Unleashed Behavior and Training Services

10/30/2026

Too funny! Anyone else a Traitors fan!?

10/29/2026

We'll give today to the Cat's! HAPPY NATIONAL CAT DAY!!! ❤️🥳 Photo of one Holly's cats being a goof, Green Bean Casserole. 🥰

10/28/2026

❤️😵‍💫🐾😉🤷‍♀️

10/27/2026

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Looking back at the history of our dogs, many breeds were deliberately devloped by humans to carry out specific jobs. This was done by selecting the dogs who had the right traits and were the best at those jobs to breed together.

Due to this, over time, the result was breeds of dogs who all have a tendency towards these particular traits. In the times when dogs were needed to carry out these jobs this was ideal, and they would spend their working day doing the very things they had been bred to do.

Fast forward a few hundred years and, while there are still working dogs today, the proportion of dogs working at the role for which their breed was developed is much lower. A great many of these dogs from working breeds are now in companion roles. (In my case, I started out working sheepdogs on the farm and, although we are no longer on the farm, the Border Collies remain).

The fact of no longer performing their roles does not mean that those traits have gone away. A terrier is still likely to dig. A scent hound will follow their nose. Retrievers want to carry things around in their mouths. A herding dog will often find something to herd - possibly the kids in the home.

When we look to find a dog to join our family, it is vital that we think about their history and whether our home can honestly provide the things they need. If not, a different breed or type of dog would be a better choice for all concerned. If we think we can, then it's time to think about exactly how we are going to meet those needs.

When we bring these dogs with history in specific roles into our homes it's so important to think about the breed and what they might need. Find ways for them to carry out these behaviours that for many generations they have been bred to carry out.

Give your terrier a digging spot - either a patch of garden where they are allowed to dig, or a sand pit.

Find out about scentwork for your scenthound - mantrailing is a popular pastime where dogs learn to follow scent trails and find people.

Let your retrievers have something to carry to greet visitors or returning family at the door, and maybe look at finding some activities involving retrieving for them to do. Avoid lots of repetitive ball throwing for fetch as this can cause issues with joints. Instead look at maybe getting some of the gundog training dummies and doing a few gentle tosses with those or asking your dog to wait while you throw. You can also hide the dummies and send your dog to find them.

Herding games can be fantastic for herding dogs. Look at Kay Laurence's Sheepballs, or Treibball, both of which involve balls to let those herding moves and instincts be used. Think about finding games that involve them following and controlling movement such as a flirt pole - a stick with some cord attached and a lure or toy attached. These can be bought from a store or made at home.
For every type of dog there are activities and games that are breed-appropriate and will let them do those things humans have bred them to do. Take some time to find out about the history of the breed (or breeds) of your dog and find these activities that are designed for them and their traits - you will both be happier for it!

10/27/2026

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🤔Your dog might walk past another dog without difficulty one day, then bark or lunge at a dog much further away the next.

What changed?

The encounter itself is only part of the picture. What your dog may have been experiencing over the preceding hours or days, and their opportunity to recover between experiences, may also play a part.

Insufficient rest or sleep, several difficult encounters on a walk, visitors the dog finds unsettling or physical discomfort can all influence how a dog responds to what happens next.

We also can’t expect a dog to cope in exactly the same way every time. Their physical and emotional state, recent experiences and what’s happening around them can change, even when a situation looks the same to us.

What matters is how the individual dog experiences these situations. Something one dog finds frightening, frustrating or overwhelming may have little effect on another. Exciting activities can also place demands on a dog, even when they enjoy taking part.

This is where trigger stacking comes in.

When a dog experiences repeated stressful or demanding situations without sufficient opportunity to recover, those experiences may influence their response to what comes next. They may react sooner, from further away or more intensely than they would at other times.

If the same demands continue day after day, opportunities for recovery may remain limited. The dog then faces further difficult experiences before recovering from previous ones, and the pattern can continue.

But it’s not quite as straightforward as stress filling a bucket until it overflows.

Dogs don’t accumulate stress in predictable amounts or recover on a fixed timetable. Their responses are influenced by their physical and emotional state, previous learning and the circumstances. A change in behaviour on its own doesn’t confirm trigger stacking.

Look past the dog’s reaction and think about what the dog is experiencing over time, how those experiences affect them and whether they have opportunities to rest and recover. They may need a quieter environment, fewer expectations of them and more distance from situations they find difficult.

Read the full article:
https://www.seespotlearn.co.nz/trigger-stacking-dog-behaviour/

10/23/2026

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Children represent a massive proportion of reported dog bite cases
These pictures, selected from a massive library of similar stock photos of children with dogs, show some of the reasons for this.
Humans like physical contact. We're generally huggers, particularly with a gorgeous animal like a dog - that soft coat and gorgeous faces just look perfect for a hug, especially to a child.

Dogs are definitely not like us in this way. True, there are some dogs who may enjoy cuddling up with their people, and even like or don't mind hugs. One of my dogs is very much in favour of physical contact. Importantly, however, it is only with the people he chooses. The ones he knows and trusts.

Kids often cannot read canine body language. The signs are here in the photographs used of a tense and unhappy dog, but the children in these pictures can't see and interpret them.

It's up to us as adults, whether parents, dog caregivers, or both, to make sure that we are educated on canine body language and can see the signs of stress.

That we make sure to advocate for the dogs so that they are not put in this position.

To make sure that the children around us are educated and taught about the likes and dislikes of dogs.

To stop putting children and dogs into potentially dangerous situations for the cute photo or video (the videos of babies propped up against dogs make most behaviour professionals shudder because that is so not fair on either species!)

Let's be fair to both dogs and children and use education and understanding to keep children and dogs happy and safe together.

10/22/2026

Follow AniEd for more tips:)

10/21/2026

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When we change our wording and think of the real need behind the behaviour. We can meet it with more purpose and calm.

10/20/2026

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Let's talk about the guilty look, because it's one of the most widely believed myths in dog behaviour, and it's genuinely a convincing one.

You know the look. Ears back, eyes averted, tail tucked, maybe slinking off to another room before you've even said anything. It happens the moment you spot the chewed shoe or the puddle on the carpet, and it really does look like your dog knows exactly what they did and feels bad about it.

Here's what the research actually shows. In a well known study, dogs displayed that exact "guilty" look just as much when they hadn't done anything wrong, as long as their owner believed they had and reacted accordingly. The look wasn't tracking what the dog had actually done. It was tracking how the owner was behaving towards them.

What's really happening is appeasement behaviour, a response to your tone of voice, your posture, the tension in the room, not a confession pulled from a memory of chewing the sofa an hour earlier. Dogs don't have the same capacity we do to connect a past action to a present consequence in that way, especially once time has passed.

This isn't about your dog being less thoughtful than you'd hoped. If anything, it shows how closely they're reading you, in real time, which is arguably more impressive than guilt would be.

10/19/2026

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Some of the worst dog training advice?
It isn't actually wrong.
It's just missing a very big BUT.

And that wee word?
It's so small but it can change everything.

On paper, dog training sounds pretty straightforward.
Reward what you want.
Practise until they understand.
Then they'll repeat it.

Easy, right?
But.
Dogs aren't robots, and training doesn't happen in a perfectly controlled world.

The buts are the bits in between the textbook, the videos and your actual dog, on an actual walk, on an actual day.

So if your dog is just not "getting it"?
They may be a big but in the way.
And not one with a tail.