Rachel Forday - Dog At Heart

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Rachel Forday - Dog At Heart Rachel Forday | VSA-CDT

Meeting both you and your dog's needs and desires through humane training.

CCPDT may be the worst but that doesn’t make all the other animal training, behaviour, and welfare organisations much be...
27/11/2025

CCPDT may be the worst but that doesn’t make all the other animal training, behaviour, and welfare organisations much better.

“Will anything they ever do satisfy you, Rachel?”

Maybe, to an extent…

If they stop being cowards and actually spoke up against the genocide in Palestine that has killed so many animals, animal carers, and veterinarians.

If they shared fundraising links at least for animal rescues in Palestine.

If they genuinely took accountability for the past harm towards marginalised animal professionals and carers they have engaged in.

If they stopped protecting people in positions of power who have caused harm and stopped tonepolice people who speak out about the harm they have experienced.

If they even cared more about dogs in pain rather than focused just on training and behaviour modification.

But I don’t see that happening anytime soob, certainly not for many of the organisations in this industry.

Most organisations in this industry do not deserve the money you put into them. That money could instead be used to directly support people and animals experiencing genocide in Palestine right now, like our friend Dana in Gaza. Please contribute to her gfm if you can. 🙏

Every element of our dog’s care plays a part in their wellbeing, and that includes how we train.The welfare of dogs cann...
25/11/2025

Every element of our dog’s care plays a part in their wellbeing, and that includes how we train.

The welfare of dogs cannot be separated from how they are being trained.

Considering how aversive training methods and tools work by causing fear, discomfort, and pain as well as inducing stress, it is clear how detrimental these training methods and tools are for the welfare and wellbeing of dogs.

This gets even worse once we also realise how so many dogs are already experiencing undiagnosed or untreated pain, and how stress and fear, which can be caused by aversive training tools and methods, can increase a dog’s sensitivity to pain.

Using aversive and punitive training methods also suppresses our dog’s communicative behaviours and result in us desensitising ourselves to our dog’s pain and stress signals.

With all this in mind, how can we not care about training methods if we say we care about the wellbeing and the “total welfare” of dogs?

Violence towards animals doesn’t happen in a vacuum.If the way these community dogs were treated enrages you, be enraged...
17/11/2025

Violence towards animals doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

If the way these community dogs were treated enrages you, be enraged too about the use of shock collars on dogs, the culling of birds like crows and wild chickens, the punishing nature of our education systems, police violence, the violence of capitalism, the death penalty, the ongoing genocides around the world and our complicity in it...

These things are all connected.

Always remember that attempts to get rid of community animals are rooted in colonial mindsets and attitudes, and anyone from anywhere can uphold these colonial mindsets and attitudes.

It’s on us to actively interrogate and fight against systems and attitudes that make us see certain lives as being of less value and not deserving of life or respect.

Please stop setting fireworks off.The harm they bring to all animals including companion animals and wildlife is clear. ...
09/11/2025

Please stop setting fireworks off.

The harm they bring to all animals including companion animals and wildlife is clear. Not just through the loud sounds they make, but also through the bright lights.

Many of us with dogs and cats know how painfully stressed and afraid our beloved animals can be when incessant and loud fireworks are set off, but let’s also remember how damaging they are to wildlife too, and therefore our environment as a whole.

For example, they can have long lasting effects on migratory birds causing changes in their behaviour even after the fireworks have ended.

It’s bizarre to see people in the UK celebrate Remembrance Day and still set fireworks off today, with no care for people with PTSD.

And it’s frustrating that the fireworks carry on even after Bonfire Night is over.

Fireworks can cause so much harm to both people and animals. Harm that is completely avoidable. Please consider no longer using fireworks and finding other more considerate, creative ways to have fun.

Claims of how force-free and humane dog training and care don’t allow dogs to grow and cope with unavoidable stressful a...
04/11/2025

Claims of how force-free and humane dog training and care don’t allow dogs to grow and cope with unavoidable stressful and aversive events because we are “eliminating discomfort” for them are often just excuses to impose flooding, punishment, and aversive training methods and tools on dogs.

Creating stressful and aversive situations in training, like flooding a dog by deliberately putting them in close proximity with something they’re worried about with no way of escape, or using aversive, punishment-based training methods, will NOT help in general, but it’s especially unhelpful and even harmful in unavoidable stressful and scary moments because:

- not only is the environment in the moment unsafe to the dog, but their human is potentially unsafe to be around too.

- they have no way to seek comfort or communicate their needs due to a negative learning history with those behaviours.

- they may take longer to recover, not knowing when they are safe or when they can feel safe again.

It’s true that we cannot help our dogs avoid all stressors in life, but that’s why we have to do what we can to help them reduce stress and feel safe in learning, in communicating with us, and in their day-to-day lives, rather than impose more stress and aversives on them in the name of “building resilience”.

By helping them feel safe with us and the
environment, helping them have more control and ways to communicate with us, and allowing and encouraging them to engage in natural behaviours that can help them reduce stress, we help our dogs cope and recover more quickly from unavoidable aversive and stressful events.

Why shop at genocide-complicit companies when you can support small businesses and artists who support and care about Pa...
29/10/2025

Why shop at genocide-complicit companies when you can support small businesses and artists who support and care about Palestine instead?

From hoodies to muzzles, from custom pet portraits to plushes, if you’re an animal lover or know someone who’s an animal lover, you’ll be able to find something on this list and support important Palestinian causes at the same time!

If you don’t find anything that suits you, please do consider contributing to Palestinian fundraisers. You can find some in our Mutual Aid Instagram highlights.

To shop, you can click the profiles tagged on each slide and visit their links in bio.

P.S. For our Liberation Now! merch, be sure to get your pre-orders in by 11 Nov!

Letting our dogs be a dog, engage in natural behaviours, and have agency in their lives is important for their wellbeing...
24/10/2025

Letting our dogs be a dog, engage in natural behaviours, and have agency in their lives is important for their wellbeing for obvious reasons, but they are also important for their wellbeing because we get to observe their preferences and how they normally behave and be able to notice when things change.

These changes can inform us of how they’re feeling and potential pain they might be in and are important information.

But we would not have this information if these behaviours are punished, restricted, or heavily micromanaged.

This is why training methods aren’t just a difference in opinion. Force-free and humane dog care that provides agency for a dog and allows them to be a dog is necessary to really looking after our dog’s overall wellbeing.

You can read more as a member on our Patreon. Link in bio.

The Keffiyeh symbolises the Palestinian struggle for liberation, justice, and freedom.The olive branch symbolises how re...
23/10/2025

The Keffiyeh symbolises the Palestinian struggle for liberation, justice, and freedom.

The olive branch symbolises how resilient Palestinians have been against violent occupation. It also represents the Palestinians’ connection to their land.

As for Dave the dog? I’d like to think he reminds us that we are all interconnected and we have to fight for our collective liberation. This is also a reminder for animal lovers and animal care professionals to not forget the animals and animal carers in Palestine who are not spared.

Hence, 70% of profits from these sales will be split between the fundraisers for the late veterinarian Dr Mu’ath Talat’s family () and 18 year old Dana () and her 3 dogs, honouring Palestinians who have shown love and kindness for animals till their very last breath and supporting young Palestinians who are doing their best to care for the animals around them. You can read more about Dr Mu’ath Talat in our Mutual Aid highlights as well as on their fundraising pages.

The last 2 times we sold this merch, we raised a total of £314 for Medical Aid for Palestinians. I hope we can beat or match that this time!

If you have bought any merch from me before, you’ll know how much I prioritise going for base products that are eco-friendly and of good quality. While the base clothes and bags are of a different make to the ones before, I trust that you will still love them.

I have also done my best with the prices to keep them as low as possible for you while also ensuring we can get enough in donations for our Palestinian friends.

And if you’ve purchased a Liberation Now! item before and you’re looking for more, please do check out this campaign as we finally have long sleeve tees and sweatshirts in, which we didn’t have before, and they’re just in time for the ‘ber months!

This pre-order period ends on 11 Nov 2025, so please get your order in in time from the link in our bio!

Thank you all so much for your support. It really means the world.

Art by the incredible and wonderful .

I will never regret adopting Dave from the shelter when he was 9 years old.I’m sure people around me thought it was stra...
22/10/2025

I will never regret adopting Dave from the shelter when he was 9 years old.

I’m sure people around me thought it was strange I would go through all the effort and spend so much of my savings to adopt him and bring him to the UK with him.

But he isn’t worth less just because he was older, or because he was a shelter dog, or because he’s a former free living dog.

It is my privilege, honour, and blessing to be able to share my life with him and to care for him.

Senior dogs are sadly so often overlooked in shelters and the reasons people give are that they worry about not being able to bond with a senior dog, how much time they will get to have with them, or the heartbreak.

First of all, you absolutely can bond with a senior dog.

Secondly, we unfortunately never actually really know how long we have with our dogs at whatever age we get them at. The amount of time we have with them also shouldn’t determine their worth.

And finally, heartbreak is inevitable when we love and care for another being with a shorter lifespan than ours.

Yes, there is understandably more care involved, and perhaps more needs to be met with a senior dog.

But that is the also the gift they bring us.

They allow us to learn to care and love for another being without demanding anything in return.

We learn to be observant, to advocate.

We learn gentleness and softness that we can bring to the other parts of our lives.

Caring for our senior dogs will teach us to be in community with others.

I think so often about the other senior dogs at Dave’s shelter who I used to spend time with. Some are still there and have been waiting for even longer than the 7 years Dave had been waiting.

So please give a senior dog at your local shelter or rescue a home if you’re able to. They are truly the best.

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