Talk:Cynology

message: A search of English language websites shows that those who use the terms "cynologist" and "cynology" to describe themselves and what they do are dog trainers, dog handlers, or dog breeders; useful occupations, but not ones that have anything to do with being scientists. 
Scientists (with advanced degrees and published work) and veterinarians who work with or study dogs and other canids are referred to by their actual specialties and training; I find none that list "cynology" among their fields of study, although they may study dogs. Examples in no particular order:
::*Ian Dunbar, veterinarian, animal behaviorist, dog trainer, and writer.  He received his veterinary degree and a Special Honours degree in Physiology & Biochemistry from the Royal Veterinary College (London University), and a doctorate in animal behavior from the Psychology Department at the University of California in Berkeley, where he spent ten years researching the development of hierarchical social behavior and aggression in domestic dogs.  (No "cynology" listed.)
::*Elaine A. Ostrander, who began the canine genome project; Ph.D. from the Oregon Health Sciences University, geneticist and senior investigator and Chief of the Cancer Genetics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health. (Not a "cynologist".)
::*Desmond Morris, zoologist and ethologist,  degrees from the University of Birmingham (Zoology) and D.Phil. from Oxford University, supervised by Niko Tinbergen. Among many other works wrote a book called "Dogwatching" in 1986. (There is no evidence that he ever called himself a cynologist or studied or took a degree in anything called "cynology".)
Typical usage in English of the term "cynology" is seen in this article, http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?p=265227 "Cynology College are Scammers" (sic). Another animal training school changed its name from "Cynology College" to "The Companion Animal Sciences Institute", apparently to be less misleading about what it was offering.
Although this is "English Wikipedia" cites from other countries may be useful in showing that "cynology" should not be referred to as field of scientific study. (Noting that the word itself may have a different meaning - connotation and denotation - in other languages than the meaning in English, and these are translations.)
http://www.pads.ru/mode.980-id.1220-l.en-type.html
An article on dog breeding describes requirements for Russian "expert cynologist certification" as including "educational level not less then high school graduation"; "Written document confirming the completion of classes in cynology or extracurricular exams"; and practical experience and references. This demonstrates that cynology is not a scientific discipline but rather a trade, even in Russia. A high school diploma and a certificate are not the same as a PhD in an academic discipline and peer-reviewed research.
http://www.amberdog.lv/cat_august_en.html?lang=en&cat=138 Amberdog
"magazine dedicated to the development of cynology in the Baltic countries" covering dog training, dog shows, and veterinary advice (a hobbyist magazine, not a scientific journal.)
http://www.customs.tiraspol.net/eng/ Russian website that defines "cynologist" as a dog handler: "A cynologist group is a part of the Department on smuggling and customs rules violation of SCC. Two years ago the cynologist group was filled up with the English cocker-spaniel assistants."
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-281279.html
"The militiaman the cynologist with the dog." (A photo of a woman police officer with a dog.)
On e-Bay: RUSSIAN PATCH CYNOLOGIST LIFE-SAVER SERVICE DOG GERMAN SHEPHERD; a shirt patch for some sort of police dog handler (aka "cynologist")
I found only one self-described cynologist; an agriculturalist, Nicholay Atanassov (http://www.cynology.info), lists himself as Director of The Center of Experimental Cynology and his education as in agriculture with scientific specialization "animalbreeding". He seems to be an expert in animalbreeding and has written 4 monographes about dogs: 1) The German Shepherd Dog; 2) In the world of the German Shepherd Dog; 3) The Dog and Its Behavior; 4) The Dog. Introduction in the Cynology. As a cunologyst Mr. Atanassov is a regular member of Union of the Scientists in Bulgaria. "The Center of Experimental Cynology" dealing with the problems of dog behavior and dog origin. Here are a lot of scientific papers by Mr. Atanassov. All tthey are in Bulgarian language only and are not published in Internet. It is clear from the website that his first language is not English, so this may not be relevant to "English Wikipedia".
 
*There is lots more like this. Nothing indicates that "cynology" is or has ever been an academic discipline in the sciences, but rather is a term referring to dog trainers and dog handlers; in English, it comes across as an attempt at grandiosity, an embarrassingly inflated term, when applied to the useful work of dog handling and dog training.
--Hafwyn (talk) 15:14, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  More on usage 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 6 external links on Cynology. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110907013734/http://www.nmbe.ch/deutsch/531_6.html to http://www.nmbe.ch/deutsch/531_6.html
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080423062037/http://www.bored.com/ebooks/Religion/about%20religion%20and%20ethics/theodicy.html to http://www.bored.com/ebooks/Religion/about%20religion%20and%20ethics/theodicy.html
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20071112153240/http://www.pads.ru/mode.980-id.1220-l.en-type.html to http://www.pads.ru/mode.980-id.1220-l.en-type.html
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110724104855/http://customs.tiraspol.net/eng/content/view/87/ to http://customs.tiraspol.net/eng/content/view/87/
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070629055444/http://www.zoosalon.am/index-e.html to http://www.zoosalon.am/index-e.html
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110722160840/http://www.amberdog.lv/cat_august_en.html?lang=en&cat=138 to http://www.amberdog.lv/cat_august_en.html?lang=en&cat=138
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thread_title:  External links modified