dog sports - a multi-species ethnography. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Ethnological Society, St. Louis, Missouri.