Bharcs

02/05/2024

We are so excited to share that will be conducting the Lives of Streeties workshop this summer in Holland and Spain.

This 2 day workshop will be a rich and learning filled exploration into understanding street dogs, what we can we learn from them to help not just our pet dogs but also ourselves.

If you are in Holland or Spain on these dates and want to catch Sindhoor in person talking about learning to learn from dogs, drop us a DM and we will share the sign up link with you.

29/04/2024

We are so excited about this news! Dog Knows by BHARCS Director, , will soon be available in 3 languages - French, Dutch & Greek. And that too, in a brand new look! We can’t wait to share the incredible journey of learning to learn from dogs with a more global audience 🌎

Stay tuned for more updates! 🙌🏽

19/04/2024

The CANINE COMMUNICATION course is back and this time, at a price that you just cannot ignore!

This is a course for all dog people:

• Dog lovers
• Dog parents
• Dog trainers if they are looking to up skill with the latest scientific knowledge
• Dog enthusiasts who want to learn more about dog communication

Through this course, get access to:

• What are calming signals?
• Different types of calming signals & what they mean
• How to respond to your dog using calming signals?
• A brief guide to vocalisations in dogs

If you are looking for a starting point to understand your dogs and learn how to communicate with them, this is that starting point. Offer available for a limited period only. Log onto courses.bharcs.com and sign up now!

10/04/2024

Flash sale 🚨

Get flat 40% off on your purchase of the Canine Essential 101 when you use SPRINGTIME40. This is open to Indian and international students. So if you have been looking to learn more about the BHARCS way, sign up on courses.bharcs.com and get started.

Discount valid till 13 April 2024.

09/04/2024

We underestimate dogs. We expect them to know nothing useful and we often think that a "well behaved dog" is a result of a human who is able to teach a dog how to be a "good dog". But we rarely take a step back to see what our dogs are capable of on their own. We don't even recognize they have cognitive abilities, let alone knowing how to see it or appreciate it. And the truth is, as long as we insist our dogs are incapable, that is the reality we construct for them.

But dogs are masters at navigating social relationships. They have to be, in order to survive. They are highly social animals who not only "play" with each other but also skilfully navigate difficult social situations like disagreements. A streetie that does not know it is a dog who can get hurt and even die. A smart streetie is one who manages to avoid any bodily damage from disagreements.

If you want to learn more about these ideas and know how they make sense for pet dogs, sign up for the Canine Essential 101 at courses.bharcs.com and learn more about the BHARCS way!

01/04/2024

Animal cognition is a growing field of study but it too is riddled with bias. , BHARCS Director, offers a perspective on this here.

At BHARCS, we are fascinated by how dogs make sense of the world, engage in extremely complex cognitive processes and communicate not just with us but also other species. Our foundation course, Canine Essential 101, amazing conversations and discussions around these themes. Students can explore these in more depth through the BHARCS Auditorium , which includes two live sessions every month with Sindhoor and other BHARCS students.

If you are interested in learning to learn from dogs and know more about the BHARCS way, sign up for Canine Essential 101 at courses.bharcs.com!

28/03/2024

You asked, we heard! Part two of our conversation on convolution between humans and dogs. To assume that our lives are not intricately woven with the lives of dogs and vice vera would be a huge mistake. It would stop us from learning so much about them and ourselves.

At BHARCS, this understanding is instrumental to how we learn about dogs and ourselves. That’s why our motto is- learning to learn from dogs. If this sounds like something you’d like to know more about, sign up for the Canine Essential 101 on courses.bharcs.com.

Today is the LAST day to get a 40% off on the course. Use NISHILOVE and get the CE 101 for a discounted price. Hurry and sign up!

27/03/2024

Dogs and humans have coevolved. But what does that actually mean? How has that shaped how dogs engage with us? How we engage with them? What does this coevolution teach us about our pet dogs?

At BHARCS, we discuss possible answers to these questions and more to understand not just dog behaviour better and in deeper ways but also to understand what are relationship with them could be like.

If you are fascinated by this and want to know more about the BHARCS way, sign up for Canine Essential 101 and get started on this journey of learning to learn from dogs. We are currently running a discount that gives you 40% off on the CE 101 till 28 March 2024. Use NISHILOVE at check out.

Sign up at courses.bharcs.com and get started!

25/03/2024

As Nishi’s heavenly birthday month comes to a close, we are bringing back NISHILOVE that gives you 40% off on the Canine Essential 101.

We have limited spots over the next two days so if you have been thinking of signing up for the BHARCS way, log onto courses.bharcs.com and start right away!

Offer valid till 28 March 2024

23/03/2024

Science isn’t free of bias. Studies done on dogs prove this. But we also see similar biases in studies on other animals and even studies on humans. But with the reflexive turn in anthropology and related fields like critical animals studies and anthropology, fresh lenses are being used to observe humans and other non-human animals and a different story is emerging.

At BHARCS, we encourage this reflexivity and critical thinking in our students when engaging with scientific papers and content. We encourage our students to strike a balance between what the science, their lived experience and most importantly, what the dog tells us. This is a critical part of the BHARCS way.

To know more about the BHARCS way, sign up for our foundation course, the Canine Essential 101 at courses.bharcs.com. Write to [email protected] to know of the current discounts that we are running!

And of course, if you’d like to more about these aspects of animal behaviour, drop your suggestions in the comments below and let us know 👇

20/03/2024

Dominance or patriarchy?

https://courses.bharcs.com

15/03/2024

At BHARCS, we believe in setting boundaries with our dogs, gently and respectfully. Sowjanya from , our first BHARCS graduate, tells us what we should consider while doing this:

“When you focus on gentle parenting and building a relationship with the dogs, the dogs tend to respect the no and listen to the no at most times. They respect the boundary we set.

But how does that happen? There are a few layers to this:

🐾 Understanding the needs, respecting the needs and providing for the needs of our dogs is the first step and the most critical step. Say “yes” to your dog’s needs. Gentle Boundaries will fail if we don’t say “yes” here!

🐾 Offer choices and say “yes” to the choices. Let’s say, for example, you want to say no to your dog when they want to climb up on the couch. That’s a boundary. But have you offered alternatives (yes, it’s a plural) that your dog can choose from before you say no to them coming up on the couch? As you meet the need, also offer choices where you can actually say yes to your dog. They’re very likely to listen to your no then.

🐾 Do you remember when your parents would probably say no to everything you’d ask them as a child? I’m sure we all had some instances of this. It creates resentment. It also made us not want to listen or respect their no. We don’t often want to be in a space where whatever we want to do, like to do is met with a no. When we are told yes more frequently, it also become easier to listen to the no. If you constantly say no to your dog for every action, every need, then they’re either going to resign to the fate (a very heartbreaking space to be in) or not listen to your no. It’s a great idea to say yes to our dogs more often!”

—

If this resonates with you and you’d like to learn more about living the BHARCS way with your dogs, sign up the Canine Essential 101 on courses.bharcs.com. Write to [email protected] for existing discounts that you can avail on the course!

11/03/2024

“We met an unknown icelandic horse today without a human. I used splitting to calm Silvos and the horse running towards us and the result was quite impressive. The horse stopped and watched us and when the horse wanted to approach carefully and sniff on Silvos, who got a little bit nervous, I used the hand signal as well. We walked away in a curve. Thank you for those amazing tools 🙏🏼”

Karoline & Silvos 🤎

—-

At BHARCS, we really believe that dogs are a window into the animal kingdom. Once we learn how to communicate with them, we find ourselves communicating with pretty much any animal. Our students have these non verbal gestures on cows, donkeys, pigs, monkeys, horses! And each time, have come astounded on how they are so effective and helpful.

If you’d like to know more about the BHARCS way and learn to communicate with and listen to dogs, sign up for the Canine Essential 101 at courses.bharcs.com. Write to [email protected] to know of current discounts!

05/03/2024

For the dog who started it all, happy heavenly birthday, darling Nishi. Thank you for being such a wonderful teacher and inspiring so many, many of us.

In honour of this special birthday, we are offering a discount on our foundation course, the Canine Essential 101. This discount can be used by both Indian and international students and is available on a first come first serve basis.

Log onto courses.bharcs.com and get 40% off on the Canine Essential 101. Don’t forget to use the coupon code at checkout.

02/03/2024

The dog human entanglement is a special one. Dogs can figure things out, but they will often defer to human judgement when presented with a novel or challenging situation. Why is this important?

1. It is very easy to get dogs to bypass their own cognitive skills and get them to do what we want them to do. This puts a huge responsibility on our shoulders. We could get them to do things that are not always ideal for their emotional wellbeing. It is easy to get them to push themselves into situations that can be overwhelming and we are left with a dog that starts to struggle with emotional regulation.

2. Dogs use value our input when they are assessing a novel situation and it is important for us to know when to provide it. They look to us for "emotional information". We need to know when and how to provide it, but in a way that is not overbearing.

Sounds a lot like parenting, does it not? This is why we often use the parenting models in our language at BHARCS. Partnerships too need this fine balance. We need to know how and when to show up for our loved ones, but also keep our preferences to ourselves and let our loved ones work through situations at their own pace. It is a delicate balancing act.

This is why, at BHARCS, we do not have a "technique" or a "method". No workbooks or formulas. This is very specific to the individuals and their relationship. That is why we say that ours is more of a "way of life", a philosophy. We cannot "operationalize" The BHARCS Way. We live it and discover more of it gradually - not just with our dogs, but with everyone we interact with.

If you are living it or want to get started, then sign up for Canine Essential 101. https://courses.bharcs.com/. We are looking to connect with like-minded individuals.

28/02/2024

Terms like "dog eat dog world" often bias our understanding of animals by subtle infusion of images and ideas into our minds. So it is not uncommon for people to discount several complex aspects of animal lives. Dogs, for instance, are hyper-social animals and a lot of their effort goes into maintaining their social structures. Our observations of free living dogs show us that a large part of the time they are awake is spent in maintaining and managing their social lives. Cooperation is a big part of this. While we do see some competition, cooperation is the main theme. But this aspect of their lives is nuanced and rather subtle. So it is not easy to spot, unlike raucous fights or mating. Consequently this aspect of their lives is left out of most studies and media reporting.

At BHARCS, we focus more on their cooperative behaviours. This is important for us, because most of us with companion dogs want our dogs to "play nice" with other dogs. In other words, we want to see them cooperate more and compete less. But how do we do that? To answer that, we first need to ask ourselves, "how do dogs do that"? What inbuilt mechanisms are there in dog-societies that help them cooperate? And that answer comes to us from observing free living dogs. Hence our obsession with free living dogs.

If you are someone who is drawn to this approach and are curious about the BHARCS way, sign up for Canine Essential 101 at https://courses.bharcs.com. We are always looking to invite like-minded people into our school, so we can collectively grow our understanding of dogs.

25/02/2024

Okay, this is so cute! But that apart, it also is a reminder that dogs have far more cognitive abilities than we recognize. While studies like this are necessary to draw our attention to this, we must also remember that "measuring" cognitive abilities on human terms is limiting. It is a bit like trying to measure the competence of a bird, by how well it swims. Some may be able to dive into water or float on it, but if we have to really appreciate the skills of a bird, we need to look at how they fly. So what is the equivalent of this in dogs? Would it be their ability to navigate their complex social structure, their ability for olfactory discrimination, their ability to read humans, or is there more that we are rather clueless about?

At BHARCS we believe that we cannot really answer such questions unless we observe dogs, particularly free living dogs and understand their subjective realities. Hence our motto is "learning to learn from dogs". So for us, it has never been about how to modify or change them or get them to behave a certain way. It is to be curious about them, support them to be the best versions of themselves and when required show up for them as secure bases, so we can create an environment in which they can shine.

If you would like to explore the BHARCS Way, sign up for Canine Essential 101 at https://courses.bharcs.com/

19/02/2024

Have you ever wondered:

Do dogs have a universal language that we can learn to understand?

Do you feel like you want to better interpret your dog’s communication?

Could your relationship with your dog improve if your communication got better?

If the answer to all of these is yes, then sign up for our Canine Communication course!

The course can be taken by anyone - dog lovers, dog parents, dog trainers dog enthusiasts. This is an easy to learn format that you can work through at your own pace.

Get access to:

Short video lectures

Real life footage of dogs using signals for communication

Short quizzes to help and recap ideas

If you are looking for a short introduction to the BHARCS way, log onto courses.bharcs.com to sign up.

Write to [email protected] or drop us a DM to access exciting discounts for this course.

PS if you have already signed up for CE 101, you can skip this one.

12/02/2024

Meet Eva Pirnat who runs Noiacanis . She's one of our graduates. She embodies the BHARCS way and is a natural. It's a treat to watch her handle dogs. Follow her page. She works out of Slovenia.

Mogoče bo marsikomu zanimivo slišati, da sem si vedno želela delati s psi, ampak sem mislila, da to nikoli ne bo mogoče. Da nimam tistega, kar je treba, da lahko delaš kot inštruktor. Ker kamorkoli sem pogledala, sem videla samo neko ukazovanje, učenje poslušnosti, trikcev… S tem, da mora nekdo (kdorkoli) narediti nekaj zato, ker je “nekdo” tako ukazal, sem imela že od nekdaj velike moralne zadržke. Zato sem sprejela dejstvo, da s psi nikoli ne bom delala. Jih bom le občudovala in za tiste “moje” poskrbela, da bodo imeli najlepše možno življenje. Potem pa sem po spletu naključji naletela na podkast, kjer je bila gostja Sindhoor Pangal Zaradi česar sem se najprej vpisala na njen Canine Essentials 101 (toplo priporočam vsem skrbnikom psov), nato pa še na BACBED diplomo za certificirano svetovalko za vedenje psov. Z Bharcs se mi je odprl cel svet, ki sem ga iskala dober del svojega življenja. Razumevanje psov kot posameznikov in vrste na splošno, iskanje vzrokov za neko vedenje, učenje od psov in pa hkati tudi prijaznost do in razumevanje samega sebe, so le ene izmed stvari, ki mi jih je prinesel BHARCS. In ki si jih želim deliti s svojimi strankami. Upam, da se zavedate, da ste tako vi, kot vaši pes, najboljša točno taka kot sta. 🤍
•
It may be interesting to hear that I always wanted to work with dogs, but I thought it would never be possible. That I didn't have what it takes to work as a consultant. Because everywhere I looked, all I saw was someone giving orders, teaching obedience, tricks... I've always had a big moral reservation about someone (anyone) having to do something because someone else told them to do it. So I accepted the fact that I would never work with dogs. I will only admire them and make sure that "my" dogs have the best life possible. Then, by chance, I came across a podcast where Sindhoor Pangal was the guest. Which led me to first enrol in her Canine Essentials 101 (highly recommended for all dog guardians), and then to the BACBED Diploma for Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant. With BHARCS, a whole world opened up to me that I had been searching for a good part of my life. Understanding dogs as individuals and as a species in general, finding the causes of certain behaviours, learning from dogs and also being kind to and understanding myself are just some of the things that BHARCS has brought me and that I want to share with my clients. I hope you realise that both you and your dog are the best exactly as you are. 🤍

12/02/2024

Meet Sowjanya Vijayanagar who runs Dog Pawmise . She's one of our graduates. She effortlessly combines empathy with her analytical skills. It's a treat to listen to her speak. Do attend one of her live sessions and you'll know what we mean.

I got my first dog in 2011 and until 2018, most of my dog interactions were limited to my dogs, Sammy and Zoey. But something about the BHARCS way and Sindhoor 's ideas drew me to take up the professional diploma. In April 2019, I enrolled in BACBED by Bharcs thinking I'll learn about dogs and dog behaviour. Little did I know that I'll learn about dogs but also so much more that would change my life.

BACBED taught me about dogs, about street dogs and their lives, about building connection with our dogs which then put me on the path of Gentle Parenting. The journey has helped me attend to my emotional wellbeing and also build deep meaningful connections with my dogs, those around me and with myself too! I learnt to be critical of what we hear or read (about dogs and everything else too), I learnt to dig deeper and research about topics to find credible knowledge and information. I learnt to keep learning from dogs, be humble and believe dogs to know what's good for them instead of believing "I'm the expert". I learnt to open our eyes to our dogs and learn from their individual lived experiences. I learnt to not feel defeated when I fall down but to keep learning from these falls and keep being a better version of myself - individually and as a professional! I learnt what no other place was teaching - look beyond your dog's behaviours and their labels!

18 months of BACBED and 3+ years of working as a Canine Behaviour Consultant and I don't think I can recognize the person I was before BACBED came into my life! It has given me education on dogs but also helped me be the person I am today. It has not been an easy journey and it has come with my fair share of doubts about my own ability and contribution!

But yesterday, when I stood in front of a room full of dog lovers (kids and adults) and saw the "aha" moments on their faces and having learnt (and unlearnt) a lot through the session, it reinforced the fact that as a BACBED graduate, I've been given the opportunity to impact the lives of dogs and their humans in such amazing ways and that's a privilege!

The badge of BHARCS Graduate is one I wear with pride ❤️🐶🐾

10/02/2024

Meet Surabhi Venkatesh of Luchi & Mutton's Dog Behaviour & Nutrition . She's one of our graduates. She oozes compassion and will be a valuable addition to the team of professionals you'll need for your dogs. Contact her for a BHARCS-style consultation.

Four years ago, when we became a multi dog household, I was looking for help to figure out how to support this new transition and help both my dogs adjust, but also help Mutton very specifically. I happened to come across the page on Instagram and browsed through some of their stuff and felt like I was “home” - finally, I was seeing content that resonated with me - seeing dogs as sentient beings who deserved loving, respectful relationships from us. And so I signed up for their foundation course, the Canine Essential 101 and was mind blown! Everything made so much sense. At the end of the course, I knew I wanted to do the advanced diploma. And so a few months later, I signed up the BACBED. And man oh man, did my life change!

BACBED is intense. It’s not a course to just become a dog behaviour professional - it’s a course that pushes you to be your most authentic & aware self. It took me 2.5 years (or something like that) to finish the course because like the BHARCS way, this journey requires patience, nuance and lots of reflection. It is the single most challenging, inspiring, stretch, overwhelming thing I have done and I’m sure the other 3 graduates will attest to this too.

I’m extremely proud to wear the BHARCS graduate badge because it has come with a lot of effort, patience (and some tears along the way). And it’s an ongoing journey to continue to earn this keep - adherence to a code of conduct, focus on continued professional and more. And what a fulfilling journey it is. Grateful to be doing what I love and doing it with the support of 🩶

05/02/2024

Limited offer on 40% off discount coupons for our courses. But wait...if you have already done one of our courses and would like to gift the course to friends and family, email our office for a 50% OFF. But wait wait...if you are from India or are gifting the course to someone in India, then we have 55% OFF! It is after all, the season of love. So we just have to show our love...

03/02/2024

We hear a lot about how to get dogs to cooperate us. But a topic that is almost entirely neglected is how do we cooperate with our dogs. What are areas where dogs need our cooperation, how do they tell us this and how do we meet their need? It is not really cooperation, unless both sides put in the effort. Just getting the dog to do what we want is not cooperation, it is compliance. Using positive methods to elicit this does not make it cooperation, it is just "politely asking for compliance". While there may be times we need to insist on compliance, it is important to recognise it for what it is and ponder about what true cooperation looks like.

How do we model the cooperative behaviours for our dogs and younger members of our own species who may be learning by observing us. What are the benefits of true cooperation? How does agency factor into this conversation? And what does one DO practically to build this culture into the relationship with dogs?

These are the types of questions that we ponder over at BHARCS. Our foundational workshop Canine Essential 101 gives people the tools to know when and how to offer cooperative support to dogs and we dig further into the topic in our Auditorium. If you are someone who recognises the importance of "giving" in our relationship with animals, then we welcome you to attend Canine Essential 101. Sign up today to open up to a whole new way of thinking about dogs and our relationship with them.

https://courses.bharcs.com/

02/02/2024

“Thanks to Sindhoor’s book and the suggested reading in it, I was aware of what the the BHARCS way broadly included. For me, the CE 101 has been about the mindset I have started to develop in working through the course. The need to hone my observation and analytical skills around my dog and learning that everything she does (or doesn’t do) has the potential to be telling me something about her and what she needs. The course is teaching me to truly listen to her and what she is trying to tell me. I feel like this will be a lifelong journey but one I am very glad to have started.”

Caroline Capon, currently enrolled in the Canine Essential 101 💖



—

If you want to know more about the BHARCS way and how you can live it with your dog, sign up for the Canine Essential 101. Log onto courses.bharcs.com to start your journey of learning to learn from dogs. We have some exciting discounts available for student both in and out of India - email us at [email protected] to know more!

31/01/2024

Anyone in Netherlands? We are gearing up for a workshop and as a lead up to that we are doing a free webinar. Do join if you want to understand how an understanding of free living dogs can help in our care of companion dogs.

26/01/2024

This Republic Day, start your journey with BHARCS! Inviting rescuers, both from India and outside, to participate in this giveaway. It’s super simple and here’s how to do it:

1. Reshare the post on your rescue handle and tag us
2. Tag on your favourite rescue story
3. We will pick the giveaway winners to give the discounts to - 70% off for Indian rescuers and 50% off for international rescuers on the Canine Essential 101.

Giveaway valid till 28 January 2024.

If you have a favourite rescuer who you think will enjoy the course, share this with them too!