Calders Dog Behaviour

11/07/2025

🥵 We have a lower tolerance to things in weather like this...and so do our dogs!

Do bear that in mind when you're out with them. A brilliant post here explaining it all from the The Mutty Professor! 👇

HOT WEATHER & AN INCREASE IN BITE RISK 🥵

We've had some very hot weather recently in the UK, and for many parts of the UK- the next three days are going to be scorchio!

It's important to be aware that being too hot can lower thresholds for tolerance and overt reactions- and not just in 'reactive' dogs.

And not just in dogs!

There's a correlation between human riots and an increase in crime during a significant rise in temperature (27 to 32 degrees).
It is well established that in people, heat stress causes irritability and an increased likelihood of aggressive behaviour.

Being hot and bothered is a physical stressor - the body works hard to return to homeostasis.

Cognitive processes can be negatively affected. So if your dog is not responding to as they would normally, consider the effects of heat.

Furthermore- being too hot can interfere with a dog's ability to rest and sleep. During rest and sleep, stress is lowered, and subsequently compromised rest and sleep affects behaviour.

This can affect (lower) the dog's threshold for emotional stress.


🐕 Two unfamiliar dogs meeting while both are hot and bothered is less likely going to result in a healthy interaction. Now is the time to largely keep yourselves to yourselves on walks, or monitor the body language of both dogs very carefully.

🏡 Extra caution should be taken in situations that your dog may struggle with, such as around visitors to the home.

🧒 But the greatest caution of all should be taken around up-close interactions in ALL dogs, especially those who live children.

Remember these basic safeguarding rules;

1. No faces near faces.

2. Let sleeping dogs lie.

3. Do not forcefully take resources (toys, food or anything the dog has found/picked up) off a dog.
Children should never take things off a dog.

4. Do not 'box dogs in' with your interaction.

- Always ensure they can easily move away by not blocking a dog's ability to move forward/away (for example, wrapping your arms around to hug a dog front on makes it near impossible for them to easily disengage).

- The safest way to interact is to invite a dog to come to you.
Alternatively, if you do approach then do so when they are awake and instead of swooping straight in with strokes- wait for them to signal to you they are keen for an interaction.

- Stop stroking after 2-3 seconds, and see if your dog communicates to you they would like more, or if they are done.
This is called the consent test, and it's something all children (and adults) should be aware of.


Most people who get bitten by a dog know the dog well, didn't think their dog would ever bite someone and didn't see the bite coming.

Most dog bites are on faces and hands of someone close to the dog, and this tells us a lot about what the person was LIKELY doing (Note, there are always exceptions).


As I always say to my clients ......

🗣️ Never take your dog's current level of tolerance for granted.

11/06/2025

So true...The mantra I follow with my work! Thank you International Canine Behaviourists

17/05/2025

'IVE TRIED AN ELECTRIC COLLAR MYSELF AND IT DOESN'T HURT'

I've often been asked why I don't use electric collars in my training methods.

1. Using them goes against my morals and ethics as a person.

2. It goes against the codes of conduct of the professional bodies I belong to and support (IMDT, KAD, ICB, PACT).

Sadly I'm getting more clients coming to me where they've been working with 'professionals' in the past that use these methods. Rather than criticise the previous 'professional' and make my client feel worse (let's be honest they thought they were doing the right thing by trying to get help), my response is the past has happened. I explain all the good things about using kind methods and we move forward together positively!

3. Not only am I a skilled, experienced and accredited professional, my work is evidence based and supported by SCIENCE. This brilliant post below by Roman explains the science behind what really happens when you use an electric collar on your dog.....

⚡️THE $6,000 VOLT LIE: What They’re Not Telling You About “Low-Level” Shock Training
🚨This Applies Also To Vibration Collars

“It’s just a mild stim, like a TENS unit. Totally safe.”

No it’s Not!!!

Let’s walk through exactly what happens inside your dog’s neck when you hit that remote. Not just emotionally—but biologically.

Because once you understand what’s happening under their skin, you’ll see this isn’t a communication tool—it’s a nervous system atomic bomb.

You’re Not Hitting One Nerve—You’re Hitting a Highway of Sensory Chaos

When you shock a dog’s neck, you’re not delivering a clean signal to a single behavior center. You’re triggering a web of critical nerves, including:

Vagus Nerve (Cranial X)
• Regulates heart rate, digestion, and emotional calm
• Overstimulation can cause nausea, bradycardia, or collapse

Accessory Nerve (Cranial XI)
• Controls head movement and postural muscles
• Disruption causes jerking, reactivity, or defensive freezing

Cervical Spinal Nerves (C1–C5)
• Link to forelimbs and breathing muscles
• Disturbance can create stumbling, stiffness, or panic movement

Phrenic Nerve (C3–C5)
• Controls breathing via the diaphragm
• Overload causes panting, respiratory distress, or emotional shutdown

Auricular & Transverse Cervical Nerves
• Involved in ear, jaw, and neck sensation
• Trigger head shaking, pawing, scratching, or vocalization

And all of these are stimulated at once when you push that button.

Now Add This: The Skin Itself Is a Dense Sensory Organ

Just three layers under the skin sit multiple mechanoreceptors, each responding to different types of force. You’re not just shocking “muscle”—you’re shocking a sophisticated sensory matrix.

Pacinian Corpuscles
• Detect vibration and sudden pressure
• These fire off immediately during a shock burst

Merkel Disks
• Detect deep pressure and object shapes
• Overload affects body awareness and posture regulation

Ruffini Endings
• Track skin stretch and limb position
• Critical for balance and motor control
• Disruption here throws off the dog’s whole 3D awareness system

Now imagine all of these firing at once. That’s not “clarity.”
That’s impulse chaos.

Impulse Chaos = Trauma

Your dog’s brain receives:
• Vibration (Pacinian)
• Deep stretch (Ruffini)
• Sudden pressure (Merkel)
• Neck-region nerve signals (vagus, accessory, cervical)
All pulsing into the spinal cord and brainstem simultaneously.

The result?

Fight. Flight. Or Freeze.

The dog doesn’t get more “focused”—they get more hypervigilant, disconnected, or frozen. What looks like obedience is often just shutdown.

And Then Comes the Anticipation

Dogs are associative. After the first shock, they start bracing for the next.

This is anticipatory anxiety, and it’s biologically worse than the first zap.

The body floods with cortisol before the button is even pushed. The vagus nerve preps for threat. The limbic system locks into survival mode.

You’re not training anymore.
You’re rewiring the dog to live in fear of their own leash, collar, and handler.

Bottom Line: This Is Not “Communication”

If a therapist zapped you in the neck—triggering your breathing, heartbeat, posture, skin sensors, and head control all at once—you’d sue them.
You’d call it trauma.
Because that’s what it is.

And no, trying it on your arm doesn’t count.
Your arm isn’t your throat.
You’re not a dog.
And you don’t live in a constant state of trying to read the world without language.

This Isn’t a Training Tool. It’s a Nervous System Disruptor.

Stop calling it “low level.”
Stop calling it “just like TENS.”
Stop calling it humane.

Because when you press that button, you’re not sending a message.
You don’t send your location, you don’t sell the dogs problem, you simply add another problem up top of the existing problem your dog has.
You’re setting off a biological fire alarm inside a being who cannot explain their fear.

Addendum (not so minor):
Let’s not forget the hair follicle, a fourth mechanoreceptor often overlooked in these discussions. In dogs, each follicle is connected to three hairs, and their skin—especially in the neck region—is densely furred and highly sensitive. These follicles detect even subtle vibrations. Critically, the first nerve relay for this haptic input doesn’t stop at the spinal cord; it travels to a specialized nucleus just above it. In carnivorous mammals like dogs, this nucleus is larger and more complex than in humans or primates, meaning the same “low-level” input can trigger a heightened full-body response. When you activate a shock collar, you’re not just touching skin—you’re sending a chaotic signal through a neurologically supercharged system evolved for hunting, not handling pain.

(Dr. Sophie Savel, personal communication, May 14, 2025) thank you🙏

10/05/2025

BEHAVIOURAL ASSESSMENT

I had the pleasure of assessing this gorgeous girl this morning 🥰

Beforehand....
✅ When it comes to behaviour I work via veterinary referral so I can get a full understanding of how a dogs' health is impacting their behaviour.

✅ I ask all my clients to fill out a questionnaire. It is long and comprehensive, but it allows me to gather as much information as possible and to leave no stone unturned.

✅ By receiving this information in advance, I can start my client off with some basic information to start helping them manage the problem behaviours. I then continue to build on this during their assessment.

✅ During assessment I observe the dogs' behaviour in different contexts, places and their ability to problem solve. This gives me a picture of their personality and how they view the world.

✅ Behavioural modification takes time, commitment and patience. It's not an easy journey. I can't wave a magic wand but I will be there to support my clients all the way!

⭐ Mabel was a delight and is a clever girl! We put some management in place, started some handling skills, discussed some alternative things to help her owner and Mabel mastered drop with socks!!

I'm really looking forward to seeing how she progresses 🥰

21/02/2025

SMALL BUSINESS SUNDAY!
Wow! What a day! A brilliant day of networking, learning and swapping tips! 😎

17/02/2025

HOW TO HELP YOUR DOG AROUND STRANGERS

➡️ This gorgeous girl often feels anxious around strangers. As a young person was involved, I was called in to assess her as a kids around dogs behaviour specialist.

❌ There's a big misconception that you should hold your hand out to a dog so they can sniff you.

☝️Imagine you were really scared and a complete stranger came up to you and stuck their hand by your face....I can't imagine you'd feel happy about it or inclined to move towards it! The same is true for dogs!

🐶 Dogs are masters of reading body language so can tell a lot about us very quickly. (This is why in training it's important to keep your body movement as neutral and as natural as possible - until you add in higher levels of distraction. In my case jumping up and down, dancing...you get the picture 🤣)

🐾 So I could start to assess her, I set up some sniffing activities in the form of 'freework'. As soon as she was out of the house, it was like a weight had been lifted.

✍️ I never ask a lot from dogs in my initial consultations as there are often other health issues at play that are limiting and affecting a dogs' ability to learn. (This is also why all my behaviour cases come via veterinary referral). If I had felt this was too much for her I would have changed my set up.

⭐ Freework enables dogs to move, sniff and problem solve naturally. This strengthens the neural pathways in their brain and releases calming endorphins such as dopamine into the bloodstream.

17/01/2025

Happy Friday!! It's been a busy week so it's always good to get out with my girl for a wander! 🥰🐾

17/12/2024

Some brilliant advice on how to keep your dog safe over the Christmas festivities! 🎁⛄🥳

Everybody wants Christmas to run as smoothly as possible and managing a busy household and your dog can at times be challenging.