Adaptive Behaviour

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Adaptive Behaviour

Helping dogs and humans learn, adapt and thrive with science and kindness. I will adapt and modify to ensure you can achieve your goals.

I provide knowledgable, kind and committed behavioural and training help, especially for:
- New puppies and rescue dogs
- Life skills/manners training
- Socialisation
- Reactivity

Join a small-group class or sign up for a private program tailored for maximum success. To find out more, book a free 30minute discovery call at https://adaptivebehaviour.co.nz/discovery

Why work with me? I possess un

iversity education in both zoology and psychology and have a PhD specialising in learning and behaviour. I have skills and experience gained from 10+ years of working with animals and dogs in a variety of settings. I have experience and specialist training in communication and teaching humans as well as dogs. I can break down complex ideas in ways that are simple to understand, and will do my best to ensure you are heard, and understood. My programs are flexible and designed to suit your and your dog's needs and lifestyle. My support is not limited to our face-to-face sessions; I provide learning guides and am available for help every step of the way so you can move through the training process with trust and confidence - I've got you (and your dog)!

08/01/2026

Rehabbing reactivity: grey muzzle edition!

Lenny is 11.5 and has been struggling with big feelings about other dogs since he was first adopted many years ago. I'm very glad his mum wanted to work together to help him learn to manage better out on walks, his golden years are more enjoyable and easier for both of them.

After several years of avoiding dogs, and with only a few months of private sessions and classes, Lenny was able to meet Forte with a lovely relaxed old-man parallel walk with plenty of exploration, sequential and simultaneous sharing of sniff spots and even a little play invitation at the end 😍.

Age is a factor but not a barrier when it comes to training dogs; even if a dog has been exhibiting certain patterns of behaviour for a long time, there is still potential for change with patience and persistence! It's never too late to start making life better for our canine companions.

This is still just the beginning for them, but I'm so proud of Lenny and his mum for all their hard work and the progress we've made! Onward and upward 🥳

31/12/2025

Happy holidays everyone!

After a bumpy December, we've been busy here with lots of prescribed rest and relaxation and getting geared up for the new year. I really appreciate everyone who has been so patient and understanding with all the unexpected disruption while I've been recovering (I'm feeling much better now 😊).

I'm also very grateful for all the wonderful families I've been lucky to work with this year - thank you for trusting me and supporting my small business (and little family - foster puppies included!). It is a massive privilege to be able to be a part of you and your dog's journey together and see and celebrate so many positive changes.

I am excited to be getting back to work in 2026 - have a great New Year's and I'll see you all from Jan 5th! 🥳🤗

11/12/2025

Here's a delayed late night quickie chinrest session with Miki - we've got a bit of duration and so here I'm adding a bit of hand movement/handling while her chin is in my hand. This is the beginning of being able to do more invasive procedures with clearer communication and consent.

This part of the process is why it can be cleaner to shape duration gradually, and release and feed out of position than to build duration by feeding in position (while chin is in hand).
This can either distract the dog with the food so they are less aware of what is going on (though this is sometimes what helpful) and/or create an association that hand movements = food delivery which can disrupt the chinrest behaviour when we are trying to do other things.

You can see Miki is a little confused about what my hand is doing and I'm sometimes a little slow to stop and reset when she lifts her head, so it's not perfect! However, a few successful repetitions, even if a little messy, is still good practice.

We'll see how much she remembers when she comes back!

09/12/2025

Thank you everyone, for your well wishes - especially to all my clients who’ve been so understanding about this unexpected disruption to our training 🤗.

Recovery is going okay! I may have overdone it a bit yesterday because I was feeling better… and I’m definitely paying for it today 😅😩.

I keep thinking about how much this process feels like behaviour modification. Not surprising, since behaviour comes from the body (and the brain is part of the body), and training is changing how our body responds to the world around us.

Like training, recovery can be slow and frustrating, especially when there are expectations or responsibilities looming in the background. When progress isn’t linear (hello, one step forward, two steps back 👋), it’s easy to feel impatient, discouraged, and stuck.

I’ve realized this process is mostly about figuring out our limits, working within them, and remembering our bodies can only heal/change as fast as they can (not necessarily as fast as we want them to). Rushing the process often doesn’t help and can actually be counterproductive (just like if I hurried back to work I’d probably end up right back in the hospital 🏥🙃).

It’s the same with training. There’s no shortcut to get from point A to point B - just time, support in helping their brain and body heal from past trauma and build stronger behavioural “muscles.” 💪 to better cope with life's stressors. We have to go at the pace bodies (brains) can handle - though this can be trickier to figure out with a completely different species, by being gentle and careful with our approach, and receptive to our dogs’ communication, we can create change without causing harm.

So if you’re on a journey of behavioural recovery with your dog or physical recovery (like me!) — take your time, go easy, and know I’m right there with you (currently lying on the couch with Forte and Gizmo in solidarity) 💗✊.

(If you’re wondering where Miki is, she’s staying with another foster [thank you Megan!] because her manic pixie energy would be beyond my limits right now 😅).

03/12/2025

Had some surprise appendicitis (yay 😅🫠) so am currently in hospital recovering from surgery, feeling much better than I did a day ago!

Unfortunately this means I am going to be out of action for at least the next week or two (waiting to discuss with doctors). I'll be contacting clients with appointments/classes booked in during this time to reschedule.

Apologies for any inconvenience - thank you for your understanding 🤗.

28/11/2025

Feeling wet sand between your toes and a cool breeze blowing through your hair is great enrichment! AND empty stretches of beach can be great opportunities to test out your training and give your puppy more freedom.

This is Miki's first time off-leash at the beach. All that freedom and speed went to her head a little (and curbing the bird chasing is going to be a work in progress) but overall she listened pretty well!

Having trustworthy recall or equivalent behaviours (like a touch or middle), a longline for management, a variety of valuable reinforcers on hand, as well as clear and well-practiced release cues can help make these outings more successful and slightly less stressful 😅😎😁.

26/11/2025

Some doodly double dog chinrest training, because who doesn't enjoy a bit of chaos while teaching a puppy a new trick 🤪

Things to note:
1. This is Miki's second mini chinrest session - does she know what she's doing? Not really! We are working on solid placement of chin in palm and a teeny tiny bit of stillness... 🤞
2. Forte has a solid chinrest but he won't put his chin in my palm since he even though he insists on participating, it is with only a minimal amount of exertion (sighthounds 🙄😅🤣). I'm happy to compromise and meet him in the middle, but If he were more sensitive about handling, I wouldn't be moving to hold his chin (because of greater risk of overwhelming/startling him).

How's your dog's chinrest looking? Do some practice today!

24/11/2025

We had a fun life skills walk on the weekend with two superstar puppies, Atlas and Fifi 🥰 They've been working on their manners over the course of their memberships and really showed off what they've learned in this busy downtown environment!

I'm so proud of Fifi for keeping her cool around all the people and bikes (which can be a little scary) and Atlas for being such a great support buddy.

Walks with friends are a great way to (low-key) meet our dog's social needs and practice some skills! I love being able to set these opportunities up for my clients 💕 (especially when they're such cute pups! 😁).

16/11/2025

Don't mind us, just loose leash walking a 6 mth old puppy in a brand new, extra-sniffy walk spot! 😎😁

Not an easy feat and full credit to Fifi's humans for all the hard work they've put in building the relationship and communication that makes this possible.

Fifi is playing a pattern game to provide a bit of structure and predictability that makes moving without getting too excited or distracted a lot easier. Also, by waiting for Fifi to offer attention before going anywhere, we can be confident she is calm, done processing what's going on around her, and ready to move together to somewhere new.

I love watching dogs and their humans enjoy moving through the world as a team without needing tight leashes or constant nagging - often a good dose of patience, effective support when our dogs start to struggle, a strong spirit of (mutual) cooperation (and some handy tricks) can make all the difference! 🤗

13/11/2025

We have another (temporary) new addition! Miki has been with us for a few weeks and is settling in great (her cheeky side is coming out now 😅). Keep an eye out for more pics and training videos! If you are looking for a sweet, lovable, slightly odd duck 😁 to add to your family, check her out at

30/10/2025

Email issues fixed! 🥳 Please feel free to resume regular communication.

After this experience, I am really appreciating clear and informative feedback, and had some dog training-related thoughts about this...

(TLDR: no reward/error signals are annoying and unhelpful if they aren't backed up with support to get to the right behaviour)

Trying to log into my account (multiple times - classic frustration response 😅), all I received was a generic error message:
"𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴. 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻". There was no information about what went wrong and no way to contact support to find out what could be done, which meant I had no control over the outcome. This was not stressful but also incredibly rage-inducing - I really wanted/needed to get into my account, but couldn’t and had no idea why or how to fix this problem.

Now contrast this with my broken dishwasher last night (yes, technology is not my friend right now) - it stopped working, showing a specific error code. With a little investigation I determined that this meant it wasn't draining, and how to fix it - the problem was solved much more efficiently, with less stress, and I felt confident and capable afterwards. I also now have extra knowledge that may come in handy in the future. Overall, a much more productive and less unpleasant experience (even though both issues were resolved in the end)

All of this this reminded me of the corrective No’s or No-Reward Markers (NRM) that people often use in training. One perspective for using these is to communicate when our dogs have made a "mistake" ❌, i.e. expectations (or reinforcement criteria) have not been met and womp womp , no reinforcement is coming👎.

However, how effective is this in teaching our dogs to do what we want them to? Yes, NRM's can inform that that behaviour failed to earn reinforcement, but this in turn creates frustration, stress and now future uncertainty about how and when to get the next reinforcer.

I think a better approach is to:
not just use a generic "wrong, try again" cue, then leave your learner to figure it out with trial and error,
BUT
𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦

𝘈𝘕𝘋/𝘖𝘙

𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳
𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵.

Can you relate? Do you use NRMs? What do you think?

29/10/2025

My tech woes continue - Google has kindly decided to lock me out of one of my work accounts for the foreseeable future so please email [email protected] or text (for current clients), or message on Facebook if you need to get in touch.

Apologies for any inconvenience! Am doing my best to get this resolved ASAP.

Address

Website

https://bio.site/adaptivebehaviour, http://iaabc.org/, http://apdtnz.org.nz/, http://www.companionanimals.nz/

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