Canine Conversations

26/05/2026

Dominance is one of the most misunderstood words in dog behaviour.

Not because social influence does not exist.
But because the term is often used to explain every difficult behaviour.

Dominance is not fear.
It is not anxiety.
It is not aggression.

Aggression is aggression.

Dominance, through an applied ethology lens, is better understood as influence over access to resources.

And importantly: that influence is fluid.

One dog may move another away from the couch because they are resting.

Later, the other dog may control access to dropped food.
Another may defer entirely in different contexts.

That is social negotiation.

Not “trying to take over the household.”

Dogs are also captive domesticated animals.

Humans control almost all major resources:
• Food
• Space
• Movement
• Access
• Resting areas
• Social opportunities

Which means relationships and resource access are constantly shifting depending on:
• Context
• Value
• Emotional state
• Reinforcement history
• Environment

Fluid social influence reduces conflict.

Oversimplifying behaviour into: “the dog is dominant”
often stops people from looking at what is actually happening in front of them.

Good behaviour work asks:
“What is influencing this behaviour right now?”

Not:
“How do I overpower the dog?”

Don’t second-guess your behavioural interpretation.

Comment MEMBERSHIP to explore the Professional Hub.

24/05/2026

Natalie is launching her own course for senior dogs and we just caught a glimpse of what is inside. It is everything this life stage deserves.

Our senior dogs have gifted us a lifetime of love, silliness, and presence. This season of life deserves the same in return. Gentle. Considered. Informed.

Whether you are a rescue supporting senior dogs, a guardian navigating this chapter, or a professional who wants to understand what is really happening beneath the surface, Natalie needs to be in your world.

Natalie’s deets are below and comment membership to join the hub.

Senior dog behaviour support. Seniorhood isn't a footnote. It's a full life stage of its own, with phases inside it and where breed, health, mobility and history all shape the way ageing shows up for an individual dog.It's also one of the most misunderstood, overlooked and underserved life stages in...

24/05/2026

Most people are not looking for obedience tips.
They want to understand their dog.

Those late night Google searches leading down a rabbit hole of conflicting, unregulated advice that leaves you more overwhelmed than when you started.

So I built a place people could go for thoughtful, ethical answers.

Created for professional trainers inside my membership, I’m bringing it here.

Because ethical, accessible behaviour support should not be hard to find.

I hope you find it helpful.

Complex case support for dog trainers & behaviour professionals.

21/05/2026

Are we using distraction or disengagement?

These two concepts are often used interchangeably but in behaviour modification they serve very different purposes and choosing the wrong one at the wrong moment can significantly impact progress.

Distraction may help a dog cope before they move over threshold.
Disengagement involves the dog noticing a trigger, and shifting attention away while remaining emotionally capable of processing the environment.

The skill is knowing which one to use and when. That comes down to reading emotional state, threshold, environmental pressure, and whether learning is actually accessible in that moment.

Sometimes the safest and most therapeutic decision is not continuing exposure at all but instead creating distance and helping the nervous system recover.

This is one of the biggest decision making areas I see trainers and behaviour professionals struggle with in fear, anxiety, and reactivity cases.

Inside the Professional Hub we break concepts like this down through real case studies, consultation recordings, threshold analysis, body language interpretation, and the reasoning behind decisions made during actual sessions.

Not just theory. Real cases. Real thinking. Real implementation.

$47/month. Comment MEMBERSHIP to find out more.

18/05/2026

If your dog has ever barked, lunged, frozen, or shut down... they were not being difficult.

They were surviving.

Trauma changes the brain. Not metaphorically. Neurologically.

The hippocampus struggles to form stable memories. The amygdala fires before the thinking brain can catch up. Brainwave patterns shift. What feels like a safe Tuesday afternoon can register as a genuine threat.

This is not disobedience. This is a nervous system doing exactly what it was shaped to do.

When we understand this, everything changes. How we respond. How we train. How we support.

Swipe through to understand what is actually happening inside your dog's brain, and why that changes how we should show up for them.

If this resonated and you want to go deeper with welfare-first behaviour education, comment MEMBERSHIP below or send me a DM and I will send you the details for a 7 day free trial.

17/05/2026

Dog play can look alarming if you do not know what you are looking for.

The biting.
The chasing.
The wrestling.
The noise.

From the outside, it can be genuinely hard to tell what is happening and whether you should step in.

But dogs have a sophisticated communication system for exactly this.

They use what are known as meta signals. Body language cues that help communicate intent during play. Signals that say, clearly:
“This is still play.”

A play bow before a chase.
A gentle paw placed on another dog.
Exaggerated, bouncy movement that looks very different from how a dog moves when they feel genuinely threatened.

These signals help keep play safe, readable, and mutually enjoyable.

When those signals break down, are ignored, or are not understood, play can begin to shift into something more overwhelming.

Swipe through to better understand what your dog may be communicating, what to watch for when interactions change, and why “letting them work it out” is never the answer.

Save this one.
It is the kind of information worth coming back to.

17/05/2026

Barking in the home is one of the most stressful things to navigate as a dog guardian.

The neighbour complaints. The sleepless nights. The feeling that it is never going to get better.

But here is what most advice skips over:

Barking gets labelled attention seeking a lot. But when we look closer, many dogs are actually seeking connection, safety, or relief from overwhelm.

Most of the time though, what we are actually looking at is overwhelm.

What your dog can see.
What your dog can hear.
Where your dog spends time.

These environmental factors drive far more barking than many training approaches ever address.

Pain and noise sensitivity are also closely linked. If you have a rescue dog, a herding breed, or a dog who has always been highly vigilant, their threshold for “too much” is often much lower than people realise.

So before asking “how do I stop this?”
start asking “why is this happening?”

That one shift changes everything.

Swipe through for simple changes you can start today. 🐾

💬 Comment RESCUE, HERDER, or WALKS below and I will send you the guide most relevant to your dog.

📌 Save this for the days barking feels hard. Share it with someone who needs a different lens.

06/05/2026

Confidence is not competence.

Some of the most skilled trainers I know are the quietest people in the room.

You cannot change emotions in 5 days unless what you’re seeing is flooding or learned helplessness. And if they use the word “FIX”… runnnnn 💃

Sure, it might look like it’s working.
But if you think shut down behaviour is success, you need more education.

If you are knowingly flooding, you should not be working with dogs, children, or any living being.

Shut down is not confidence.
Suppression is not rehabilitation.

Real behaviour change takes time, trust, clarity, and emotional safety.

The dogs pay the price when training becomes more about marketing than welfare.

My school pick up thoughts 💭

28/04/2026

Behaviour isn’t just about what we see.
It’s also shaped by what’s happening internally.

The gut and brain are constantly communicating, and this connection can influence how a dog processes stress, fear, and recovery.

When gut health is compromised, it can make it harder for dogs to regulate, settle, and feel safe in their environment.

This is why behaviour work often goes beyond training alone.

Inside my membership, I break this down in more detail, including how factors like gut health, stress, and early development all interact and influence behaviour over time.

If you’d like more detail on this, comment MEMBERSHIP and I’ll send you the information.