Carroll Softball Teammates Study Human-Animal Bond

Brittany Smith says she first encountered the term “anthrozoology” during her recruitment to Carroll College. “When I heard that word like when most people hear that word they’re like what the heck is that? I had it explained that it was the human-animal bond to me and I thought that was really interesting,” said Brittany Smith. Smith says she trained a dog for adoption last year along with softball teammate Ashley Davis and now they’re working with a new partner. “Aspen is a one-year-old lab. She is just full of energy. I can use her for tracking and shed hunting. Aspen and I are the definition of a human-animal bond. We do everything together and she’s always with me,” said Brittany Smith. “It’s just been an incredible journey of watching Aspen grow from working on basic obedience to now tracking. I’ve never had to experience going shed hunting or been involved in that stuff,” said Ashley Davis. “I think my favorite part of the experience is the people that come along with it. Our teacher, Tom Brownlee, I’ve had him for two years now and we wouldn’t be where we are without him,” said Brittany Smith. “It has been fun and it’s been a learning process because this is the first dog I have partaken to train for shed hunting and we learned quite a bit. It actually turned out to be easier than I thought it was going to be,” said Tom Brownlee. “It’s made life a lot easier having a partner to do it with. I don’t think we would be able to do it without each other. But ultimately it’s the best experience of my life and I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else,” said Ashley Davis. “It’s crazy. I’ve learned a lot of patience throughout the past two years with having a dog, playing a sport, and going to school. It’s nice to have a dog there with me and it’s also nice to have a best friend that does it along with me. We all know crazy dog people get along with each other and that’s what we’re called around campus but we own it,” said Brittany Smith.