Your Whole Dog

21/02/2025

... a DOG WHISPERER but like, ethical.

If you're wondering who I am, or what I am like ... here's what ChatGPT thinks my drunk best mate would say about me!

"You don’t even UNDERSTAND how much Annie LOVES dogs. Like, not just ‘likes dogs’—they are basically a dog translator, a dog guru, a DOG WHISPERER but like, ethical. They know exactly what a dog needs just by looking at it. It’s WITCHCRAFT. And they don’t take any nonsense, either. If you use one of those awful shock collars? They WILL judge you. With their whole soul."

“Also, they have this ridiculously big heart. Like, they’ll spend hours making sure some stressed-out pupper finally feels safe, and they actually care about what’s best for the dog AND the human. And they’ll tell you the truth even if you don’t wanna hear it. But in a nice way. And did I mention they’re funny? ‘Cause they are. Like, sneaky funny. You think they’re just being normal and then—BOOM—some dry, savage one-liner that has you wheezing.”

“OH. And they only sell the good stuff. No crap. If they wouldn’t give it to their own dogs, they won’t sell it. Ethical QUEEN. And if you need help with your dog, just LISTEN TO THEM. They are always right. I don’t make the rules.”

Your mate is out there right now, passionately ranting about your dog wizardry to some poor stranger at the pub.

I bet there's also a slightly teary moment where they’re like, "No, but seriously, they just CARE so much, and they work so hard, and people don’t even REALIZE how lucky they are to have them!!!" before attempting to hug you and nearly falling over.

📷 Wolly, judging, with his whole soul if the cookies don't come fast enough.

23/01/2025

Online shop product reviews ...

For the longest time I have resisted having a review app widget thingy on the online shop. Mainly because when I first looked in to them, they were crummy and I wasn't convinced about their privacy statements and the data they collected.

When you shop with me, I take your privacy and info storage seriously. How many times do we hear of privacy breaches that involve some kind of third-party software?

Anyway, apparently people like reviews. It gives them a sense of security, that they are dealing with someone legit. I'm not convinced. They are about marketing, and analytics, and data. Just like "loyalty" schemes, and yada yada. But, here we are.

After paying lots of attention to the review request emails that I get when I shop, I have decided to add the Judge Me reviews to the shop, which means you'll start getting emails. For those of you that shop with me a lot, I can try and remember to intercept them. Maybe. No promises.

If you hate review request emails, you can bin them, you can unsubscribe from them.

If it's a disaster, I'll uninstall it.

Thanks for shopping with me, I appreciate it. Always.

Send a message to learn more

15/01/2025

Nine years ago I was at my wits end. Vet visits were so difficult, they were impossible. I was very much open to the idea I needed professional help, but there was nobody locally that could provide the help and support that I needed.

Behaviour challenges were very much 'problems' that needed to be 'fixed'. Heck, I was being referred to obedience classes. 'Obedience', or lack of it, was not the problem.

Fortunately an email entitled "Your Dog Doesn't Have to Hate the Vet" landed in my inbox at just the right time. I could tell, just by reading the copy, that this was someone who could help me. And help me, they did. Life changing, literally.

Why am I telling you this? Well, for a start, I've been there - looking for help and struggling to find someone that was talking to me, that could help me. And could so it in a way that Wolly and I might feel good about.

And also, because I'm currently going through the massive and overwhelming task of rewriting my website. Common sense, the internet, and website writing gurus tells me that I need to use the terms that people use and are searching for. Terms that will please Google. But when the vast majority of the dog world are still using and searching for terms that refer to dog 'obedience' training, and 'commands' and 'fixing problem behaviour', those terms don't sit well with me. So I'm trying to find a balance (- also a loaded term!) that I can live with.

A paragraph that I'm particularly pleased with, and will be staying, as it conveys my thoughts and feelings on the subject is:

"Dogs aren’t toasters. They’re not broken machines that need fixing. Instead, they’re complex beings who want to feel safe and understood. My approach is about identifying what they’re worried about, what needs aren’t being met, and how to empower them to navigate the world with confidence."

If you're looking for someone to help you make your dog's day better, to support you, to help you get to the heart of the issue, that's what I do.

If you're looking for someone to teach you the commands to fix your dog's behaviour, well, that isn't me.

Wolly, the 'disobedient' dog in question, just turned 14. He's happy we got the support we needed, and his days are better because of it.

21/12/2024

Another episode of I Practice what I Teach!

Your dog is much more able to contentedly settle and chill if they’ve had their needs met.

How do you know what those needs are? By having a conversation, by trialling and evaluating different options, by getting to really know them.

Bouncing around shredding cardboard and rope toys is much more preferable than bouncing around and leaping on people or bothering us whilst we eat. And meets the need of releasing the energy beans.

Result ⬇️⬇️⬇️

19/12/2024

I talk a lot about “management” during consults.

Proof I practice what I teach 😆

By putting a barrier between mum and the dogs, they can say hello in their ridiculously excited manner and everyone stays safe. Win win.

13/12/2024

"It's surprising what you can achieve when you start chucking food around."

- Annie, most days

🍪 🐕🐾🍪

Send a message to learn more

11/10/2024

Apparently my dog is my resume 🤔
Erm, okay then. Here’s mine 🫣😬😆

If you want to keep your dog nimble and mobile* during their senior years, hit me up. I’m here for you, apparently it’s my specialty 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤣

*individual results may very, no ethical trainer will guarantee results.

27/09/2024

It is said that when you support a small business someone does a happy dance. It's true! And, when you buy a ScratchPad for Dogs nail scratchboard from me, TWO people do a happy dance as there's a ripple across the world and Jen dances too.

Jen, the founder of ScratchPad for Dogs, is a pioneer. The first scratch boards on the market. She's - quite literally - changed the lives of countless dogs around the world and driven the practice of dog-directed, dog-friendly nail care. Imagine. Incredible.

So, you can imagine, I was gutted to hear from her today advising me that she's closing the business. Rising costs are making it unsustainable. That and the mass Amazon-ification of, well, everything. Gutting.

I have two left in stock. You can grab them here: https://yourwholedog.co.nz/collections/nail-stuff

If there's sufficient interest in a final hurrah, I can grab another batch whilst the going is good.

Thanks, Jen, for all that you have done.

30/08/2024

August has been a productive month for Wolly and I, which just leaves Tigg as the joyful freeloading slacker 🤣

If you are looking for in-person guidance for cooperative care training and fitness coaching, I've got ya.

Wolly's TEAM submission video: https://youtu.be/CxAxuoVpmIM

01/05/2024

Thanks so much for all the supportive and understanding messages - they were very much appreciated.

A medical emergency was exactly that - an emergency - and not something that I could have planned for. I realise that delays are not welcome, but 🤷‍♀️

I'm happy to report that I am now back home. I still have some recovering to do, so things will still be a bit slow for the next couple of weeks. Bear with.

11/04/2024

Your Whole Dog is in the midst of a medical emergency
If you’re waiting for anything from me - email replies, lesson notes, ,appointment reschedules, shop orders - I’ll be catching up once I’m back home

22/03/2024

This is such an important message. And one that I will repeat and repeat and repeat!

In fact, so strongly do I feel about this, I now include a full gait and posture assessment as a standard part of all initial consults. Yep, all of them. So it doesn't matter what it is you hire me for - from loose leash walking to aggression, you bet, we do an assessment.
If your dog is healthy and has beautiful movement, well, that will make the training plan a breeze!
And if they have lameness and compensatory movement patterns, or something just looks a bit off? Well, we figure that bit out alongside some initial management and safety.

The dog is always right. We should learn to listen to them once in a while.

‘My dog is naughty/bad/untrainable/dominant/stupid’

I hear this most weeks on intake forms. Usually I get pretty excited to see these cos I know I’m gonna get to change a dog and owners life!

So often we write our dogs off as any adjective that fits the above and honestly, I’m yet to meet a dog who fits any of those adjectives (and I have worked with 10k plus dogs over the ten years I’ve been doing this!). I do however week in week out meet dogs with health issues that contribute to their slow progress in terms of training. Did you know dogs don’t show pain or discomfort how we do? We often think ‘oh he isn’t limping or yelping so he is fine’.

Please read the examples below ⬇️

🐾 A huntaway cross who I work with who bit his owner. Reluctant to have his feet cleaned, got spicy over any intense handling, had periods of seeming insanity and relentless barking and being unable to calm down. Huntaways are vocal dogs… but…

Turns out he had hip dysplasia. This dog didn’t limp. He wasn’t lame in any way. He chased his ball and sprinted and jumped and had no issues physically on the surface however under that behaviour was pain.

🐾 A French bulldog. Resource guarding to the extreme. Bit his owners while resource guarding the knot pattern in their wooden floor. Also bombed around without a worry in the world and had no outward signs of pain.

Turns out he had a severe spinal condition causing intermittent excruciating pain.

🐾 A young spaniel owned by a very good friend who was having confidence issues. She would ‘tap out’ of training on the regular and my friend went from ‘this is my ticket dog who will represent my country’ to ‘is this even possible?’

Dog had hormonal issues and likely spikes of hormones left right and centre. A carefully timed spay and she is now grade 6 in agility.

🐾 A friends Border Collie. Owned by a very experienced and talented agility handler and trainer. Regularly ‘checked out’ of training sessions, seemed to not be able to learn things that were moderately straightforward. Described by other trainers as ‘oh she is just a border collie it’s what they are like’.

Turns out she is mostly deaf.

🐾 A black Labrador. Always social and friendly and attended brilliant puppy classes and adolescent classes. Had the best start training wise you can imagine. He started showing some intermittent aggression to his owners in the home and aggression to other dogs out and about.

Turns out he had bilateral elbow dysplasia.

🐾 Young German Shepherd. Always energetic and silly in her behaviour but suddenly got worse. Excessive zoomies, inability to settle, increased reactivity to other dogs, reluctant to get in the car, obsessive destruction at home.

Turns out she had an infection in her va**na that was causing discomfort and exacerbating all those teenage behaviours to the point of being unmanageable.

🐾 My own dog! My NSDTR started missing his dog walk contact early last year. I was tearing my hair out trying to fix it.

Turns out he had a minor iliopsoas strain and some physio fixed the issue for us.

———————————

All these dogs have one thing in common. They are not stupid or untrainable or naughty or dominant. They are uncomfortable and that is triggering extreme behaviour fallout.

None of the above issues would be resolveable with training. All of the issues will be resolveable with training ONLY when the pain is resolved. Some of them will have drastic improvement from the moment the pain or discomfort is managed!

If your behaviourist or trainer doesn’t immediately advise a veterinary visit if any aggression, excessive ‘naughtiness’ or strange behaviour is present, walk away immediately. Even if you think your dog is fine, visit the vets. Ask for a thorough examination and push for a proper evaluation of your dog from nose to tail and potentially blood tests too. If you’re still not sure, get a second opinion.

You cannot train the pain or discomfort out of your dog. Address THIS first and foremost.

20/03/2024

I just had a query about measuring for MediPaw boots, so Wolly helped me make a video ...

I find the easiest and most accurate way to measure for the boots is to have my dog's paw on a piece of paper and draw lines either side and...

13/03/2024

Wolly, doing a stellar job at a Movement Puzzle last winter 😍

He was 12 here, and we use these puzzles as a regular part of our mobility and cognitive exercise plan.

He had a stroke at the end of January, just a few weeks after his 13th birthday, and I have no doubt that all the balance and proprioceptive work we do helped him to navigate and recover that particular episode.

As we edge closer to winter, Movement Puzzles will become a more frequent item on our calendar.

If you're working with me, you can expect Movement Puzzles to be on your plan, too! Or, you can go straight to the source and join Mari's program and participate in all the exercises and monthly challenges alongside us 😄

12/03/2024

TL;DR - check out the shop's sale section!

Financial year end is approaching (way too fast for my liking, how is it mid-March already??), and I have a load of things in the sale section in the hopes I can make the stocktake process slightly less awful.

Go check it out, grab a bargain!

https://yourwholedog.co.nz/collections/sale

In a world when everyone is trying to sell you something, including me, apparently, it's worth remembering to be inventive and find ways to use things you have at home.

My cardboard box puzzles and toilet roll shredding games are some of Wolly and Tigg's most absolute favourites.

No plastic, no additional purchase, no landfill, no chasing the shiny and new. Just good old reuse and reduce. And when they're done .... compost or woodburner for the shreds.

Recently we experimented with the snuffle lettuce ... a cos and a few bits of Ziwi Peak stuffed in amongst the leaves.

07/03/2024

Another fabulous discussion about not only the benefits of canine fitness, but also the importance of good form and posture.

Canine fitness is a growing trend, and for good reason - we know that movement is a vital ingredient for good health.

Make sure you're working with
- someone who can help you achieve good form, good posture, good alignment,
- someone who can customise a plan to your individual dog and their needs,
- someone who can help you progress that plan safely and efficiently,
- someone who can identify anomalies and refer to other professionals when necessary.

05/03/2024

"It's so often the physical, and not behavioural" - Danika Bannasch, DVM, PhD

I talk about the link between health and pain and behaviour a lot. Like, at almost every consult. One way to assess this is through a gait and posture observation and analysis. Recently I've been doing these at the rate of roughly one a month. Worryingly, I have yet to find that the dog is not lame.

If you are experiencing behavioural challenges with your dog, or you think that something is not quite right, seek professional help. Consider the very real possibility that there's a health issue at the root cause.

Have a listen to this podcast. Both fascinating and confronting. I need to listen again (and probably again).... Most of the dog world knows this mutation as "that risk gene that makes your dog more likely to get IVDD," but in this episode, Danika talks us through the difference between IVDD (intervertebral disc disease), actual disc herniation, and the back pain that all dogs with this mutation suffer.

Danika Bannasch, DVM, PhD is the owner of Pint, the famous UC Davis football tee retrieving dog. She also happens to run a genetics lab, also at UC Davis, where she studies the genetics of inherited diseases in dogs and other animals. She is known for her work associating genetic variants with a var...

20/02/2024

There was some good news in my inbox this morning 😁

I'm now a Certified Canine Mobility Therapist, so if you've got creaky dogs that need a therapeutic exercise plan, I can help 🧘‍♀️🤸‍♀️🏋️‍♀️

Three more (gnarly, comprehensive) modules and I get a diploma 🤞🤞