28/11/2025
THE CHOICE TO CHOOSE: WHY DOGS NEED AGENCY 🫶🐾🫶
What if you led a life being micromanaged at home, in work, everywhere?
Where every decision including what you eat, where you rest, even whether you’re allowed to pause and breathe is controlled by someone else. What you do at work, what you do for fun etc etc etc. It would be a very sad life indeed 😔
It would feel suffocating, stripping away confidence, balance, and happiness. For many dogs, this is their daily reality 😔 it sucks.
Dogs thrive when they’re given safe opportunities to make choices. Even small freedoms such as choosing a toy, selecting a resting spot, deciding whether to engage or retreat. These all build resilience, reduce stress, and nurture emotional wellbeing and improve your human and dog relationship ❤️
Botanical choice deepens this empowerment. When dogs are offered safe herbs and plants to self‑select, they often choose what their bodies and minds need most. This natural agency supports digestion, eases anxiety, aids recovery, and fosters emotional balance. It’s a gentle way of letting them participate in their own care.
Allowing choice/agency doesn’t mean removing boundaries. Safety, environment, and the needs of others matter too. But within those parameters, choice is transformative:
🐾 More confidence
🐾 Greater resilience
🐾 Reduced anxiety and stress
🐾 Fewer behaviour problems
🐾 A stronger bond of trust with their guardian
Start small. Offer choices that are safe, simple, and meaningful. Whether it’s a toy, a resting place, or a selection of botanicals. In doing so, you’ll enrich your dog’s life and nurture a relationship built on respect, trust, and contentment.
Try these five everyday options:
1. Walks with freedom - let them pause, sniff, and explore at their own pace.
2. Resting spots - provide a few safe places (bed, mat, sofa) and let them choose.
3. Play preferences - offer different toys or activities and notice what they gravitate toward.
4. Social agency - allow them to decide whether to greet, engage, or retreat.
5. Botanical self‑selection - present safe herbs or plants for them to explore and choose; this supports digestion, eases stress, and nurtures emotional balance.
These simple and safe choices add up to big wellbeing gains. Dogs with agency are more confident, resilient, and happy companions as are us ❣️
It is important to remember not every dog wants to meet every other dog or person - don't force them. If you are able to - let your dog lead the direction of their walk - I do with my boys Shilo and Monty.
Please contact me for a botanical consultation - or to purchase gift vouchers.
Botanical consultations are offered via zoom or in-person in and around Cardiff.
