Ethical Dog - Cannock Chase

18/11/2025

We are in full support of the IHA for the improvement of dog welfare in dog breeding of the future 🩷🐾 focusing on improving health for our pets, avoiding certain physical characteristics that have the potential to cause severe health issues and disability. The Innate Health Assessment Tool can hopefully provide a positive step forward to improve health and welfare of our pet dogs 🐶 ensuring a better chance of good physical health and therefore improved wellbeing 😊

** Important Message from our Director of Studies, Jo Middleton **

Today I’m heading to the House of Lords for something that feels genuinely historic for canine welfare ... the official launch of the Innate Health Assessment (IHA) Tool.

For as long as I can remember I have advocated to end the cruelty that humans have inflicted up dogs through breeding for aesthetics.

To be blunt, we have bred suffering into generations of animals who never asked for it.

Flat faces.
Spines that don't flex.
Bulging eyes.
Compromised breathing.
Painful skin, joints, and neurological issues.

All because, somewhere along the line, how dogs looked and our human egos became more important than welfare.

But today marks the beginning of a shift.

The IHA Tool, brain child of the All Parliamnetary Group for Animal Welfare, is launching.

This 10 point assessment is built from 15 years of RVC research and supported across the veterinary and welfare sectors. It gives everyone, including breeders and prospective guardians, a simple, accessible way to assess what healthy, innate conformation truly looks like.

And I’m incredibly proud that International Institute For Canine Ethics, Canine Principles and The International School for Canine Psychology and Behaviour - ISCP are supporters of this work amongst many others like our Canine Principles partners the BSAVA, RVC, the Kennel Club, Dogs Trust, Blue Cross, Battersea, Wood Green, Hope Rescue and many others ❤️.

Education and compassionate positive action at this level are truly powerful.

This tool empowers ordinary people to make extraordinary change.
It removes the guesswork.
It removes the excuses.
And, if used widely, it will save countless dogs from a lifetime of preventable suffering.

Today isn’t about blame.
It’s about progress.
It’s about choosing better for the dogs of tomorrow and giving people the knowledge to do so.

I completely get that many might look at this with scepticism and think, "people won’t use it." I know that not everyone will. But this is a MASSIVE leap of progress. And every guardian or breeder who does use the tool is one step closer to preventing a lifetime of suffering for a dog.

A breeding revolution has officially begun.

And I’m beyond excited to be standing in the room where it starts.

Link in the comments to for more info 👇👇👇

24/10/2025

10/10/2025

We had such a lovely assistance dog assessment this week. This team had a beautiful relationship and clear bond between dog and handler and it was lovely to see calm and relaxed handling through out and a very happy dog enjoying his work!

Congratulations to Susanne and Mutz for another year accredited as an assistance dog team with Dog A.I.D. 😊

06/10/2025

We are so upset to hear that Dog A.I.D. are potentially facing closure due to limited access to funds.

The charity provide assistance dog training for people with physical disabilities. They helped me to come to terms with my own disability over 16 years ago when I first joined and trained my first assistance dog, helping me with both my physical disability and more importantly my confidence.

Dog A.I.D. was my first introduction to Turid Rugaas, calming signals, dog communication and Nordic dog training. 16 years ago i would have never believed i would be currently learning directly from Turid right now, and working as a trainer and assessor both privately and at Dog A.I.D.

So anyone who has benefited from training or behavioural advice through Ethical Dog, Im here doing this because of Dog A.I.D.

Not only do they play a major part in my personal story but they help to support so many disabled people all accross the UK.

Please share and donate if you are able ❤ they really need all the help they can get!

We are devastated to share the news that Dog A.I.D. is facing closure.
If we don’t raise at least £100,000 by 15 November, we’ll have no option but to start closing the charity

We are a small charity, and we do not receive any government funding. We make a very big impact for physically Disabled people. But we rely entirely on people choosing to donate or volunteer to be able to do this.

We have always managed to raise enough in previous years to keep going and continue to support disabled people who need us. We are proud to have helped 476 disabled people to train their dogs and improve their lives. But this year, there’s been more competition for funds than ever before, and despite our best efforts, we
have not been able to bring in enough funding quickly enough for us to keep going much longer.

PLEASE can you help by making a donation today? https://www.justgiving.com/charity/dogaid

We don’t know where else to turn other than to our community and to people who understand the difference our work makes for Disabled people. So please donate whatever you can today. Thank you.

24/09/2025

17/09/2025

Congratulations to Sharon and beautiful Layla pup for completing their annual assessment with me for Dog A.I.D today ☺️👌🏼 Layla is now an accredited assistance dog ready for another year of work

Our assessment today included making sure that Layla was relaxed and comfortable and confident in public spaces and that she enjoyed doing her taskwork and helping her mum, finding her phone and fetching her medication out of her bag and much more ☺️ of course we had a lovely sniffy walk and off lead run in the beautiful nature reserve too as encouraging natural behaviour in suitable environments is essential for our working dogs

Layla is an absolute sweetie and once she passed her main part of her assessment we went for a nice relaxed lunch and of course because she was comfortable and happy and all of her needs were met so she slept right through 😍

Congratulations team Layla ☺️ I’m very proud of you both

Dog A.I.D. (Assistance In Disability)

03/08/2025

We had such a wonderful social walk session with Layla today and catching up with her family 🩷

Layla is the most lovely calm and gentle little lady. She enjoyed a long lead walk alongside our little Nuggie. They are such a brilliant match for social walks, they both enjoy being in each others company but are both able to sniff and explore and engage in natural dog behaviour without getting distracted by the other

Social walks are most beneficial when our dogs are feeling safe and calm and settled, so that they can properly relax and communicate and interact with the other dog aswell as being able to explore their environment ☺️ it doesn’t have to be running around and fast play and bouncing, yes that can be fun too (in small doses!) but learning how to enjoy calm and quiet social walks is a fantastic skill for teaching your dogs, for both their social needs and mental enrichment

And these two absolutely perfected that today 🩷🐾

15/07/2025

Proud of this one! I’ve recently completed 12 months of Canine Anatomy and Physiology study 😁 as part of my full diploma to hopefully practice as Galen Myotherapist in the future 🙏

Galen teaches all about the canine body right from a cellular level through to organs, connective tissue, skeletal system and much more. It has been a fascinating in depth look at how our dogs body is built, how each part is structured and how it functions.

I’m looking forward to continuing my education in order to be able to recognise potential issues and create treatment plans for clients dogs in the future, to help to keep them fit and healthy and in top shape, which is especially important for our working assistance dogs 🐾