Confident Canines NZ

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Confident Canines NZ

Human and Dog Educator - Helping you understand your dog better using humane methods & modern science

We use scientifically based positive reinforcement training methods to help you teach your to become a confident canine.

15/10/2026

While the weather is warming up here in New Zealand, it’s cooling down in Finland, which means new Pomppa colours are still arriving!

If you’re thinking ahead to cooler weather next year, check out the PerusPomppa and KevytPomppa in Midnight and Moss.

🌿 Moss features the same pattern found in the new JumppaPomppas, a quiet imprint of nature, shaped by wind, weather and wandering paws, whispering stories of movement and adventure.

☔ KevytPomppa is a lightweight midseason raincoat offering medium warmth, perfect for those in-between days when the weather can’t quite make up its mind.

❄️ PerusPomppa is the original Pomppa, the one that started it all. A warm winter coat designed for cold and wet conditions, with a waterproof outer fabric and warm teddy lining to help protect against rain, sleet and snow.

Want to get ready for cooler weather? You can preorder anything from the Pomppa range including the new WooliePomppa by messaging us or emailing through your order.

If your dog wears Ocean Blue in Dog Copenhagen the Midnight is an awesome match.

14/10/2026

Although many people find fireworks fun and exciting, for many animals they can be frightening, overwhelming and genuinely distressing. The sudden bangs, flashes of light and unpredictable noise can trigger fear, anxiety and panic. Some animals may shake, hide, pant, pace, vocalise or try desperately to escape.

There are things we can do to help our animals feel safer during fireworks season. 💜

Here are some ways to help your animals:

💜 Keep them safely indoors. Bring animals inside before dark, secure doors, windows and gates, and ensure microchip details and identification are up to date. Frightened animals can bolt while trying to escape.

💜 Reduce noise and flashes. Close curtains and windows, and turn on the television, radio or familiar background music to help mask some of the noise.

💜 Create a safe space. Provide a quiet, familiar room, cosy bed or hiding place. Let your animal choose where they feel safest, whether that's somewhere quiet or close beside you.

💜 Stay home if you can. Your presence can be reassuring. Let your animal choose whether they want company, physical contact or space.

💜 Exercise earlier in the day. Walk your dog before dark and before fireworks begin. Keep them securely on lead, even in familiar areas, as fightened dogs can bolt unexpectedly.

💜 Consider calming support. Synthetic pheromone products, such as Adaptil for dogs and Feliway for cats, may help some animals. Anxiety wraps, such as Thundershirts, may also help some individuals. Introduce these well before fireworks season and only if your animal is comfortable with them. Discuss herbal remedies and supplements with your veterinarian, as natural doesn't automatically mean safe or effective.

💜 Plan ahead with desensitisation and counter-conditioning. These techniques can help change an animal's emotional response to fireworks. Work with a qualified professional experienced in fear and sound sensitivity, as exposure that is too intense can make fear worse.

💜 Talk to your veterinarian about medication. If your animal experiences significant fear or panic, medication may be an important part of their care. Your veterinarian can discuss appropriate options. Plan ahead rather than waiting until your animal is extremely distressed.

Most importantly, remember this: YOU CANNOT REINFORCE FEAR BY COMFORTING YOUR ANIMAL. 💜

Fear is an emotion, not a behaviour your animal chooses to perform for attention. Comforting your frightened dog, cat, rabbit or other pet will not make them more fearful in the futhhhoḥhhhpe alone. Simply being a calm, reassuring presence can help them feel safer.

Fireworks season can be frightening for our animals, but our response can make a difference. We can make choices that help them feel safer, supported and understood. 💜

14/10/2026

Grief can find you at any time. It doesn't disappear when you truly love another being. You carry it with you for a lifetime, although eventually, it becomes easier to carry. It becomes a part of you.

Grief begins with love.

For me, it is the love I feel for my dogs. Over time, that love becomes grief, whether you're anticipating a loss or navigating the reality of your dog no longer being here. Slowly, that grief begins to soften, and the love finds its way back to the surface. But there is always a little piece of grief that remains, woven into the love.

You never know when that grief will raise its head.

When you talk about grief often, you start to see it everywhere. Perhaps that's just how the world works. Once something becomes part of your everyday life, you notice it in the lives of others, too.

When I read about someone losing their dog, my own grief often comes back to the surface.

Sometimes, it's just Myers, because her loss is still so fresh. Sometimes, it's Myers and Craven. Sometimes, it's all the other dogs I've said goodbye to over the years. My cats are in there, too, each carrying their own little piece of my heart.

Occasionally, I feel a sadness knowing that Krueger won't be here forever. It's a thought I can't entirely escape, even though he's still here beside me, sharing my days.

Fortunately, I don't feel that grief for Loomis yet. She's so full of life that I can't even begin to imagine a world without her in it. I know that will change one day, but for now, I'm happy to let her simply be here, living her life.

Perhaps that's part of learning to live with grief. Understanding that it will always be there, somewhere, but allowing ourselves to be present with the love that's still here.

We don't have to stop grieving to keep loving. We don't have to stop loving to make room for grief.

Sometimes, they simply exist together. 💜

*I like to think that whatever happens to our dogs when they are no longer here, Myers and Craven have found each other again. That they're snuggled up together, just as they so often were when they were here with me. 💜

13/10/2026

Dogs are speaking — are you listening?

Dogs communicate constantly through body language. They are incredibly skilled at reading our signals… but most humans miss theirs. Bites and snaps rarely happen “out of the blue.” More often, the dog has been whispering their discomfort long before — we just didn’t understand what they were telling us.

Learning even the basic signs of stress, fear, or anxiety can prevent escalation and keep both humans and dogs safe. You don’t know what you don’t know — until you learn to see it.

Some early communication signals include:
💜 Lip licking (outside of mealtimes)
💜 Yawning when not tired
💜 Turning the head or body away
💜 Tension around the eyes and mouth
💜 Ears pinned back or shifting position
💜 Freezing for just a moment (often the final warning before more obvious behaviours)

These are not “naughty” behaviours — they are polite requests for space.

This list is not exhaustive, but it is a powerful place to start. Once you begin to recognise these signals, you’ll realise your dog has been “talking” all along.

When a dog finally growls, snaps, or bites — that is not the first sign. That is the last one.

13/10/2026

One of my favourite things about life with my dogs is something that might seem really simple.

Being together. Just because. 💜

No perfect cues. No training goals. No expectations about what we should achieve that day.

Just spending time together, enjoying each other’s company, and letting life happen.

There is so much value in being with our dogs without expectations, without demands, and without constantly asking them to do something.

Sometimes we walk. Sometimes we explore. Sometimes we play. Sometimes we just exist in the same space, enjoying each other’s company.

I love giving my dogs the freedom to choose what they want to do, within the boundaries that keep everyone safe.

Allowing our dogs opportunities to make their own choices is so beneficial, not only for their wellbeing, but for our relationship with them. It gives them opportunities to explore, express themselves, learn about the world, and have some control over their own lives.

Our dogs don't need us to turn every interaction into a training session. They don't need to be constantly doing something to earn our approval.

Sometimes, the best thing we can do is simply be with them.

No agenda. No expectations. Just time together.

For me, success isn't about how much I can get my dogs to do.

It's about their happiness, their wellbeing, and the relationship we share. 💜

Connection over perfection.

Photo is Krueger destroying a straw because that's what he wanted.

13/10/2026

🎄 WHOOPSIES! CHRISTMAS UPDATE!

Apparently, I’ve managed to schedule all my posts for the wrong month! 🤦‍♀️😂

So, if you’ve been wondering where the Confident Canines Christmas post was, that would be why!

CONFIDENT CANINES MYSTERY BAGS ARE BACK!

A wee reminder that 12 Days of Confident Canines Christmas is still on hiatus, but the Mystery Bags are happening!

💜 Starting from just $30
💜 Choose your spend, you can go higher if you’re feeling festive
💜 Choose the animal, dogs, cats or almost any other animal
💜 A mix of goodies, including treats and toys
💜 Every bag is worth at least 10% more than you pay
💜 May include Active Outlet goodies AND products from trusted brands we don’t normally stock
💜 You don’t get to choose what’s inside, that’s the whole mystery bit!

Some bags will be similar, others completely different. That’s part of the fun!

IMPORTANT DATE UPDATE

Orders were meant to close on 15 October, but thanks to my scheduling whoopsie, you now have a little extra time!

🎄 Orders close: 23 October 2026
Invoices due: 1 November 2026
Shipping invoices: Around 1 December 2026
Bags shipped once shipping has been paid.

Shipping is invoiced separately, with the cost depending on the size of your bag.

A couple of important bits:

No refunds or exchanges once your bag has been paid for. I’ll do my best to accommodate requests, but allergy-related requests are the only ones guaranteed.

🎁 Register here:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/4x69mmU5yH

Who’s ready to let me choose their Christmas goodies? 💜

12/10/2026

Fear is an emotion, not something that can simply be trained away. 💜 Just because an animal appears calm doesn't mean they feel safe. We need to look beyond behaviour, recognise their emotions, and stop placing the responsibility solely on guardians to manage the distress caused by fireworks.

12/10/2026

“You just need to train your dog.”

If I had a dollar for every time I heard this in response to my campaign to ban fireworks, I could fund my own display. 🙃

There is a fundamental difference between teaching a behaviour and changing an emotional response.

Fear is an emotion, not a behaviour that can simply be trained away.

A dog can learn to sit, settle or stay on their bed while still being terrified. Behavioural modification, including desensitisation and counter-conditioning, can help change how an animal feels about something frightening, but it takes time and careful, controlled exposure. Random fireworks exploding without warning are anything but controlled.

A calm animal isn't necessarily a comfortable animal.

Just because a dog isn't barking, shaking or trying to escape doesn't mean they enjoy fireworks or aren't frightened. They may have learned to suppress their responses, or they may be freezing, one of the recognised fear responses alongside fight and flight.

What we see on the outside doesn't always reflect what an animal is experiencing emotionally.

So please, stop telling people the solution is to train their dogs.

It diminishes the fear our dogs are experiencing and overlooks the emotional lives of all the other animals affected by fireworks. It places the responsibility on their guardians to manage the consequences rather than asking whether we should be creating this distress in the first place.

Yes, we can create safe spaces, use medication where appropriate and help our animals cope. We should absolutely do those things.

But helping animals cope and advocating for change are not mutually exclusive.

I want fireworks gone. If that isn't achievable immediately, I would settle for a ban on public sales, with professionally organised light displays, including drone displays, as alternatives.

This isn't just about dogs. Cats, horses, livestock, wildlife and people can all be affected.

We can change how we treat animals without expecting animals to change how they feel about what we do to them.

🎆 Ban fireworks. At the very least, ban public sales.

10/10/2026

No matter the insults, the personal attacks, or even the threats, one thing will never change: I will always stand up for animals. 💜🐾

It has always been about the dogs. About all animals, their welfare, their feelings, and their right to have their needs recognised and respected.

It’s about the people who love their animals, who see them as the sentient beings they are, with their own emotions, experiences, fears, and joys.

It’s about making the world a kinder place for all of them. About encouraging people to think, to question, to learn, and to see the world from another perspective.

I don’t do this for recognition, to win arguments, or to please everyone. I do it because animals matter. Their lives, their experiences, and their wellbeing matter.

There is still so much good to be found in people who care, who listen, and who are willing to learn.

I’ll keep choosing kindness, advocating for animals, and doing what I can to make a difference. 💜

Connection over perfection. Choose kindness.

* and because I have been thinking about her the last few days.....here is my beautiful Myers - I miss you.

09/10/2026

This is what happens when people feel emboldened by the anonymity of social media. They believe they can say anything, including making comments that amount to threats of violence, simply because someone holds a different opinion.

This comment was left on my post advocating for a ban on the public sale of fireworks. I didn't personally insult this individual. I did point out that insults are often used when people don't have an intelligent or researched response, particularly when they were insulting everyone who supported the post.

I can handle disagreement. I don't expect everyone to share my views, and I'm always happy to have a rational, respectful conversation, even with people who see things differently.

What I will not tolerate is threatening language directed at me or anyone else on my page, including people whose views I disagree with.

Disagreement is part of life. Threats and intimidation are not an acceptable response to it.

We can disagree without losing our humanity. 💜

Address

Wellington
6037

Website

http://www.confidentcanines.co.nz/, https://www.confidentcanines.co.nz/activeoutlet

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