Talking Paw Behaviour

23/06/2025

Is your cat hiding something?

23/06/2025

Dont keep calling your dog when they are not listening to you. Zak has some great tips here on how to make yourself so exciting that your dog won't be able to resist you!!

18/06/2025

In this hot weather, sniffing is an ideal way to keep your dogs occupied and stimulated without having to risk taking them out walking.

When living with a dog who has lots of energy it can seem logical to think that they need more exercise to tire them out - longer, faster walks, more throwing of a ball (or using a ball chucker), always more, more, more...

While this does on the surface seem to make perfect sense, when following that advice what we are actually doing is making the situation worse. Think about how an athlete works to increase their fitness - they do more and faster. Now think about throwing a ball for the dog repeatedly. This is much like the shuttle runs those athletes do to increase their speed and fitness levels.

The great news is that there is another option for these high energy dogs. Yes, they need physical exercise, but they also need mental exercise. Luckily, mental exercise is a fairly easy thing to provide for all dogs, and we can even fit a great amount in on our daily walks.

Sniffing is an activity suitable for all dogs. Scent is the primary way dogs analyse and interpret their world, with an olfactory capability way better than that of humans. Simply giving your dog time and space to sniff on a walk gets that brain working and that will tire your dog more than you might realise. My own Border Collies (one of whom is the young dog sniffing in the image) will relax and snooze as much after 20 minutes of sniffing as they will after a 2 hour mostly off lead walk.

There are lots of ways to provide mental exercise for dogs, but this most powerful form is something that we can access free at any time, just by giving them the time to investigate their surroundings in the way that works best for them.

18/06/2025

Worth a listen .. Don't be that person!

Is your relationship with your cat secretly harming them?In this video, I'm breaking down how a toxic dynamic between cats and their humans can develop — and...

15/06/2025

Bit of a read but some excellent advice here - let your dog enjoy what they do, their lives are too short not to

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE DESTINATION BUT THE JOURNEY

10 years ago something happened that changed my life, it changed how I work with dogs and my priorities for my own dogs. This is Elsa’s story and it should have been her birthday today ❤️

If you’re an owner of a reactive or anxious dog you probably worry about the kind of life your dog will have. You may feel like you aren’t doing enough or worry that your dog is missing out on having doggy friends, chasing their ball in the park and running offlead in the woods like ‘normal’ dogs.

Every week we meet new clients who adore their dogs, most of which are perfect at home and love their people, but who are reactive to other dogs or can’t cope in the outside world. We often hear from these lovely, kind and dedicated people that they feel like they aren’t doing enough, that they are somehow letting their dogs down as they don’t have the kind of lives they always imagined their dog would have. These dogs are generally happy in their lives with their people and their difficulties are only one aspect (normally walks), there are normally loads of positives and good bits in the rest of their lives.

Sometimes it’s about acceptance, changing our perspective of what we thought life would be like together and coming to a new realisation of what a fantastic life we can share with our reactive canine friends, perhaps just a different one than we imagined.

If our goals are to be offlead in the busy dog park and happy to play with any dog who decides to say hi or to be able to happily ignore dogs that approach and spend 5 minutes sniffing their bum inappropriately then it’s likely we’d face a long road of disappointment as these just aren’t realistic for so many dogs. If we can change those goals to leading a life together with our canine friends that we both and enjoy and finding activities we can engage in that we love doing together then we have a real chance of success.

Our canine friends lives are far too short to keep striving towards goals that may be unachievable or may only be achievable with sacrifices. The time our dogs share with us is so transient that it’s far too precious to waste. There’s so much fun to be had outside of walks- doing scent work, having a massage or an ACE freework session, visiting friends and family with your dog, that we shouldn’t let issues on walks become our sole focus. Find what your dog loves and what hidden skills they have, you may see them in a whole new light.

Of course we should train and we rehabilitate but this should always be with the goal of a better and less stressful life for both dog and human, not just to reach potentially unrealistic goals.

This isn’t just relevant to reactive dogs but also to dogs that are anxious too. I know this from personal experience as I spent (wasted) many months trying to get my (happy in every other way) but noise phobic and largely agoraphobic young Inuit, Elsa, to increase the boundaries of her small world. She had home, a couple of happy walks and our lovely farm venue that she felt comfortable with and the rest of the world was scary due to her extreme noise issue. She absolutely adored dogs, she must have had a hundred dog pals and would play happily with them for hours at her safe places but I wanted her life to be ‘more’. It seemed such a shame it was so limited, I wanted to be able to do agility in a class and take her on different walks.

I spent a great deal of time working on expanding her safe places and was moderately successful but all that ‘work’ (which was of course all reward based and done without stress) ate into the time we had to just play with pals, do scent work and have fun. I lost Elsa just after her second birthday after several months desperate fight to save her to an untreatable blood disorder. We never had the time to enjoy the ‘bigger’ and more ‘normal’ life we worked so hard for and in hindsight I wish we’d spent less time striving for it.

She taught us so much in her 26 months with us, she played hard, loved her family and friends and saw joy in the little things. She adored playbowing at beetles and doing scent work to find my childrens’ lost Lego. Her world was small and her life wasn’t ‘normal’ but she was so incredibly happy within it- she didn’t want ‘more’ she was content with the life we had.

We should love our time with our dogs, have long term goals to strive towards but also remember to ensure that we enjoy all of our time together and find the fun in our shared journey.

For Elsa 14/6/13-13/9/15

28/05/2025

I know how I'd feel if someone kept disturbing me while I was eating my dinner ..

It's sad to see people being told to invade all areas of their dogs life. Let's assume that like us, they want agency, undisturbed rest and that they have the right to manage their meal without strange human interruptions.

28/05/2025

get acne? Yes, feline acne is real, and your cat's chin might be the hotspot! 🐱

Feline acne is caused by too much sebum and keratin being produced. It commonly appears as blackheads and pimple like swellings on a cat's chin and lips. Cats can also have a greasy coat as a result. 🐈

👇 Top Treatment Tips 👇

🥣 Switch to stainless steel or ceramic bowls ➡️ these materials are less likely to harbour bacteria compared to plastic

💦 Maintain good hygiene ➡️ keeping the cats chin clean after feeding and using a veterinary prescribed antibacterial wash

🩺 Consult your veterinarian ➡️ for persistent or severe cases, professional evaluation and treatment are recommended

⚠️ Remember, never attempt to "pop" your cat's pimples, as it can lead to further irritation or infection.

For more information, check out our website 👉 https://icatcare.org/articles/acne-and-stud-tail

30/04/2025

Choose trainers/behaviourists carefully and look at their qualifications and accreditation

Wanting a behaviour from our dogs to stop is common. Sadly, there are so many 'trainers' who appear on television or have massive social media followings who will advocate using devices and methods that 'will stop it fast'. Let's be honest, as humans we are often results driven, so I can see why these would appeal to people who don't know why these things should not be recommended and used. The reality is that they can make the situation so much worse.

Suppressing a behaviour doesn't mean that the reasons that behaviour happened aren't still there, just that the dog can't do what they feel they need to in that situation. That can lead to increased frustration, stress, fear - depending on what the driver for that behaviour is. Think of it like a pressure cooker, adding more and more pressure, with no way to reduce that pressure. Eventually there comes a point where the pressure is just too much and boom.

If a behaviour is something we can't live with, there are things we can do without suppressing that behaviour. Manage the situation so that the dog is not in a position to practice that behaviour - for example baby gates to stop them jumping up at arriving guests or finding quiet areas to walk if your dog is uncomfortable with other dogs close up. If there is something you would prefer them to do in that situation keep using the management and then, using kind and ethical methods, teach them what you would like them to do instead. If the behaviour is not something that we can simply train an alternative for - a dog who reacts to other dogs around for example - find a behaviour consultant who uses modern and kind methods to help the dog no longer feel the need to use that behaviour.

Behaviour suppression is never the answer.

Here are links to a couple of blog posts that explore the topic a little further:

https://www.goodguardianship.com/post/the-first-question-to-ask-wtf-what-s-the-function
https://www.goodguardianship.com/post/why-we-should-look-beyond-stopping-behaviour

30/04/2025

Growling is valuable communication. It is the dog telling us that they are uncomfortable and need space. If we ignore (or even worse, punish) the growl they may realise it does no good and escalate to a more severe action. This is when we hear that the dog 'bit out of the blue' or 'with no warning'. The truth is that there were warnings, but they were ignored or suppressed and so from the dog's persepctive didn't work to help them feel safer.

It may be that the reason for the growl is something that needs working on (resource guarding, for example) in which case find an educated and experienced kind canine professional to create a plan to address the underlying issue.

Be thankful for the warning power of the growl and respect it to help your dog feel safer and more comfortable in their world.

17/02/2025

Be careful when you choose trainers/behaviourists

26/01/2025

This is so true, please choose any dog or animal trainer carefully, anyone who uses force and offers quick and easy fixes should be questioned.

26/01/2025

A big issue for many walking their dogs on leads (for any one of a number of reasons) can be uncontrolled loose dogs running up to their dogs. Three of the most common reasons are shown in the image - an older dog who may be hurt in an over-enthusiastic and excitable greeting, a dog recovering from illness/injury/surgery, and a dog who is scared - perhaps the victim of a previous dog attack.

There is a misconception that 'good' dogs will love all other dogs and, if in a public area, should be prepared to play and interact with any other dog in the area. The truth is that, just as we are, most dogs are at least a little selective in who they want to interact with. They will show this in their body language which - subtle as it may be to humans - a socially competent dog will be able to read and respect.

The problem is that these 'good' and 'friendly' dogs as their humans perceive them are generally not actually all that socially competent, and don't respect those subtle signals asking for space and to be left alone. They can keep pushing and pushing until the on lead dog (who is not able to avoid them because they are on lead and can't get away) feels they have no choice but to defend themselves. And then it's often the poor on-lead dog who is labelled as 'bad' when they were just trying to get out of the scary situation.

An off lead dog should not be allowed to approach unknown on-lead dogs. If you see your dog approaching an on-lead dog, call your dog back and keep them close by, either by calling them to heel or putting them on the lead. For the sake of everyone's enjoyment of the space you are in, keep your dog under control for the few minutes it takes to give the on-lead dog space, and then carry on.

If your dog cannot be called back from approaching an on-lead dog, they are not ready to be off-lead in a public place. Use a longline while working on strengthening their recall around distractions - for their own safety, as well as that of the other dogs around.