Canine Advocate 1-2-1

17/05/2026

12/05/2026

LISTEN TO THE WHISPERS

“Whispers” are soft, subtle and so easy to miss, but paying attention can prevent them turning into “shouts” and prevent situations from escalating.

I believe dogs would be so grateful if we made the effort to learn their language. So many dogs spend their lives trying to communicate through “whispers” - subtle signals that are overlooked, misunderstood, or corrected. When we learn to notice those signals, we create a world that feels safer and more predictable for them.

Body language is one of the only ways that dogs can let us know how they are feeling. When we know how they’re feeling, we can intervene, help them feel safe and prevent emotions from boiling over.

Body language can be subtle and fleeting, but with careful observation and knowing what to look for most of us can learn to recognize and understand what our dogs are saying.

It’s always important to look at the context, the situation and especially what the rest of the body is doing when understanding their language.

Being able to understand a dog’s emotional state through their body language helps us to predict behaviour, prevent potential problems or simply allows us to just enjoy observing what they are feeling.

Although dogs each have their own unique personalities and distinct way of communicating, there are many common signs that can provide valuable insight. We just need to take the time to learn and notice.

We owe it to dogs to really understand them. They spend their lives learning our words, our routines, our expectations and living by our rules. Making the effort to learn their language is one of the most meaningful ways we can improve their wellbeing.

Here are some links for more information about body language –

Preventative Vet:
https://www.preventivevet.com/dog-training-recommended-resources-dog-body-language-decoders

Rescued by Training - Introduction to Dog Body Language and Communication:
https://rescuedbytraining.com/product/intro-dog-communication/

Doggie Language by Lili Chin:
https://academics.lmu.edu/media/lmuacademics/cures/urbanecolab/module09/Dog%20Body%20Language.pdf

Canine communication: recognizing stress in your dog
https://bit.ly/4309ykr

Eileen Anderson
https://eileenanddogs.com/dog-body-language/

12/05/2026

I get it, your dog growls when someone comes close to you. Yes, it could be that they are protecting you, but more likely they are protecting themselves.

Maybe the person is approaching them and you at the same time.

Maybe they only feel safe with you and the idea that the person will get between you and them is terrifying.

In clinical practice, dogs described as “protective” are often responding to perceived threat—not guarding a person, but creating distance from something that feels unsafe.

This sort of reframing is important because it reduces misconceptions and allows you to see your dog for what they really are.

If you think your dog is protecting you, you may feel that your dog loves you intensely and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

If you see that your dog is protecting herself and is so petrified that she couldn't stand to even be separated from you by a couple of feet then you can see that this is affecting her quality of life and it has to do less with your dog's intense love and more with his pathological anxiety.

True protection behavior is context-specific, trained, and controlled.

Fear-based aggression is reactive, generalized, and influenced by the dog’s internal state.

This distinction matters.

When fear-driven responses are misinterpreted as desirable, dogs are more likely to be placed in situations that exceed their coping capacity. Each repeated exposure reinforces the association between approach and threat.

10/05/2026

MAKE TIME TO JUST BE..
Just like children do, our dogs really crave our undivided attention. I’m not very good at doing nothing but I really try to make time to ‘just be’ and be really present with my dogs.

I do it lots after work and I sit in my field with the dogs and we just spent some valuable time together. We listen to the birds and watch the butterflies resting in the sun.

When I’m setting aside time just to be with them I really try not to use my phone at all (apart from to take the odd photo!) and I love just being with them with no agenda and no distractions.

I like to go somewhere to do this and don’t find it works so well in my garden as there there are toys around that get picked up and chucked at me, dogs in other gardens that they can smell etc and distract them, always something that needs doing that I end up getting up and doing instead of just focussing on the moment.

I also find going to a different place (freedom field etc) helps as there are interesting sniffs for them.

I don’t ask my dogs to do anything at all, we don’t do any ‘training’ and I try to watch them and really observe them and just enjoy their company.

What I’ve noticed is how much my dogs really watch me too, how much they really look at my face and how they are observing me as much as I am looking at them.

I don’t often use treats as I don’t want to distract them from just letting them explore and interact with each other and with me. If I have food they generally want to ‘do stuff’.

We spend a lot of time just quietly sitting together, it’s not about exercise or even mental stimulation. I will often find a nose gently placed in my hand or a huge Inuit head balanced on my shoulder (and a tiny yorkie sat on my foot), it’s really relaxing. I generally spend far too much time doing stuff and not enough just being.

I also love watching my dogs interact with each other, watching their very subtle communication together too.

Setting aside time when I am 100% present with them is something I think we all really enjoy. It’s good to be a bit boring sometimes and just enjoy the moment.

Do you just chill with your dogs with no agenda and no distractions? Where’s your favorite place to do this?

I love this photo featuring Luckydog too who excelled at just ‘being’, with no agenda ❤️

Laura McAuliffe, 2026, Dog Communication

07/05/2026

She is not "accountable" for her actions...

I take full accountability. For everything. As her human, my job is to guide her, to teach her what she needs to know, and to advocate for her when necessary.

She is not "guilty" for misbehaving.

The guilt is entirely mine. For not properly meeting her needs. For not listening to her behaviour. And learning from it. For not having the right management in place.

She is not "responsible" for her mistakes.

I am supposed to help her avoid them. But when mistakes do happen, they are a learning opportunity. For me.

She is not "liable" for the consequences of her actions.

It's up to me to ensure her actions are safe for everyone. I am literally, legally, liable.

She is not "culpable" when things go wrong.

I am the one with a plan. With the cognitive capacity to think ahead, to predict things, to understand likely outcomes, to change the plan as needed.

She is not "answerable" for my health and wellbeing.

If I'm having a bad day, it's never because of her. If she hurts my hand when she pulls, that's on me, for not teaching her to walk on a loose lead. If she steals, or shreds something, or wees in the house, or chases a cat, if she is hard work, or frustrating, or exhausting... also on me.

She is not "obliged" to do everything I ask of her.

I can listen to her quiet 'no' and try to understand. I can work around it. I can try to help her feel more able to say 'yes'. I can compromise with her. I can respect her opinions and her preferences.

She is not "beholden" to me, in any way, at all.

I chose to bring her into my life. I am the privileged one. I owe her everything.

She is the dog.
I am the human.

🐾💜

This post was inspired by all those posts I see about how we should hold our dogs accountable (by scolding, or punishing, or 'correcting' them) for their mistakes! Personally, I think that's ridiculous, not to mention rather unfair. 😑

07/05/2026

FRUSTRATION IN DOGS, WHATS THE BIG DEAL?
Frustration in dogs is often misunderstood, we’ve all heard people talk about ‘frustrated greeters’ and it implies that a dog may be vocal and bark but once they get there and can say hi, they are totally fine!

In my experience, frustrated greeters are actually rare. Many dogs who are reactive at a distance aren’t fine when they actually get chance to say hi! Frustration issues around other dogs aren’t always due to a lack of social contact. Frustration is complex and we need to think about what frustration actually is:

Frustration is defined as an aversive emotional reaction that results from unexpected absence of reinforcement (Domjan, 2003) or as any interference in the performance of goal-seeking activity (Dollard, 1939). That’s quite a mouthful but what it really means is that frustration feels bad, it’s a negative emotion that happened when things don’t turn out the way dogs (or people!) expect. Frustration also occurs if dogs are prevented from doing something they are driven to do, particularly if they miss out on a reward because of it.

Many dogs are frustrated around other dogs but it’s not as simple as just letting them say hi to fix it. Why isn’t it that simple?!

🛑 Frustration may be due to prevention of other goals, the dog might not actually want to say hi! They may just want to be near dogs but without interaction or they may want to get closer to investigate or they may even want to drive the other dog away! We need to think about what their goal actually is.

🐕 Frustration can occur if the expected reward is not obtained- if the other dog does not play or does not play in the desired way. We may then see a burst of frustration that can tip over into aggression.

💊 Some dogs may have pain or health issues which mean they are then sensitive about interactions when they get to the other dog and things may then go wrong. Pain issues can cause dogs to become generally frustrated as they can’t do the things they’d like to do

😑 Some dogs are conflicted and want to go and say hi but then suddenly become anxious when they get there (and may then lunge etc to try and increase distance). This is really common

🐕 Some dogs have what appears to be frustration issues but it’s due to past trauma and issues with attachment. I see many dogs with this issue and it’s not frustration at all, they are deeply traumatised dogs who are looking for safety

🐩 Some dogs have more generalised frustration issues- it’s not just about dogs, they are struggling with frustration in multiple aspects of their lives and we need to work on the underlying cause of this (pain and poor health are a huge factor in this foo)

🐶 Some dogs have very poor communication skills and so don’t do well when they actually get the chance to interact with other dogs. They may be too much for most dogs and may then get negative feedback and that can then also tip over into aggression.

Frustration based issues need a qualified and experienced professional to help as they can be complex.. So many dogs with frustration issues have underlying health issues and pain or have anxiety issues too that are contributing to stress. We need to look at the dog as a whole to see how we can help them. I’m lucky and have a team of dogs who help me and they are far better skilled than I will ever be at reading other dogs and can tell if a dog is frustrated and what help that dog needs too.

We help many dogs with frustration issues in our classes and 121s

Laura McAuliffe, 2026 Dog Communication

07/05/2026

Tiny Step: 🐾 Today, match your walking speed to your dog’s, even if it feels slower than usual. Notice what shifts when you truly walk together.