Purple Pup

07/03/2025

This! 👌🐾💜

*** Unpopular Opinion ***

I have been an animal behaviour professional for 25 years. In the time I have been working with dogs I have been seeing an increasing and alarming trend towards more and more people placing more and more human burdens onto companion animals.

I will begin this post by making it clear that I think therapy animals can and do have a place in our difficult world and that there is no doubt in my mind that the contribution to better human welfare is tremendous. I am on the preferred trainer list for one of the legitimate organizations and do take training jobs to assist people training dogs for these roles BUT I have strict criteria around who I will and who I will not take on as a client.

Why? Because I am seeing too many people who can clearly and in great detail tell me what they want, what the dog needs to do, what they must have. What is decreasing is the conversation around the needs for the dogs emotional welfare. I have had some people get very annoyed when I suggest something they are doing is unfair on the dog.

I watched a clip of a woman having a heartbreaking psychiatric episode. It was tough to watch this incredible level of suffering. What was also tough to watch was the dog being sent in to make her feel better. The dog was overwhelmed, and highly stressed. The comments on the clip were predominantly positive. "What an amazing dog, he knows how to soothe this poor lady, look what he did for her" and more along the same lines.

That clip hurt my heart. It was just so sad to see a dog being thrown a human problem and suffering for it. When did we decide animals have to fix everything for us? When did it become ok to throw all our difficulties in their laps?

I have no issues with dogs helping humans cope provided the dogs welfare is also a priority. I think these dogs make many difficult things better. I know I have an undercover therapy dog who makes bad days better. I suffer from depression so I am very conscious of the toll that can take on my animals. At times I will actively add some fun to combat the burden of heavy days on them.

Like so many things this has become big business. Dollars to be made. I have refused one business my services when they approached me because they insist the handler can use whatever training tools they want. No. If you want to legitimately train up one of these dogs you don't do it under duress. You work with a dog who is happy to do it

Some dogs aren't suited for these roles. I had one lady change dogs three times. I would have been happy to help her select an appropriate dog.

I have had someone keep a dog tethered because they didn't have fencing around their yard. The dog was becoming problematic because her basic needs were not being met.

Training your own dog takes a lot of work. It doesn't just magic happen. You can't just select a suitable breed and hope it just takes. It won't. I know a wonderful breeder who has had a dog chosen for the role but not trained, then returned for displaying normal puppy behaviour.

We must not stop considering animal welfare. It's not just about what we want and nor should it be. Best mates should be treated as our best mate and that means meeting their emotional needs too.

06/03/2025

It’s Complicated

06/03/2025

06/03/2025

❤️

06/03/2025

❤️

"Excuse me, I think you forgot my 'boop'?" 🐶

The wonderful hearing dog Valley accompanies her deaf partner Ana to university and always does such a brilliant job settling in lectures and other environments around campus.

Valley was partnered with Ana back in 2020 and we're so proud of her 🐾

06/03/2025

06/03/2025

Ten. Years. Almost his entire life. How does that happen?! 😭

Little Woody, a poodle cross breed, has spend 10 of his birthdays in kennels despite being a “larger-than-life” and “highly intelligent” character who “lights up a room” with his energy

05/03/2025

So that's what's been going on my entire life with dogs...

05/03/2025

This was shared today by a trainer claiming it as evidence against positive reinforcement! 🤣

I completely disagree. It's not really about any kind of training. I mean, yes, we could teach a dog to settle nicely while we have a conversation. Or we could just let them mooch around on a loose lead. Or we could give them something to do, like sniff, shred or chew...

But I think this is actually a lovely example of how life is about so much more than training. 👌

Like, a sense of humour! 🤷‍♀️

But also, see how this (working breed) dog is not causing any trouble at all. Off lead, but needing no interference. He doesn't need controlling. And see how relaxed his human is. He doesn't seem to feel the need to immediately regain control.

In fact, everyone is relaxed and happy. 🥰🐾💜

Dr Scott Miller occasionally appears on the ITV daytime show and shares his expertise with fans.

05/03/2025

Exactly this! 🤷‍♀️

Toy breeds often tend to feel intimidated by the world around them, which is not surprising when we consider how huge (and often how scary) everything must seem from their perspective.

Fear triggers the fight or flight response due to sympathetic nervous system activation, the dog doesn't choose that - it's survival.

If a dog cannot escape a scary situation, they mobilise.

For small dogs, mobilisation often relies on barking.

This is where we see a yapping dog simply asking for their space to be respected, yet all too often, this is mislabelled as small dog syndrome.

05/03/2025

I can definitely relate to this. Pepper is always super giddy on windy days! 🤣🐾💜

Wind! 💨 (the weather kind...not the other kind 😂)

Environment affects behaviour. But that doesn't just refer to things which are physically present. It also refers to less obvious aspects of our surroundings...like the weather.

Bertie lives on the coast and we were working on loose lead walking & reactivity this morning. While we were in the sheltered streets away from the water he was doing beautifully - focused, calm, moving well etc. But when we turned onto the coast road and found ourselves walking into the wind it was a different story! He became much more aroused, much more stimulated & much less attentive.

Why? My guess was the wind. Or, more specifically, the myriad new scents carried by the strong wind (which was blowing right into his face) which resulted in a bit of sensory overload and increased alertness which made it harder for him to focus.

When we changed direction and had the wind at our backs he noticeably settled and was able to focus & move well with us again.

If your dog's behaviour suddenly changes or their performance suddenly dips it's always worth remembering that the reason for that may lie in the environment, and not within the dog. And that the things which affect them (especially scent based stimuli) may not be immediately obvious to us....but that doesn't make them any less real.

Does the wind (or any other weather condition) drive your dog a bit crazy? Let me know!

05/03/2025

Love this! 🥰 Not only a lovely example of safe play between dogs of different size and age, but a great demonstration of why our puppies are prone to mouthing, grabbing and nipping us. This is a totally natural form of play for them. 🐾💜

05/03/2025

This! 👌 I've always thought it strange that many of those dogs who are recommended as needing a 'firmer hand' are typically breeds that have been deliberately bred, for many generations, to work with humans as a team. A dog with a high drive, in the right hands, is a dream to work with! 🥰🐾💜

High drive dogs are still dogs….

No, your high drive breed doesn’t defy the laws of learning theory.

No, your dog doesn’t need to be trained differently because they are “super high drive”.

At the end of the day all animals learn the same. I do think many higher drive dogs are set up for failure from the get go because handlers don’t let them do things they otherwise would if they had a Golden Retriever or a Pomeranian. They are instead looked at as needing heavy structure or else they go off the rails. Yes, dogs who have higher drive have more requirements. They need more exercise, mental and genetic fulfilment, BUT Drive doesn’t define your dog’s entire life. Outside of those extra requirements they are a dog, the same species as the greyhound that goes for their daily walks and loves a nap on the couch, sometimes I think we forget that….

05/03/2025

Nest

03/03/2025

Some super simple ways to add a little fresh nutrition to your dog's diet! 🙏🐾💜

03/03/2025

If your dog is fearful, please hear me.

It’s not your fault.

It’s not because you let them sleep in the bed, it’s not because you share “human food” with them, it’s not because you coddle them or “reinforce” their fear.

Fear is an incredibly complicated behavior. In many animals it’s adaptive, meaning it helps us to survive and make safe choices (i.e. is there a lion in that bush? I better avoid it so I don’t get eaten. Or Should I wear my seatbelt today? Yes, because even if we don’t get in an accident I’d like to be safe!) but it can become maladaptive, at which point it impedes normal life and we label it a “behavior problem”.

Because fear is a survival mechanism, it is often passed down from parent to offspring. This means that if you breed fearful dogs together, their litter will more than likely have fearful pups even before any kind of socialization or exposure to the “outside” world.

To make it even more complicated, stress to the mother during pregnancy has been shown to cause fear to develop later on as well, and then on top of that, if the mother is fearful, the puppies will be watching and modeling her behavior during the first (hopefully at least 8. )weeks of their lives. This can also contribute to fear based behavior problems.

All this to say: fear is extremely complicated and sometimes completely out of our hands!

One of the best parts of my job is getting to tell people that their dog’s behavior isn’t all their fault. The relief that I often see is huge, and it’s because the dog training industry has done such a disservice to pet parents spreading erroneous information based on myth and old wives tales.

It your dog is suffering from fear based behavior problems, don’t pin it on yourself. Fear is so much more complicated than many of us realize.

03/03/2025

🤓𝔻𝕀𝔻 𝕐𝕆𝕌 𝕂ℕ𝕆𝕎 ??