Pets Natural Health Store

05/09/2026

They look. Then they pull.
They really, really want to get over there.
So we shorten the lead, walk them over and say hello.

Except not one of those things tells us that a meeting is going to be welcomed.
In fact, sometimes the frantic "I must get over there right now!" is the very reason I wouldn't let it happen.

We really like dogs meeting dogs.
We want the sniff.
The play.
The little greeting.
The excitement we see when they spot each other.
The possibility that they'll like each other.

It makes us feel good.

Sometimes we're so focused on getting there, we don't stop to ask whether they actually need to.

Two dogs can notice each other.
Look.
Sniff from a distance.
And keep walking.
Absolutely nothing has been missed.

In fact, for some dogs, that, exactly that, was a great interaction.

They saw another dog.
They gathered some information.
And they carried on with their day.
No greeting needed.
No play required.
No “Go on, say hi!”

And that's the bit we humans struggle with.
Sometimes we want the meeting more than they need it.

So should we insist that our dogs “just be dogs” and say hi?
Or could giving them the freedom not to meet be just as much a part of letting dogs be dogs?

04/09/2026

People know this. But it doesn't "apply".
Not to their dog.

I'm more and more convinced this is an "I don't care" problem, rather than a lack of knowledge
Because surely, by now, people know.

There's information everywhere about dogs rushing up to other dogs.

About recall.
Giving dog's space
About what can happen when one dog simply won’t leave another alone.

So maybe lack of information isn’t always the problem.

They know that allowing their dog to charge up to a dog on lead isn’t fair.
They know that repeatedly calling a dog who is completely ignoring them, while reassuring everyone around that “they’re friendly!”, isn’t fair.
They know that when another dog is trying to move away and theirs keeps following, chasing or pushing back into their space, the interaction isn’t friendly.

Maybe I've become more hardened in my view on this.
Because I'm really over it.

So why does it keep happening?

Maybe that’s the question we should be asking.

Is it just complacency?

Is it because calling their dog away would interrupt what their dog is enjoying?
Maybe because nothing bad has happened before, so they assume nothing ever will?
Is it because dealing with it in the moment feels inconvenient?

Or is there still a good old dose of:
“My dog is fine. It’s your dog that has the problem.”

I’m becoming less and less convinced this is a knowledge gap.

What do you think is really behind the “they’re friendly” problem?

23/08/2026

The first time shouldn’t be when you HAVE to do it.

There’s something stuck in between their toes.
An ear that suddenly droops and they’re shaking their head.
There’s a sore patch buried under all that fur that you need to get a proper look at.
Maybe that eye needs a bit of an inspection.

But right now?
The vet needs you to keep their head still for just a moment.

That’s a pretty difficult time to discover your dog really doesn’t like having their head kept still.
Or their ears lifted.
Or somebody looking closely at their eyes.

Maybe they’ve never really had any handling?

Because now it matters.
And perhaps it hurts too.

We practice so many things with our dogs that they'll use throughout their lives.

Sit.
Wait.
Come.

But there are other crucial skills that might sit in our minds that we don’t act on, but know we should.

Handling is one of those “I really should start” skills to have.

It can literally be seconds.
Lift an ear. Reward. Finished.
Hold a paw. Reward. Finished.
Part the fur and have a quick look at the skin. Reward. Finished.
Briefly hold the muzzle. Reward. Finished.

Then, once those things are easy, we can gradually make them a little more realistic.

Hold for slightly longer.
Look between the toes.
Bring a warm damp cloth near an ear maybe even make contact.
Reward.
Finished again.

All these wee rehearsals for things that may one day matter.

And there's another important bit.

Your dog doesn't need to prove they can tolerate it.
If they're becoming uncomfortable, stop.

Go back.
Make the next attempt much easier.

Because the goal here isn't to see how much handling they'll put up with all at once.
It's to make the handling itself increasingly familiar, predictable and normal.

Because if the day comes when you really do need to help them?
Or they need to see the vet?

It won't be the first time.
It’s just “another” time.

Every dog seems to have their own “absolutely not” bit, sometimes for reasons we’d never have guessed.

23/08/2026

🐾 CAN DOGS SMELL THE PASSAGE OF TIME?

Have you ever noticed your dog becoming more alert shortly before you usually arrive home?

Perhaps they move towards the door, start watching the window or suddenly seem to know that someone is about to return.

It can feel almost as though they can tell the time.

But could part of the answer be hidden in something we humans barely notice at all?

SCENT. 👃

Dogs live in a world that is profoundly shaped by smell.

While we tend to experience time through clocks, calendars and schedules, dogs may be able to gather information from changes in the environment, including changes in odour.

🧠 SO, CAN DOGS ACTUALLY “SMELL TIME”?

This is a fascinating scientific question, but we need to be careful not to overstate what we know.

The idea is that when you leave home, your scent remains behind. Over time, the concentration and composition of odours in the environment can change.

A dog may be capable of detecting some of these changes.

This has led scientists and researchers to ask whether changing scent information could provide dogs with clues about the passage of time.

It is an intriguing possibility, but it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated that dogs can accurately estimate when you will return home simply by measuring how much your scent has faded.

🐾 WHAT WE DO KNOW

Dogs have an extraordinary ability to detect, discriminate and respond to odours.

Scent is not simply a background smell to a dog.

It is INFORMATION.

A scent can provide clues about:

🐾 Who has been there

🐾 Which individual left the scent

🐾 Where they travelled

🐾 Which direction they may have gone

🐾 How scent conditions have changed

🐾 What is happening in the environment

And because odours are dynamic rather than static, a dog's olfactory world is constantly changing.

👃 YOUR DOG MAY ALSO USE OTHER CLUES

If your dog appears to know when you are coming home, scent may be only one part of the story.

Dogs are remarkably good at learning patterns and predicting events.

They may notice:

🚗 Changes in sounds outside

🏡 Activity around the home

🕰️ Your regular daily routine

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The behaviour of other people in the household

🌅 Changes in light and environmental activity

👂 Familiar sounds associated with your return

Your dog may not be “reading the clock”.

Instead, they may be gathering and combining an extraordinary amount of information that we barely notice.

🔬 THE BIGGER LESSON

This is one of the reasons I find canine olfaction so fascinating.

We often underestimate how differently dogs experience the world.

For us, a room may simply look familiar.

For a dog, that same room may contain a constantly changing landscape of scent.

Every open door.

Every person who walks through.

Every breeze.

Every meal prepared.

Every animal that passes outside.

Every hour that passes.

The environment is leaving information behind.

🐾 SO, CAN DOGS SMELL TIME?

The most scientifically accurate answer is:

Possibly, in some way, but we don't yet fully understand exactly how dogs perceive the passage of time or which cues they use to anticipate events such as their owner's return.

The fading and changing of scent is a fascinating hypothesis.

But the truth is that the canine nose, and the canine brain processing all that information, still has a great deal to teach us.

And perhaps that is the most incredible part.

Your dog may be experiencing a world of information that is quite literally invisible to you. 🐾

Donna Williams,
Emerald Park Border Collies.
[www.emeraldparkbc.com]

"My mission is to improve the life of at least one dog today!"

23/08/2026