Animal Behaviour and Trauma Recovery Service UK

23/10/2025

𝗦𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵

💥 Help for Dogs Who Struggle to Cope 💥

If your dog finds everyday life overwhelming — barking, lunging, hiding, or shutting down — there is support.

🧠 This is for fearful, reactive (sensitive), aggressive or traumatised dogs who need more than basic support.You’ll get:

✅ Specialist behaviour support
✅ A trauma-informed, welfare-first approach
✅ A clear, adaptable plan — built around your dog’s needs
✅ Ongoing WhatsApp guidance + liaison with your vet

💬 This is a deeper, 90-day programme designed to help your dog feel safer and more able to cope… and help you feel more confident too.

💰 90-Day Programme:
— £350 (pay as you go)
— £325 (pay upfront and save)
(Approx. 10 sessions + WhatsApp & professional support included)

🌱 Start with a Pathfinder Session (£25) — a standalone consultation to map out your plan. If you go ahead, it’s deductible from the programme cost.

➡️ Message the page or WhatsApp 0776 331 7464 to book your Pathfinder today
💬 Limited spaces | NHS & Ambulance discounts | Low-cost slots available

📍 🐴🐶Supporting Horses and Dogs who are fearful, overwhelmed, traumatised or who struggle to cope in the human world. Helping you to help them. Full APBC member & ABTC registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist 📍South East WhatsApp 07763317464

23/10/2025

𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗜𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴

In addition to working with a lot of touch sensitive horses I also frequently work with many touch sensitive dogs. Sue Williamsons’ work is incredible and whether you are a caregiver or groomer she offers excellent resources.

I recommend also seeking the support of an ABTC registered behaviourist to support you and your dog and a behaviourally-minded dog groomer.

Tomorrow I start working with a puppy who struggles with being touched and groomed in addition to anything I put in place we will work closely with his vet and the groomers to support him to cope with the process.

📍 🐴🐶Supporting Horses and Dogs who are fearful, overwhelmed, traumatised or who struggle to cope in the human world. Helping you to help them. Full APBC member & ABTC registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist 📍South East WhatsApp 07763317464

Taking the Grrr Book for UK Purchase. Overseas purchases can be made via your local Amazon store. Please email [email protected] if you would like information on buying multiple copies

22/10/2025

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲

On Saturday I had the privilege of meeting beautiful Nahla !! She is very touch sensitive in certain areas of her body and during some activities such as grooming, rugging and when her saddle is put on. Nahla is also claustrophobic and finds small spaces difficult . She is due to have a move so in addition to any veterinary investigations that may be required we are supporting her to feel safe during handling as she will be cared for by unfamiliar people. I have started to add predictability by using the three second or less rule for touch and using the words “Me Touch” and labelling the body part . The latter has dual effect of adding a sense of predictability and creating a rhythm which is incredibly helpful if horses have experienced trauma . We will also be sticking to areas where Nahla feels safest such as the school or field where she is free to be loose and add restraint in much later once other avenues for root cause have been explored working closely with her new vets will be critical.

In addition as her caregiver already does sticking to the routine of putting rugs on in the way Nahla can cope with and avoiding highly sensitive body areas.

Just like people and dogs and horses can naturally vary in their touch sensitivity . A recent PhD study conducted by Rebecca Thompson explored whether sound sensitivity could be an indicator of pain in horses as those in the study with some asymmetry were more prone to reactivity and did not habituate to noise (aeroplane flyover) suggesting that pain or the anticipation of pain could be linked to noise sensitivity. These horses also had higher heart rates. However, Nahla did not show increased sound sensitivity.

I will also be doing some work with Nahla on her caregivers behalf. This is something offer to my clients if they need it. I look forward to supporting Nahla and her caregiver on their journey.

Too tired to reference will do so later.

📍 🐴🐶Supporting Horses and Dogs who are fearful, overwhelmed, traumatised or who struggle to cope in the human world. Helping you to help them. Full APBC member & ABTC registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist 📍South East WhatsApp 07763317464

22/10/2025

22/10/2025

Resilience

Last year I went to an art exhibition called Perspectives A Visual Exploration of Diverse Experiences of Eating Disorder Recovery . People wrote what supported them and their resilience on pieces of cloth. While I am not a fan of how toxic resilience can become as a narrative of times when it ignores people’s needs for support and connection this was strengths based and beautiful.

What strengths do you have?

What strengths do your animal’s have? For example is their social skills with other dogs, horses or people they feel safe with ?
Is it their love scent tracking?
Is it how they carefully select blackberries from the hedge?

📍 🐴🐶Supporting Horses and Dogs who are fearful, overwhelmed, traumatised or who struggle to cope in the human world. Helping you to help them. Full APBC member & ABTC registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist 📍South East WhatsApp 07763317464

22/10/2025

This

"There's a difference between a good man and a nice guy.
A good man stands for certain ideals.
And when those beliefs are contested,
A good man is not a nice guy."

- Matthew McConaughey, Poems & Prayers.

This has been living rent free in my head since I read it a few weeks ago.

Advocacy in the horse world is hard.

The tension between being nice - slowly slowly catchy monkey - to get people on board. Not shaming them. Protecting their mental health.

Versus actually "doing the thing" - improving horse welfare.

"People are doing the best they can"

Yes, you are right -

But at what point to we say that meaning well and having the best of intentions is not good enough?

Because thinking about "doing the thing", is not actually "doing the thing"

You are not succeeding in improving horse welfare if the point you are trying to make doesn't land.

But equally, you are not succeeding in improving horse welfare if you don't make your point. If the thoughts we have stay in our heads.

If you don't say it nicely, you push people away. Disempower. Disincentivise.

If you say it nicely, it doesn't convey the urgency.

Neither of these change behaviour.

And at what point do we say that, when the mental and physical wellbeing of a sentient being is entirely our responsibility, we actually need to put their welfare state before the fragility of the human ego?

Because if there is one thing I am unequivocally certain of -

I'm not here to protect your ego.

I'm here to protect your horse.

-

LS Horsemanship and I are doing a live tonight - we'd love to see you there ❤️

20/10/2025

𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝗴 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 !!

This topic is my heart and soul

If you want to understand how I work safety and needs meeting is the bedrock on which how I support horses, dogs and their humans is built!!

You can’t teach your horse or dog to feel safe and no amount of pressure and relief (negative reinforcement ) or positive reinforcement training will help them feel safe !!

They need their individual and species-specific needs met first and foremost and then relationship built over time through repetitive safe experiences.

All relationships in social species horses, dogs, humans etc start with proximity and non-demanding time.

We then add predictably through our actions being repeated and being attuned to our horses and dogs by responding to their requests for connection ( proximity) or distance. This creates a mutual language between you.

As confidence builds you can begin to share mutual experiences by exploring together and acting as a secure base for your horse or dog to return to you if they choose to go off on their own and return to you.

For yourself take responsibility for what helps you feel secure is it using protected contact or using a secure field for your dog? Knowing your own thresholds and limits is crucial to being emotionally available to your horse or dog .

References

Argent, G., & Vaught, J. (Eds.). (2022). The relational horse: How frameworks of communication, care, politics and power reveal and conceal equine selves (Vol. 24). Brill.

Bradshaw, G. A., Capaldo, T., Lindner, L., & Grow, G. (2008). Building an inner sanctuary: complex PTSD in chimpanzees. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 9(1), 9-34.

Kieson, E. (2025). Interspecies Relational Theory: A Framework for Compassionate Interspecies Interactions. Veterinary Sciences, 12(6), 586.

Kieson, E., & Sams, J. (2022). Horse-Human Communication: The Roles of Language and Communication in the Context of Horse-Human Interactions. International Journal of Zoology and Animal Biology, 5(6), 1-10.

📍 🐴🐶Supporting Horses and Dogs who are fearful, overwhelmed, traumatised or who struggle to cope in the human world. Helping you to help them. Full APBC member & ABTC registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist 📍South East WhatsApp 07763317464

20/10/2025

It Is Not HOW Do I Make My Horse Load But WHY Do They Find Loading Hard?

If you are waiting excessively long and preventing your horse from moving away and taking a break you are not stubborn or patient you are flooding your horse intentionally or not, In an emergency please do what is necessary. Ordinarily ,there are better ways to support your horse to load. Horses struggle to load for a multitude of reasons not the often very limited reasons you normally see described (Loftus,2023, Zappaterta et al, 2022,

It is also crucial to appreciate the full spectrum of stress and fear responses a horse can display in the loading context and in others. The primary focus is often Fight, Flight and Freeze however there are a number of other equally important F responses your horse can show. These include

𝗙𝗮𝘄𝗻 (appeasement type behaviours)
𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 ( this response is when a horse will seek out the company of others ) (Kieson,2023)
𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗔𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 ( these are play behaviours designed to reduce tension)
𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗽 ( this response may rest in a horse becoming unresponsive to their environment and result in physical collapse however they may breathe rapidly ) (Baldwin,2013, Reinders ,2024)

Reasons besides it being extremely unnatural for an animal that is designed to live in groups in wide open spaces might include

Claustrophobia
Lack of experience
Pain or illness
Balance problems
Past negative or potentially traumatic experiences
Poor relationship with the handler
Anxiety about the destination
Phobia
Separation distress
Problems with driving
Type of vehicle
Problems with the vehicle ie too small, depth of ramp , vehicle height etc
And More

References

Baldwin, D. V. (2013). Primitive mechanisms of trauma response: An evolutionary perspective on trauma-related disorders. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(8), 1549-1566.

Kieson, E., Goma, A. A., & Radi, M. (2023). Tend and befriend in horses: Partner preferences, lateralization, and contextualization of allogrooming in two socially stable herds of Quarter Horse mares. Animals, 13(2), 225.

Loftus, L. (2023). Loading and Transportation Issues in Horses. Animal Behaviour and Welfare Cases, (2023), abwcases20230008.

Reinders, K. (2024). From stillness to survival: a deep dive into the phenomenology of the Freeze response: a systematic review.

Zappaterra, M., Nanni Costa, L., Felici, M., Minero, M., Perniola, F., Tullio, D., & Padalino, B. (2022). Journeys, journey conditions, and welfare assessment of unbroken (unhandled) horses on arrival at a slaughterhouse in Italy. Animals, 12(16), 2083.

📍 🐴🐶Supporting Horses and Dogs who are fearful, overwhelmed, traumatised or who struggle to cope in the human world. Helping you to help them. Full APBC member & ABTC registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist 📍South East WhatsApp 07763317464

19/10/2025

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