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Your reactive dog knows things will be OK long before their nervous system catches up.In their brain, the progress is al...
20/10/2026

Your reactive dog knows things will be OK long before their nervous system catches up.

In their brain, the progress is already there. But the rest of them takes time to follow, and it can be really hard for us to see it. Usually the first sign is that they recover from a reactive incident more quickly. They still go off, but they come back down faster. That’s progress!

I know this because I’m living it right now. Too many things going on!! Not dog or work related (although old, broken dogs are always a bit of a stressor). My brain knows it’ll be OK in the end, but there’s still a ball of stress sat in my solar plexus. Ick.

What helps me is giving myself time and space to recover, and accepting that feeling crappy is OK. Our dogs need exactly the same. Not more exposure to the thing that stressed them, but a proper reset. That might be calming stuff, or it might be playing and training with you.

Progress, not perfection, for them and for us.

So tell me: what does recovery look like for your dog after a tough moment? And what does it look like for you? 👇

Choices, choices, choices, life is full of choices.Some days the amount of them is exhausting. What to order from the ta...
06/10/2026

Choices, choices, choices, life is full of choices.

Some days the amount of them is exhausting. What to order from the takeaway? Which socks to wear? Endless, endless choices.

And we know that giving our dogs choices is crucial for their wellbeing. But here's the bit we can forget: their choices aren't static. They can change, just like ours do. I might put on my light ankle socks first thing, then an hour later decide I'd rather be snuggly in my wool ones.

Hattie showed me this at the weekend. At her age, walks are short and sweet and she gets to choose how far she goes.

15 minutes into our lake walk she put the brakes on. Time to turn back! So Matt turned round with her and I carried on with Dash.

3 minutes later I turned my head and round the corner came Matt and a very sprightly looking Hattie. She'd changed her mind. As is her prerogative...

Then about 15 minutes later she stopped again. For real this time! We found them just before the car, both sat on a bench looking very happy watching the world go by.

Letting Hattie change her mind meant both dogs and humans got the most out of the walk. Win win!

Does your dog ever change their? Tell me in the comments 👇

Yesterday was new couch day in our house!I say new, but tbh I can't remember the last time I bought furniture new. Reuse...
29/09/2026

Yesterday was new couch day in our house!

I say new, but tbh I can't remember the last time I bought furniture new. Reuse, environmental impact, and the amazing things people want to get rid of is just insane.

We found a couch AND a chair, hired a van for an hour and collected them. Blimey, that chair was heavy! Back with the van JUST on the minute.

Then we dismantled the old sofa. After 8 years and 2 dogs, I'm sure I could have crocheted two or three new dogs with the fur we found. Hattie had a great time hoovering up the treats under there!

When I got back from work, the new couch was ready. Matt had shown the suspicious dogs it was safe by sitting on it first. Then Dash ran past me, jumped on it, and looked at me sooooo intently, as if to say "it's OK, you can sit here."

Sooooo cute. And yes, he was right. Super comfy!

I do wonder what our dogs are thinking!

Have your dogs ever "checked" something new for you? Tell me in the comments!

10/09/2026

This applies to dogs, their guardians, other professionals and ourselves. Thank you, Victoria for this reminder.

Here's something nobody tells you when you get a dog: your vet probably isn't going to ask about their behaviour unless ...
20/08/2026

Here's something nobody tells you when you get a dog: your vet probably isn't going to ask about their behaviour unless you bring it up first.

That's not a dig at vets, they're working through a packed appointment list and physical health takes priority. But it means a lot gets missed. New Texas A&M research backs this up, the study's author points out that behaviour often doesn't come up in checkups unless the owner raises it, which means real welfare concerns can go completely unaddressed.

So it falls on us. And because we live with our dogs every single day, gradual changes are easy to miss. The dog who used to greet visitors and now barks from the hallway. The one who used to walk anywhere and now steers around certain streets. It creeps in slowly enough that it stops registering as a change at all.

Nobody's going to flag this for you. If something's shifted, even slowly, that's reason enough to ask for help. You don't need a crisis first.

New peer reviewed research out of Texas A&M just put a number on something I see in almost every session. More than 84% ...
19/08/2026

New peer reviewed research out of Texas A&M just put a number on something I see in almost every session. More than 84% of dogs show at least mild signs of fear or anxiety in everyday life. Not rare dogs. Not "difficult" dogs. Most dogs.

The most common triggers were unfamiliar people and unfamiliar dogs, which will surprise absolutely no one who's ever tried to walk a dog past a stranger on a narrow pavement.

Here's the bit that matters most though. The researcher behind the study points out that when dogs are repeatedly put into situations they're not comfortable with, that fear can escalate, and in some cases aggression becomes the only way they know how to respond.

That's not a dog being difficult. That's a dog who's been asked to cope with too much, too often, without anyone noticing the early warning signs. Spotting fear before it escalates is most of the job.

This morning I walked into my living room expecting the usual welcome committee. Dash, bouncing off the walls, whole bod...
18/08/2026

This morning I walked into my living room expecting the usual welcome committee. Dash, bouncing off the walls, whole body wag, the works.

Instead? Snoring. Flat out on the sofa. Didn't hear me open the door. Didn't hear me walk in. I had to actually get in front of him before he realised I existed 😅

Add that to a few times recently where I've come up behind him and he's had no idea I was there, and I think we're looking at the start of some hearing loss.

It's SO common as dogs get older, and it creeps in slowly, which is exactly why it sneaks up on us as owners too. A few other things worth watching for:

🐾 Not responding to their name
🐾 Sleeping through noises that used to wake them instantly
🐾 Ignoring "known" cues (it's not selective hearing, they genuinely can't hear you)
🐾 Seeming startled more easily
🐾 Head tilting or shaking in a new way

Here's the bit that matters if you've got a reactive dog like I do: hearing loss changes their early warning system. No more hearing trouble coming from three gardens away and having time to prepare. That can mean more startle. It can also mean less, because a chunk of what used to wind them up just isn't reaching them any more. Every dog's different.

Either way, it means leaning harder into visual communication. Hand signals. Body language. Using touch.

We got to interview Deb Bauer for the Barking Up The Right Tree festival. Deb's an expert on blind and deaf dogs so if you haven't seen it you can catch her interview here: https://www.barking-up-the-right-tree.com/courses/the-international-reactivity-summit/contents/65a1158c62e92

Tell me in the comments: has this happened with one of your dogs? What was the first thing you noticed?

Slightly nerdy one for you today, but stick with me, it backs up everything I bang on about.Scientists have just scanned...
13/08/2026

Slightly nerdy one for you today, but stick with me, it backs up everything I bang on about.

Scientists have just scanned dogs' brains while showing them photos of smiling and neutral human faces. When the dogs saw a smile, the reward centre of their brain lit up. Not "recognised a face." Reward. The same kind of response you'd get from something genuinely good happening to them.

Even more interesting: this study also found dogs' brains respond differently depending on whether they're looking at anger, fear or sadness. They're not just clocking "happy vs not happy." They're picking up the specifics.

This is why the emotion-first approach isn't some soft, fluffy add-on to training, it's literally how dogs are wired to relate to us. Your face, your tone, your energy, isn't background noise to your dog. It's information they're actively processing and responding to, moment by moment.

So next time you're working on recall, or loose lead walking, or just existing in the same room as a nervous dog, your expression is doing more work than you think. A tense face and a tense body ask something different of your dog than a soft one does.

Makes you look at your dog looking at you a bit differently, doesn't it? 😊

Scrolling for dog training advice? Here's what to watch forBritain's dog training industry is still unregulated, anyone ...
12/08/2026

Scrolling for dog training advice? Here's what to watch for

Britain's dog training industry is still unregulated, anyone can call themselves a "trainer." So here's your quick checklist:

🚩 Promises to "fix" behaviour in one session
🚩 Labels your dog "dominant" or "stubborn"
🚩 Uses fear, force, or intimidation on camera
🚩 Never asks about pain, health, or history
🚩 Can't explain why the dog was doing the behaviour

✅ What good looks like instead:
🟢 Asks questions before giving answers
🟢 Talks about emotion, not just obedience
🟢 Wants your dog to feel safe, not just look "controlled"
🟢 Comfortable saying "I don't know yet, let's find out"

Your dog's trust in you is not something to gamble on a viral video. If something you've seen online doesn't sit right, send it my way, I'll always give you an honest take.

I've seen dogs who came to me worse than when their owners started, not because the owners didn't care, but because some...
11/08/2026

I've seen dogs who came to me worse than when their owners started, not because the owners didn't care, but because someone online told them their dog was "being dominant" and needed to be "shown who's boss."

Dogs Today reported this week that Britain's dog training industry is still completely unregulated. Anyone, anyone, can call themselves a trainer or behaviourist. No qualifications required. No understanding of welfare required. Just a phone and a willingness to film something dramatic.

And the "dramatic" bit matters, because fear and force make good content. A dog stopping a behaviour the second it's punished looks like a result. It gets shared. It gets copied by thousands of desperate, exhausted owners who are just trying to get through the day with a dog they love but can't cope with.

Here's what it doesn't show you: what happens to that dog's trust in the days after the camera stops rolling. Whether the "fixed" behaviour comes back worse, or turns into something else entirely, because the actual emotional driver was never touched.

Behaviour is communication, not defiance. A dog labelled "stubborn" or "dominant" online is very often a dog who's anxious, in pain, confused, or has never been taught what we actually want instead. Suppressing what you can see doesn't mean you've dealt with why it's happening.

I'm not saying every trainer online is dangerous, and I'm not saying my way is the only way. Far from it! There are some awesome trainers out there. But if a quick fix feels too good to be true for a problem that took months or years to build, it probably is. Your dog deserves someone who asks why before they decide what.

If you're not sure what you're looking at when you see training advice online, ask me. Genuinely, send me the video, I'll tell you what I see and why, no charge, no judgement.

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