MY NAME IS SHAUNA LEE
My evolving body of work sits at the intersection of research, caregiving, science communication, and reform in both the pet industry and the human–canine relationship.
I am a human-animal interaction researcher, professional animal caregiver, and science communicator focused on improving how humans understand, care for, and relate to dogs—particularly in an industry that remains largely unregulated and lacks clear standards for ethical, relationship-centered care.
My primary focus is on companion dogs and everyday caregiving relationships. I do not view dogs as property or subordinates whose only purpose is to assist and obey humans. I believe that dogs are companions and relationship partners with whom we share our lives and have a responsibility to provide for and protect. Raising a dog is much like raising children, they deserve to feel loved and safe, to socialize and play, to learn, explore and most importantly, make choices.
The human–canine relationship has changed — dogs are companions and relational partners now — but the system of care around them never caught up. The full spectrum of care a relational partner needs has collapsed onto two professions, veterinary medicine and dog training, and they’re breaking under the weight. Into that vacuum rushed a largely unregulated market that sells the appearance of care to people desperate to provide the real thing. My work is about understanding that gap precisely enough to repair it — and building care worthy of the relationships we share.
Growing up on a family farm, animals were a constant presence in my daily life, shaping how I learned responsibility, observe behavior, and provide care from an early age. That foundation later evolved into nearly two decades of animal caretaking through founding and operating Tampa Pet Sitters, work that exposed me to a wide range of households, caregiving styles, and human–canine relationships.
Across that span of experience, a consistent pattern emerged: most behaviors labeled as “problems” are better understood as miscommunication, unmet needs, or breakdowns in human responsibility and communication—particularly around emotional regulation, agency, and autonomy.
Agency is the capacity to act and make choices, while autonomy is the freedom to be self-governing, acting according to one’s own values and rules, rather than external control, though they often overlap. Agency is about having the power to influence outcomes, while autonomy is about the independence to set one’s own goals and make choices aligned with them, even within structured environments.
I have experience as a research assistant in a social relationships lab studying dyadic relationship dynamics. This has inspired me to center my primary research interests on the human–canine relationship as a co-regulatory system. I am also a research assistant and social media science communicator with the American Psychological Association’s Division 17, Human-Animal Interaction, Section 13. This experience has helped me expand my understanding of the vast human-animal interaction literature, and define my voice as a science communicator.
I am especially interested in collaborative research across several connected areas.
The first is human–canine emotional co-regulation and cross-species communication—how dogs perceive, process, and respond to human behavior through the lens of canine cognition, and how the caregiving environment shapes that exchange. The second is the professional caregiver—the sitter, the walker, the person entrusted with an animal in its own home—and the unusual triad they occupy: bonded to the animal, accountable to the owner, and uniquely positioned to observe the owner–dog relationship from the outside. The third is what owners actually need once medical care and behavioral training are set aside—the emotional, developmental, and decision-making support that no profession currently provides. And the fourth is the relationship between owners and the industry that markets to them—how people decide what to buy when nearly every product is unregulated and “vet recommended” is a marketing phrase rather than a standard.
The through-line of my work is improving relationship dynamics. I approach behavior as communication that works both ways, emphasizing human responsibility, reliable caretaking, and emotional regulation within the relationship, and viewing care as stewardship rather than control.
My long-term goal is to help shift how society understands canine care and companionship. This includes establishing clearer standards and professional pathways for companion animal caregiving, and improving outcomes and well-being for dogs by improving the human side of the relationship.
The research is the foundation, but the purpose is repair. Once gaps in care are seen clearly, they can be filled. If we understand what professional caregivers experience and need, we can build real education for the people who want to do this work—training in species-appropriate care, behavioral understanding, medical awareness, and the genuine emotional labor the role demands.
If we understand where owners are left unsupported, we can create the roles and services that actually meet those needs, rather than leaving people to sort real guidance from noise on their own. And if we understand how the market shapes and often misleads the way people care, we can support the standards and accountability the pet industry has long gone without—and stand behind the businesses and practitioners who genuinely want to help.
What I am ultimately working toward is legitimacy: for the care these relationships require, and for the people who provide it. We have built entire professions, credentials, and bodies of knowledge around caring for the humans we love who need extra support. The animals we now call family deserve the same seriousness.
This perspective does not oppose expert training, which is essential for working, assistance, sport, and therapy dogs; rather, it emphasizes that for strictly companion animals, relational attunement—not performance—is the primary foundation for a healthy human–canine bond.