New Leash of Life - Canine Triage Practitioner

22/05/2026

I am very excited and privileged to be one of the few lucky people signed up for the first training cohort 😁

The first intake of my Canine Triage Practitioner course, starting this October, is already fully booked. I’ve barely even spoken about it publicly, and yet the next semester in May is filling too. That tells me something powerful: this role is desperately needed in our industry, and people are ready for it.

This course was born from years of watching guardians struggle to find the right help, being bounced between professionals, feeling overwhelmed, and watching their dogs suffer in the gaps between services. A Triage Practitioner steps into that space with clarity, compassion, and skill, guiding guardians to the right support at the right time, reducing unnecessary appointments, reducing stress for everyone involved, and making sure no dog slips through the cracks.

Over six months, we go deep. We explore observational skills that allow you to truly see a dog, emotionally, physically, behaviourally. We look at advanced canine body language, the kind that reveals the quiet whispers long before a dog ever has to shout. We explore multiple modalities: health, nutrition, behaviour, herbalism, physio, the CDD method, T-touch and so much more. And we don’t treat allopathic and complementary care as two opposing camps. We weave them together, because dogs deserve a world where prevention, chronic care, acute care, and behavioural support all sit at the same table.

You get to chat and hear from some of the leading professionals in our field over a diverse spectrum of the industry. This course has not just been about my experience but that of so many other wonderful people.

We absolutely need vets. We absolutely need behaviourists. But we also need the practitioners who can hold the space in between, the ones who can support chronic conditions, guide prevention, recognise subtle changes, and understand that behaviour is influenced by far more than training alone. We need people who can collaborate, refer, and build community rather than working in isolation. Lone working has never been what’s best for the dog, the guardian, or the practitioner. When we share the load, we protect our dogs and we protect ourselves from burnout and compassion fatigue.

This course is for anyone who wants to be part of that shift. It can stand alone as a role, or it can sit beautifully alongside your current canine profession. It’s for people who want to work with heart, with skill, and with a deep respect for the whole dog.

If you’d like more information or want to join the next semester and become a Canine triage practitioner just WhatsApp me. Rebecca 07799350300

Holistic triage practitioners course https://share.google/pFDfMNdLhVkMyD8oh

21/04/2026

I seriously think all dog guardians should sign up for this course - £16.99 is nothing! The insight and provocation of thoughts that it brings will absolutely motivate you to shape a better relationship with your canine companion.

I also love that I can listen to and read the content at the same time - this learning style definitely helps me absorb more information 🤓

We are so often taught about dogs through a very human‑centred lens.
How can we get them to stop chewing?
How can we get them to sit quietly in the pub?
How can we stop them jumping up?

But what if the real answers don’t start with “how do we stop…” at all?
What if they start with understanding what dogs genuinely 'need', and even what they 'want'?

For years, guardians have been handed myths like “a tired dog is a happy dog” or “they just need to know who’s boss.” These ideas don’t just miss the mark; they let so many dogs down. Because behaviour isn’t about obedience. It’s about needs, emotions, safety, and the choices a dog has available to them.

So… what if there was a course that actually taught you those things?
A course that helped you understand dogs from 'their' perspective, including what they choose when they’re given true freedom.
A course that didn’t cost the earth, didn’t overwhelm you, and didn’t require hours of spare time you don’t have.

Something simple.
Something accessible.
Something that gives you written lessons, audio versions, and bonus videos for deeper dives, so you can learn in the way that works best for you.

Well… now there is.
And it’s only £16.99.

Because we want you to be the best dog person you can be — and we don’t believe good information should only be available to people with big budgets.

Take a look. Explore. See what resonates.
And if you do join us, let us know what you think.

Your dog will thank you.

https://www.atticusacademy.co.uk/

21/04/2026

🐾 Exciting news!

I’ve signed up with The Dog Witch: Whole Health for Healthy Behaviour to train & become a 'Canine Triage Practitioner' . This is a 6 month course (Oct 26 –Apr 27), and I wanted to share a bit more about what I’ll be studying and what will be on offer when I qualify.

The course takes a truly holistic, whole-dog approach, with a strong focus on understanding the individual dog in front of you. This includes exploring movement, posture, and physical expression, as well as communication beyond traditional training frameworks.

We’ll also look in depth at food and digestion, body systems, early indicators of illness, subtle and often overlooked pain markers, and the roles that sleep, rest, recovery, and the nervous system play in overall wellbeing, stress, and overwhelm.

Alongside this, we’ll be learning about a wide range of modalities that can support dogs across physical, emotional, and environmental health. This includes body-based approaches such as massage, myofascial and movement-based therapies, as well as nutritional and botanical support alongside veterinary care. We’ll also explore enrichment, scent work, and environmental adjustments, plus relationship-centred approaches that build safety, trust, and clear communication. There’s also a strong emphasis on collaborative working — understanding how and when to involve professionals such as physiotherapists, behaviourists, and vets to best support each individual dog.

It’s a really in-depth programme with ongoing live learning and discussion, and I’m looking forward to continuing to develop my skills and bringing this knowledge into my work and expanding my service to better support both you and your dogs 🐶

It will not be my role to diagnose or "fix" but more to be able to make an assessment and signpost to the most appropriate, specialised, local practitioners.

I'll keep you all posted on the new business page related to this qualification and general continued professional development - New Leash of Life - Canine Triage Practitioner

16/02/2026

Guest Hour Stephanie Costello - The Canine Wellness Circle

Thoughts & reflections:
- Street dogs aren’t necessarily stray/without guardians
- When observed, street dogs don’t actually walk let alone run very much, they spend more time observing. It is a very western approach to encourage high energy running/play & covering miles when walking
- Foreign shelters house dogs together, here we keep them isolated due to health & safety plus risk aversion. Is that better for the dogs or us? Are they missing out on play and companionship?
- We avoid conflict and by doing this limit socialisation and mixing of dogs, do we need to be more relaxed around conflict and allow dogs to communicate with each other more and trust that they will settle any issues themselves?
- Important to be led by the dog when you are meeting them, don’t assume they want attention & physical touch. For street dogs being around people is a non event - they don’t get fussed and hence there aren’t the issues of them jumping up etc. They are treated how we treat livestock, so why do the west interact with dogs so differently?
- Our dogs are left for long periods of time without people, street dogs are always around the public.
- So much expectation on our dogs to be quiet and conform, why is it so unacceptable for our dogs to bark?!

10/02/2026

Bethany Bell - Rewriting the Rules

Podcast on puppies - Rethinking sleep, socialisation & early learning 🐾

Bringing a new puppy home is magical — and overwhelming. Everywhere you turn, there’s advice: crate train right away, enforce 18–20 hours of sleep, limit wal...

09/02/2026

❌ Prong & shock collars ❌

Every day dogs are subjected to shock and prong collars under the guise of better control and more reliable behavior. The Price Of Pain exposes the behaviora...

27/01/2026

The Canine Wellness Circle hosted by The Dog Witch, Rebecca Hanlon – Guest Hour with Roger Ebrantes; the history and current state of dog training (watched retrospectively)
www.thedogwitchwholehealthandbehaviour.com

Reflections and questions that arose whilst listening…

Who is Roger Ebrantes?
Has written 17 books on animal behaviours since the 1980s! Has a PHD in evolutionary biology and ethology, and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. His 1st book in 1987 was about dog training.

What are ethologists?
A scientist who studies animal behaviour, focusing on how animals act in their natural environments to understand the evolutionary, ecological, and physiological reasons behind their actions, from finding food and mates to social structures. They observe animals in the wild or controlled settings to study patterns like communication, aggression, courtship, and care for offspring.

What is philosophy?
“the love of wisdom”. Involves thinking deeply about fundamental questions about life, existence, knowledge, values, and reality, essentially questioning everything to understand the world and ourselves better.

General discussion that resonated or led to reflection
• The use of treats to reward or encourage a specific behaviour for example recall when out walking – do we use treats too often? Has the use of treats become transactional? Do the dogs have a relationship with me, or the food? Plan to reduce treat usage on walks and instead direct more energy towards play and direct engagement with the pups. Use treats more as a decompression exercise/scent work, to aid with calming down and engaging the ‘rest and digest’ part of the nervous system
• Dog training in the 1980s very ‘military style’
• Use the phrase ‘signals’ rather than ‘commands’
• Cues = unintentional/subconscious (such as body language)
• Signal = intentional (verbally asking for ‘sit’ or using a specific, conscious hand gesture)
• Cues can work against signals, for example you may signal for your dog to “come” however if they do not and you continue to use the signal and become frustrated, your body language may then start to send a different cue such as anger which conflicts with the signal
• Use the term ‘home alone’ issues, rather than ‘separation anxiety’, as the unwanted behaviours are not always due to a physiological anxiety
• Increase in home alone and aggressions issues over the past few decades ?why
• There is a phenomenon between familiar dogs called ‘muzzle grasping’, which can also be done by dog to person, this is not an aggressive behaviour.

ACTION – Read Roger’s study on this on his website, as it made me realise that a current client’s dog always does this to my hand on collection for walks & now I am interested to know more and why!
https://rogerabrantes.com/roger-abrantes/

27/01/2026

Right now this page is just somewhere for me to blog about my reflections from CPD that I embark on related to canine behaviour/training, and then will become a publicly intended page once I commence my Level 5 Diploma for Canine Behaviour Practitioners towards the end of 2026! I felt it beneficial to have an additional page for this service, as like the grooming & dog walking, it is lush to be able to look back and see how far I have come