Partners-in-Canine

03/11/2026

The goal with your dog is to have a dog that stays with you out of choice.

We don't want dogs that are forced into compliance or never get choices to make. This is one reason I hate heel walking.

I want my dogs to be free and to choose to stay with and near me because that is what is the most important thing to them.

If you have a dog that is pulling all time and is always at the end of a long leash, the thing your dog is telling you is that everything else is more important and interesting than you are. We don't want that. But we also cannot force or bribe our way into a relationship of mutual trust and respect. That's not how it works.

We want a true partnership where being with you is the greatest thing for your dog.

01/11/2026

Boundary setting - I leave it to the dogs as much as possible.

The Rottie is a 14 month old intact male. We last saw him 8 months ago, he's still crazy excited and doesn't really have any social graces yet, he has no bad intentions but at 50kg he's a big dog to be acting crazy.

The photos are after the dogs met, and as the title might suggest, I let the dogs work things out, but the Rottie owners were a little worried about how excited their dog was being.

He did cop a couple of corrections from Rollo, but that's all part of the learning process, I know two huge dogs having a bit of a tussle and a growl is a confronting sight for the humans but to get a properly great dog they've got to be shown where the line is by other dogs, and not just by other big ones. A great dog will take corrections from smaller ones too.

The corrections from Rollo were for far too much mouth licking along with far too much intensity and enthusiasm for it. Rollo did not appreciate that.

30/10/2026

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

So......this is Lhamo, a younger sister of my two. She's 4.5 years old, my two are 5.5 years old.

There are many siblings of my two around, I'm not in contact with many of their owners, but this one I am.

29/10/2026

Dog's fighting in the home.

The picture is semi related. When owners insist on bringing treats to the dog park they are inviting trouble, but that's not today's topic.

The following is a real event. It happened between two dogs that have lived together for 4.5 years. One dog is 30+kg the other 5kg.

There hadn't been any significant squabbles between them before this incident. Really the important bit isn't the incident, it's how the owner went about reintroducing their dogs.

The incident in question happened in the kitchen and was over food, the food being eaten by a human sat down at the table. It's worth noting that both dogs have always been fed together.

I don't know if the food that ended up on the floor was put there deliberately or by accident. Either way, some food ended up on the floor and both dogs wanted it.

As both dogs moved toward the food, the bigger dog made it clear it wasn't in the mood to share and a squabble ensued in which the smaller dog got bitten on the muzzle. Due to the layout of the kitchen the smaller dog ended up backed into a corner and the bigger dog wasn't ready to calm down yet. Bear in mind this was only a few seconds as the human immediately stopped eating and got involved by pulling the bigger dog away.

The bigger dog got sent outside and the smaller dog was checked for injury, there was a small slash on the muzzle so a vet visit was organised. One stitch was applied.

So that was the triggering event. Not ideal but not super serious either.

So how should dogs be reintroduced after such an event?

In this case, because we know the cause, it's easy. There is nothing to do except come back from the vet and be totally normal. This is exactly what the owner did and unsurprisingly the dogs were fine.

One new rule was instigated - no dogs in the kitchen when people are eating.

So why did this work, why were the dogs fine?

There's a couple of points here; as I said, we know the cause. That simplified everything. These two dogs were back to eating dinner together as normal the very next day.

Another reason is that wisely, the owner refused to introduce any new and weird restrictions on the dogs interactions. All that would have done is told the dogs that the humans were worried about them being together and this would be picked up on by the dogs and likely form a negative feedback loop ending in a self-fulfilling prophecy of another squabble.

In generic behaviour terms, what I've described is something you might call "the law of the jungle" and the smaller dog violated the T's & C's and sadly got reminded of this, harshly.

Dogs are animals, domesticated, yes, but animals nonetheless. That means the biggest / strongest / meanest sometimes gets to throw its weight around and the others just have to suck it up. Those of you with siblings likely understand this well.

Control & management would have been a disastrous strategy after something like this, so well done to the owner for not doing that.

26/10/2026

Does your dog want to say hi?

Let me first dispel a couple of myths. Dogs are social pack animals. Individual dogs are perfectly capable of being on their own as well as being part of a pack. Dogs are also capable of changing packs. There is precedent for this from wolves.

For the above statements to hold true, dogs must obtain and develop enough social skills to enable them to safely interact with individuals they do not know and with multiple dogs they do not know. This is mostly achieved in puppyhood and adolescence.

Of course there are exceptions. A dog taken away from its parents and raised without meeting any other dogs is not going to have learned how to be a dog.

There are also natural variations in personality to consider, just like there is with people.

A dog's purpose also has to be taken into account. A working livestock guardian breed is not going to be as social as a suburban Golden Retriever.

With all of that said, there still remains the truism that your dog is your mirror. If you get nervous at the sight of other dogs and really don't want to have an interaction, that will rub off on your dog and that is what they will become too.

I know I'm one man with two dogs, but when I'm rocking around with two Tibetan Mastiff's who are both perfectly adjusted in interacting with other dogs they don't know in whatever dog park or town centre or neighbourhood I take them to, for someone to claim that dogs being able to do that is unnatural strikes me as someone admitting they've got a skill issue.

21/10/2026

My Rollo with an Anatolian Shepherd puppy yesterday.

A rare gathering of dogs if ever there was one.

15/10/2026

Playing with your dog

Play between you and your dog is a foundational part of the relationship you have. Just as with your human friends it performs a few functions: It strengthens the bond, reduces stress and builds communication pathways. It releases a whole bunch of good endorphins in the brain too.

I don't think this is a controversial point at all. It's likely the only thing everyone who owns and works with dogs agrees on. Play is a vital component of the relationship.

Play should be reciprocal; both sides have to be in the mood and it's ok if one side is not. Don't get upset about it if your dog doesn't want to play. Don't force it either, remember your dog can read you like a book, if there is anything noncongruent (fake / forced) with your actions and internal emotional state, your dog knows and will act accordingly.

In short - play with your dog whenever you can. If they offer it, go with it! There's something truly beautiful about being in that moment rough and tumbling with your dog when you are both just free to have fun and it flows as naturally as breathing.

13/10/2026

Here's a more detailed look at a dog that has awarded itself the Head of Security role and what to do about it.

This is Roadie my client, first with the owner at home and me outside, then me at home with Roadie and someone else outside who knocks on the door.

I go into detail about how I manage this and how I arrived at where I am with Roadie.

So here we have lovely Roadie and his rather annoying behaviour at ...

12/10/2026

Stop talking to your dog.

It's not doing what you think it's doing.

The levels at which communication operates with the human to dog relationship are deeper and broader than we realise. I am often found telling people to stop talking to their dogs because talking confuses the message.

I have come across a few people in my time who have been very much wedded to the idea of talking to their dogs because dogs not only understand our tone, but also our words. In effect dogs almost understand language, it’s not as sophisticated as humans, they can process some words and variations in intonation. This has been demonstrably repeated in multiple laboratories using neuroimaging (MRI scans). However, talking to your dog does not help overcome reactivity or aggression issues.

Language processing is a cognitive function; it requires the conscious part of the brain to build intent and meaning, form words, speak words and on the receiving end, hear and interpret meaning. When we are dealing with reactivity and aggression we are not dealing with a dog that is operating on the cognitive level. They are operating on the instinctive limbic level i.e. fight or flight.

In fight or flight the cognitive processes are almost entirely shut down because the brain is focussed on either removing the threat or moving away from the threat, that is, getting back to feeling safe. Only when that feeling of safety has returned does the cognitive function return to the brain. It’s also worth remembering that the limbic system has zero capacity for language. Nothing, nada, zilch. Cannot do. So little to no cognitive function and no capacity to comprehend language when in fight or flight……a bit of problem for a scared dog being talked at isn’t it? So stop talking.

The rest of the article is here:

The levels at which communication operates with the human to dog relationship are deeper and broader than we realise. I am often found telling people to stop talking to their dogs because talking confuses the message. I have come across a few people in my time who have been very much wedded to the