Wild Walks & Waggy Tails

05/06/2026

👏🏼

The “immediately friendly equals well-socialised” myth

There’s a widespread assumption - particularly in Western dog culture - that an immediately friendly dog is a well-socialised one. But sociability and social health aren’t the same thing.

A dog that rushes up to every stranger isn’t necessarily confident. It can equally reflect overarousal (due to varying emotions), a lack of impulse control, or a lack of clear social boundaries.

Natural reservation and fear are not the same thing. This distinction matters enormously, and the two are frequently collapsed, which is a significant equivocation with real consequences for dogs.

Fear-based reservation tends to involve active avoidance, visible stress signals, and an inability to recover. Natural reservation looks quite different - the dog may be calm, observant, and fully functional - simply withholding engagement until they’ve made their own assessment. Conflating the two pathologises a healthy characteristic.

Some breeds were never bred for indiscriminate friendliness: Chow Chows, Akitas, and many Nordic and Eastern breeds among them. Applying a universal social template to every dog and finding them wanting does a real disservice to both the individual and the breed. The Eurasier standard, for example, describes the breed as reserved with strangers, but without signs of aggression - and in my experience, that’s accurate. There’s a spectrum, as with any breed, but natural reservation was genuinely one of the things that drew me to them.

The pressure for dogs to be immediately friendly with strangers largely serves the stranger, not the dog. A dog that takes their time is exercising due diligence. Appropriate social boundaries. Something we’d readily respect in a human.

There’s also a persistent assumption that reservation in adult dogs signals inadequate early socialisation. Sometimes that’s true - but a well-socialised dog of a naturally reserved breed, or any breed, may still be reserved. Socialisation does shape confidence and resilience, but it doesn’t necessarily alter how much social contact a dog seeks, or from whom.

Every dog deserves to be read as an individual - not measured against a template, or unrealistic expectations that we wouldn’t apply to other humans.

05/06/2026

Love this. ❤️

One of the biggest misunderstandings, both in human psychology and in dog behaviour, is the idea of “attention seeking.” The phrase itself carries judgement, as though the individual is being manipulative, demanding, or somehow doing something wrong. But when we step back and look at biology, neuroscience, and evolution, a very different picture emerges.

Mammals are social animals. We are not designed to survive alone. From the moment we are born, our nervous systems are built around one central truth: connection keeps us alive. A newborn puppy cannot survive without its mother. A human baby cannot survive without a caregiver. The brain and body know this, and because of it, evolution has given us what neuroscientists often call the care system; a deeply ingrained biological drive to seek closeness, protection, and emotional safety.

This system is not simply emotional, it is chemical. Oxytocin, dopamine, endogenous opioids, and countless other neurochemicals reinforce bonding because connection is essential for survival. When we reach for another, when a puppy cries for its mother, when a child seeks comfort after being frightened, or when a dog leans against its owner after a stressful experience, the body is doing exactly what millions of years of evolution designed it to do.

The tragedy is that many of us grow up learning that connection is not always safe. Through trauma, neglect, inconsistency, or emotional unavailability, we can begin to associate vulnerability with pain. Instead of our care systems bringing comfort, they become tangled with fear and uncertainty. We still crave connection because we are mammals, but we become afraid of the very thing we need most. This creates the internal conflict so many people live with; desperately wanting closeness while simultaneously pushing it away.

Our dogs often carry similar developmental wounds. A puppy separated too early, a rescue dog that has experienced abandonment, or a dog repeatedly punished for expressing emotional needs may also learn that reaching out is dangerous. What people label as “clingy,” “needy,” or “attention seeking” is often a nervous system searching for regulation. It is a biological attempt to restore safety through relationship.

This is why I don’t believe in the concept of attention seeking behaviour. I see connection seeking behaviour. I see a mammal doing what mammals are designed to do: reaching for another nervous system to help it find balance. Beneath the barking, the following, the whining, or the inability to settle, there is often a simple message: “I don’t feel safe on my own.”

Healing does not come from suppressing these behaviours. It comes from understanding them. Real connection happens below the level of words and commands. It exists nervous system to nervous system, body to body, presence to presence. It is found in quiet moments, shared regulation, and the experience of being truly seen.

Perhaps this is why our relationships with dogs can be so profound. They remind us of something we have often forgotten ourselves: that we were never meant to navigate life alone. Beneath all the training methods, the behaviour plans, and the labels, there are simply two mammals trying to find safety in one another.

02/06/2026

Tongues out Tuesday! 😝👅 Hope everyone’s having a wonderful week!

02/06/2026

Happy Tuesday! 🐶 🐕

01/06/2026

A great start to the week today although I forgot my coat so got bit soaked! 🙄🤣 here’s a few from the early afternoon walk. Some very happy faces, a beautiful group to spend a Monday with! 🥰 and made even better by seeing Sheba again, lots of walkies planned whilst she’s at her grandpawrents! ❤️

29/05/2026

Some serious spaniel business from Milo, Nancy & Teddy (he likes being a spaniel and joining in from time to time!) ❤️🥰 another early finish before the temperature rose. But a much cooler day all round. Next week looks much cooler and we’ll be back to usual timings. I have space Monday - Friday next week so get your days booked in. And my van is back… again… for how long no one knows 🤣🥹🙄

28/05/2026

Gorgeous Dumbo can fly! 🥰☀️🐶

25/05/2026

Just some catching up from photos over the last few weeks. ❤️🥰 Hope everyone’s had a lovely long bank holiday weekend in the sunshine! I’ve sent everyone information about this coming week. Afternoon walks have been cancelled and I’ll only be working morning. 😊☀️

25/05/2026

Happy pups from last week! ❤️🐶