Equinine Behavioural Practice

23/10/2026

23/10/2026

🐶 Reading Your Dog’s Tail Language

Your dog’s tail tells a story! 🐾 Learn how different tail movements can reveal your dog’s emotions, mood, and body language.

22/10/2026

Welgedaan Ockert en Vicky.....puppy klas met vlieende vaandels geslaag.

17/10/2026

You only get one life♥

17/10/2026

No horse is wasted just being a horse in a field. If you feel the pressure of having to DO something with your horse or you’re somehow failing, remember this. If you’re enjoying just being with them and loving them, it’s enough. No one gets to decide but you what’s enough. 🐴🥰

17/10/2026

Your dog will go crazy for this refreshing frozen treat! 🍉🍓 Blend 1 cup seedless watermelon, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, and 1/4 cup water until smooth and creamy. Pour into a freezer-safe container or silicone molds and freeze for 3–4 hours until firm. Let it soften for a few minutes before serving a small portion as a cool occasional treat.

17/10/2026

A little horse time can mean a lot. 🩷 🐴

It doesn’t have to be a big training session or something impressive.

A few minutes of play, trying something new, noticing what your horse enjoys, or simply sharing a quiet moment together can all add up to a lovely bond over time.

That’s very much what we’re about inside Horse Tricks Club: simple, enjoyable ways to learn, play, and spend meaningful time with your horse.

If you’d like more ideas like these, I’ll pop the Horse Tricks Club link in the comments below.

17/10/2026

Ever wondered why your dog can find a blue ball halfway across the garden, but that bright red one seems to have vanished into thin air? 🤣

Well, there's actually some rather interesting science behind that... and it might make you think twice about the colours you choose when buying toys for your dog. Because whilst we might think that lovely bright red ball is going to be really easy to spot against the green grass, your dog doesn't see those colours in quite the same way we do. And no, before anyone asks, dogs don't just see in black and white!

Dogs have what's called "dichromatic vision", which essentially means they have two types of colour-sensitive cone cells in their eyes, whereas we have three. This means they can distinguish blues and yellows much more readily than reds and greens. Now, that doesn't mean they can't see a red ball. Of course they can! But the colour of that ball doesn't stand out against green grass in the same way it does to us. To your dog, those colours can appear much more similar, making the ball harder to distinguish from its surroundings, particularly when it's sitting still. Add in long grass, shadows, different lighting conditions and a ball that's been well and truly slobbered on (we've all got one of those!), and suddenly finding it isn't necessarily as straightforward as we might think. Your dog may well be relying on movement, scent and other visual cues rather than the colour itself.

And here's something you might not know about Paws Academy... there's a very deliberate reason why the majority of our agility equipment is blue and yellow. It wasn't simply because I liked the colours! When we're working with dogs, particularly when they're learning to navigate equipment, I want to consider how that equipment appears from their perspective, not just ours. Blue and yellow can offer useful colour contrast for dogs, depending on the background and lighting. Of course, colour isn't the only consideration. Contrast, movement, distance and the surrounding environment all play a part in how easily a dog can identify something. But when we're choosing equipment, why wouldn't we take their visual capabilities into account?

It's also worth remembering that colour vision is only one part of how dogs experience the world. Their visual acuity is different from ours, they're particularly sensitive to movement, and their ability to detect things in lower light is generally better than ours. Then, of course, there's that extraordinary sense of smell, which opens up an entirely different way of gathering information about their surroundings. So whilst we're busy admiring all the lovely colours in the park, our dogs are experiencing that same environment in a rather different way. And I think that's fascinating, because it reminds us that what seems obvious to us isn't necessarily obvious to the dog standing beside us.

So, does this mean you need to rush out and replace every red, green or orange toy your dog owns? Absolutely not! If your dog loves their red ball, keep using it. Dogs can learn to recognise and retrieve toys regardless of their colour, and scent, shape, texture and familiarity all contribute. But if you're choosing a new ball for games on grass, a blue one might be worth considering. And if you've ever stood in a field pointing at a bright red ball saying "It's THERE! Right THERE!" whilst your dog looks at you as though you've completely lost the plot... well, perhaps now you've got a slightly better understanding of why!

I've put together this little comparison to show you approximately how some of the colours we see may appear to our dogs. It's an illustration rather than an exact representation of canine vision, but it gives you a really interesting insight into just how differently they experience colour.

Sometimes understanding our dogs means looking at the world a little differently ourselves. 💛

17/10/2026

🐾 𝙱𝙴 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝙳𝙾𝙶’𝚂 𝙰𝙳𝚅𝙾𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙴. 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽 𝚆𝙷𝙴𝙽 𝙸𝚃 𝙼𝙴𝙰𝙽𝚂 𝚂𝙰𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙽𝙾. 🐾

💁🏼Your dog cannot politely tell a stranger, “Please don’t touch me.”

💁🏼They cannot explain to an approaching dog owner, “I’m uncomfortable with your dog running into my personal space.”

💁🏼They cannot say, “I’m feeling overwhelmed today, and I really need some distance.”

➡️Well, actually, they CAN communicate all of those things. Just not in human language.

✅They communicate through their body language, their movements, their facial expressions, their attempts to move away, their hesitation, their avoidance and sometimes, when those quieter signals haven’t worked, through growling, barking or lunging.

And this is where YOU come in.

💯As your dog’s guardian, one of your most important responsibilities is to advocate for them.

⚠️That means recognising when your dog is uncomfortable and stepping in BEFORE they feel they have no other option but to react.

💛 When a stranger asks to pet your dog, you can say NO.

You don’t owe anyone an explanation.

Let me repeat that - 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐎𝐖𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.

🐕Your dog isn’t public property, and nobody is entitled to touch them simply because they think they’re cute.

💛 When someone allows their off-lead dog to charge towards yours, you can say NO.

It doesn’t matter if they shout, “Don’t worry, he’s friendly!” … 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 🤦‍♀️

➡️Your dog might not be comfortable with unfamiliar dogs. They might be frightened, recovering from an injury, elderly, in training, or simply uninterested in interacting.

And here’s something people really need to understand:

⚠️Another dog’s friendliness does not override your dog’s right to personal space.

💛 When someone insists that your nervous dog just needs to ‘get used to people’, you can say NO.

Forcing interactions doesn’t automatically create confidence. In fact, repeatedly putting a dog in situations where they feel trapped, frightened or overwhelmed can make things considerably worse.

💛 When your dog wants to walk away from an interaction, LET THEM.

🩵They don’t need to greet every dog.

🩵They don’t need to accept attention from every person.

🩵They don’t need to tolerate strangers leaning over them, reaching towards their faces or invading their space.

🩵And they certainly don’t need to be pushed into uncomfortable situations just to satisfy someone else’s expectations.

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒈.

ꨄEvery time you notice their discomfort and respond appropriately, you’re teaching them something incredibly valuable.

ꨄYou’re showing them that their communication matters.

ꨄThat they have choices.

ꨄThat moving away is an option.

ꨄThat they don’t have to escalate their behaviour to be heard.

ꨄAnd, importantly, that you are someone they can rely on to help them feel safe.

❤︎︎This is particularly important for nervous, anxious and reactive dogs.

♥︎Imagine how different the world might feel to a dog who no longer has to constantly worry about unwanted interactions because their human is paying attention and helping them navigate those situations.

Now, advocating doesn’t mean wrapping your dog in cotton wool or avoiding every challenge. It means creating opportunities for positive experiences, at a pace your dog can cope with, while respecting their individual needs and boundaries.

And sometimes, that means being prepared to make another human uncomfortable so that your dog doesn’t have to be.

꥟You might be called rude.

꥟You might be told you’re overprotective.

꥟You might hear, “Oh, but all dogs love me!”

꥟You might even be told that you’re making your dog antisocial.

꥟Let them think whatever they want.

🙌Because your responsibility isn’t to protect a stranger’s feelings at the expense of your dog’s emotional wellbeing.

🙌Your responsibility is to the animal who depends on you to make good decisions on their behalf.

And remember, this isn’t just about reactive or nervous dogs.

Even the friendliest, most sociable dog in the world has the right to say, “Not today.”

🐾 Be their voice when people aren’t listening to their body language.

🐾 Be their space when the world gets too close.

🐾 Be their advocate when their boundaries aren’t being respected.

𝚂𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙽𝙾 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚐 𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛. 𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎.

❤️ Your dog doesn’t need you to make everyone else happy. They need you to have their back.