This is an archive of previous posts.
You can find the latest posts here
Let sleeping dogs lie…
Let sleeping dogs lie… The current crisis (coronavirus 19) affecting much of the world poses additional challenges to our dogs. There is, of course, a huge amount of, often conflicting, information and guidance flooding the news outlets and social media. Do we walk our dogs, do we touch other peoples dogs, can our dogs’ contract […]
Situations can get out of hand…
Situations can get out of hand… Owners must keep a close eye on any situation when meeting other dogs. Things can get out of hand quickly. I was minded to write this short piece today by a little incident while out with Ziggy this morning. I was chatting with a couple who had 2 dogs, […]
Wolves in our homes?
Wolves in our homes? More enlightened thinking has led many modern dog trainers and canine behaviourists to change their approach to working with domestic dogs. There are still, unfortunately, too many who cling to the outdated, discredited research, theory that dogs are pack animals with a structure based on an alpha (top dog) ruling by […]
Punishment or reward (kindness) based training – research
Punishment or reward (kindness) based training – research Generally, well-informed, dog owners understand that aversive (punishment) based methods of dog training are bad for our dogs. However, although this is accepted by many there is very little decent research that underpins this view. One, of course, that I, agree with. I read a very interesting […]
Can you train your dog? Poor advice…
Can you train your dog? Poor advice… I was prompted to return to this subject after an encounter with a lady a couple of days ago. A responsible dog owner who had her rescued dog on an extending leash (a pet hate of mine) was walking a few yards in front of me. We struck […]
Keeping your dogs safe…
Keeping your dogs safe… Increasingly, dogs are being stolen throughout the UK. You need only to take a look at Facebook to see distraught owners looking for help. Of course, some dogs are found but most aren’t. I, of course, feel for the owners who have ‘lost’ their dogs. However, prevention is always better than […]
Dogs do it for kids (or how living with a dog when a child can lower the risk of Schizophrenia)
Dogs do it for kids (or how living with a dog when a child can lower the risk of Schizophrenia) Given my interest in the impact of dogs on human mental health, I was very interested to read a recent study published by John Hopkins Medicine suggesting that living with a dog from an early […]
Mental health in our dogs – a disturbing trend…
Mental health in our dogs – a disturbing trend… Increasingly, insurance companies are paying bills for dogs, diagnosed with mental health issues (as reported in The Sunday Times 29/12/2019). Certainly, my behavioural studies and experience make me sceptical about attributing human mental health issues to dogs; such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. I would agree […]
Run away!…
Run away!… Fearful dogs are of particular interest to me. I see an awful lot of them. Often, owners are making the problem worse. Not deliberately of course, They are, simply doing things that reinforce the fearful behaviour. I saw another example of this today. I met a very nice lady, again, today with her […]
Mummy, mummy! Get me a puppy for Xmas!
Mummy, mummy! Get me a puppy for Xmas! Ho, ho, ho. It’s getting that time of year again. Families, overjoyed with the festive season think it’s a great time to get a dog. Although there are exceptions, most of the time I would say getting a dog at Xmas is a very bad idea. This […]
The myth of the naughty dog…
The myth of the naughty dog The internet is full of pictures of ‘naughty dogs.’ I meet many dog owners who have been excluded from ‘puppy classes’ because their dog was ‘naughty.’ Or, the trainer banishes the owner and their recalcitrant pup to the corner of the room because of their ‘disruptive’ behaviour. A tale […]