Canine Companion, LLC- Abbie Volpone

09/03/2026

Just a thought while exploring a National Park with Sake…she doesn’t care if we’re on top of a dune or at a historic landmark. She can’t read the signs and doesn’t care for pictures. “Taking in the view” to a dog, is experiencing the world through smell. Why would I bring her along if I were going to deny her the ability to experience the place from a dog’s point of view? So yeah, sometimes we end up in a weird corner off the parking lot while she follows an interesting air scent. We’re not in a hurry. We’re just taking in the views.

08/23/2026

There are SO many harness options now, and I find that most people don’t actually know what to look for in a harness.

The best harnesses are Y shaped and do not inhibit the movement of the shoulders, are comfortable for your dog, don’t move too much or rub, and are well built.
Here are a few of the styles and brands I trust, for my own dogs and for when clients ask me for recommendations.

Is your favorite harness not listed here? Tell me what it is in the comments!
Students-check to see if your dog is a featured model in this post 💕

08/13/2026

Let. Them. Sniff!

When a dog lowers their head, slows down, and starts working their nose, there's a shift happening beneath the surface.

The olfactory bulb, the part of the brain that processes scent, sits right next to and communicates closely with the limbic system, the brain's emotional and stress-regulation centre. That wiring means scent processing has a genuine influence on how a dog feels, not just what they learn about their surroundings.

Research backs this up. Duranton and Horowitz (2019) gave one group of dogs two weeks of nosework and another group two weeks of heelwork. Afterwards, the dogs who'd been sniffing showed a measurable shift toward optimism on a cognitive test, approaching an ambiguous situation faster and with more confidence than before. The heelwork dogs showed no such change.

Anxious or overwhelmed dogs often stop to sniff. It gives them a way to gather information, and reduce uncertainty in a world that suddenly feels unpredictable, and all of that can support emotional regulation.

Sniffy walks are one of the few genuinely evidence-backed ways to actively support a dog's emotional state.

Let them sniff. It’s much more important than we often think.

Photo ref: Little Luna looking for her new home with German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund

Reference: Duranton, C., & Horowitz, A. (2019). Let me sniff! Nosework induces positive judgment bias in pet dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 211, 61–66.

06/21/2026

We’re really losing the plot. Dogs don’t owe you anything. We dragged them into this modern life, one so removed from the things we bred and reinforced them for, from the wild lives they’d choose for themselves.
Tricks and obedience and sociability is all an added bonus. That was never the point of having a dog. You get a dog because you enjoy the companionship and guardianship of an animal, nothing more. Don’t let social media influencers and exceptional dogs make you forget that they are just animals. Just captive creatures who want to enjoy their lives and feel safe in the situations they find themselves in. Any “professional” who tells you otherwise is just trying to make money off of human insecurities.

Would you expect the bird who visits your feeder to sit and wait to eat till you release them and tell them they can? 😆

06/17/2026

Celebrating some wins for Mister Darcy 🤩

He’s a very nervous, shut-down guy with an unknown history. He refused to even acknowledge me for the first few sessions. He was that way with his own human for a while after he came home from the rescue too. He’s scared of the world, and he’s also aggressive with dogs. An unfortunate incident with a neighbor dog deemed him dangerous and led to him being court ordered to wear a muzzle when in public.
But his human has so much patience, care, and love for this special boy. She meets him where he’s at, and they have developed a beautiful bond.

We started working together in November of last year. Muzzle conditioning, more enrichment and freedom of movement in controlled environments, reactivity training, and more. The majority of the time I’m coaching from the sidelines, because he doesn’t trust me, and that’s okay. But at our last session, he just suddenly, relaxed. He laid down for the first time in my presence, and then promptly rolled over for his person to rub his tummy. He’d choose to approach me. He took treats I fed him through his muzzle. Allowed for some little pets. And his training? Amazing. Another lovely reactivity training client came to his neighborhood for us so we could get in some really good reps. A strange dog walking straight at him and past him in front of his house, beautiful disengagement, beautiful coping skills. We even stepped it up and practiced recall away from a dog, and he DID, multiple times.

There are other people who may have suggested more forceful methods with a dog like Mister Darcy. Punishing him for trying to cope with the world in the only way he knew how. And while I could go on and on about the risks and the reasons why that isn’t how we should train any dog, one thing really stands out— Punishment wouldn’t have ever made Mister Darcy see me as a friend or someone he could trust. And I wouldn’t trade THAT feeling, the moment a terrified dog accepts you as a safe person, for anything. Now he’s gained a friend, his bond with his human is stronger, AND he’s succeeding in his training. His person and I are both so proud of how far he’s come!

06/07/2026

The “immediately friendly equals well-socialised” myth

There’s a widespread assumption - particularly in Western dog culture - that an immediately friendly dog is a well-socialised one. But sociability and social health aren’t the same thing.

A dog that rushes up to every stranger isn’t necessarily confident. It can equally reflect overarousal (due to varying emotions), a lack of impulse control, or a lack of clear social boundaries.

Natural reservation and fear are not the same thing. This distinction matters enormously, and the two are frequently collapsed, which is a significant equivocation with real consequences for dogs.

Fear-based reservation tends to involve active avoidance, visible stress signals, and an inability to recover. Natural reservation looks quite different - the dog may be calm, observant, and fully functional - simply withholding engagement until they’ve made their own assessment. Conflating the two pathologises a healthy characteristic.

Some breeds were never bred for indiscriminate friendliness: Chow Chows, Akitas, and many Nordic and Eastern breeds among them. Applying a universal social template to every dog and finding them wanting does a real disservice to both the individual and the breed. The Eurasier standard, for example, describes the breed as reserved with strangers, but without signs of aggression - and in my experience, that’s accurate. There’s a spectrum, as with any breed, but natural reservation was genuinely one of the things that drew me to them.

The pressure for dogs to be immediately friendly with strangers largely serves the stranger, not the dog. A dog that takes their time is exercising due diligence. Appropriate social boundaries. Something we’d readily respect in a human.

There’s also a persistent assumption that reservation in adult dogs signals inadequate early socialisation. Sometimes that’s true - but a well-socialised dog of a naturally reserved breed, or any breed, may still be reserved. Socialisation does shape confidence and resilience, but it doesn’t necessarily alter how much social contact a dog seeks, or from whom.

Every dog deserves to be read as an individual - not measured against a template, or unrealistic expectations that we wouldn’t apply to other humans.

05/04/2026

Welfare Fun Fact 💡

Agency is one of the most important features of the Physical Environment Domain.

Animals experience better welfare when they have the ability to influence their surroundings by making choices between options and experiencing control in producing predictable outcomes.

These factors dovetail into the critical umbrella of agency - an animal’s ability to competently and skillfully exert control, elect from choices, and navigate challenges in their environment.

Dogs naturally move through their physical environment to regulate comfort and safety. They experience sensory and structural external conditions, and are designed to respond accordingly to maintain homeostasis - shifting positions, changing surfaces, seeking shade or warmth, increasing distance from aversive stimuli or social pressure, or moving toward things that feel comforting, interesting or rewarding.

Environments that offer only a single flat plane with few options limit these opportunities for self regulation. Far too many dogs live in single plane realities which lack the choices, control, and ultimate agency that animals need to optimize their welfare.

Domain crossovers: Mental and Affective State, Behavioral Interactions

Welfare Hack 🚨
Look at your dog’s environment from their point of view - both inside and outside of the home.

Are there opportunities to effectively and predictably act on the physical environment in response to conditions by electing to:
Move up? On? Over? Under? Around? Behind?
Go outside? Inside? Towards? Away From?
Stretch out? Curl up?
Get active? Quiet down?
Seek? Hide?
Get close to? Isolate from?
Warm up? Cool down?

Perches, stools, couches, soft bedding, cool shaded areas, different rooms, logs, rocks, platforms, dog doors, windows, nooks, and varied terrain/routes all create opportunities for dogs to adjust their bodies, minds, and their experiences to follow their inner compasses.

More environmental options provide more than the opportunity to cope with one’s environment. They can promote better homeostatic function, emotional regulation, and stress resilience.

04/20/2026

Looking forward to a full and beautiful week of training your dogs!