Paws for Thought - Canine & Equine Coach

23/06/2025

Bring Calmness and Tranquility with a ZOOPHARMACOGNOSY SESSION

You may be wondering what Zoopharmacognosy is, well let me help explain because it is profound...........

Animals have an innate ability to forage for plants and herbs to help heal themselves both physically and mentally. They do this by harnessing the power of botanicals. You may already see your dog eating grass or licking soil for example.

Animals in our home still retain this incredible ability but may be unable to forage for exactly what they need. We can use botanical essential oils or herbs to help them.

A typical session may use essential oils, hyrodrosols or herbs and these have powerful medicinal properties; they can help reduce anxiety, pain, infections and much more.

If you have training, behaviour or wellbeing issues with your animal, a session can help identify underlying issues and help them process the emotions behind the behaviours.

WHAT BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES CAN IT HELP WITH?

It can help with the following areas : past abuse, separation anxiety, fear, trauma, grief, aggression, reactivity, resource guarding, moving home as well as many other emotional or training struggles.

WHAT PHYSICAL ISSUES CAN IT HELP WITH?

A session can help with pain, inflammation, skin issues, digestive issues, fleas and ticks and much more.

The sessions work in partnership with any training or veterinary plans and all animals can benefit from a session.

WHY DO I NEED A SESSION, CAN'T I JUST ADD
HERBS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THEIR FOOD?

You may see natural calming supplements that can be added to food for example, the most important thing with Zoopharmacognosy is that animals self select.

By adding herbs or supplements to their food they cannot control how much they need. A session with a professional practitioner will help ensure that support is given safely. Just because something is natural does not always make it safe for animals.

If you would like to know more or would like to see how a Zoopharmacognosy session (or alternatively a Kinesiology or sound therapy session) can help you, please reach out to me for a free discovery call and initial consultation https://pawsforthoughtcaninecoach.newzenler.com/support

Zoopharmacognosy, Kinesiology or sound sessions can be done remotely or in person and start as little as £30 and you can find out more about a session here
https://pawsforthoughtcaninecoach.newzenler.com/paws-for...

22/06/2025

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22/06/2025

🌿 Struggling with your dog’s behaviour? The answer lies in helping your dog feel better, not just behave better.🐾💚

Many behavioural issues like anxiety or reactivity are signs of an underlying emotional or physical imbalance. While training can manage the symptoms, it doesn’t always address the root cause.

This is where Zoopharmacognosy helps, in a natural, dog led approach where they choose the right plant remedies they need to support their own emotional and physical wellbeing.

🌱 Here's a few reasons why this process is so effective :

✨ It calms the nervous system from the inside out
✨ It helps release trauma and past stress
✨ Your dog is in control choosing what they need
✨ It promotes lasting, deep healing rather than just managing behaviour

Imagine a calmer, happier dog not from commands or control, but through true self-healing.

Ready to discover how this beautiful process can transform your dog’s life?

📩 Please note essential oils can be harmful so please choose a certified practitioner. Please message me to learn more or book a session. Let’s help your dog feel better, not just behave better.

22/06/2025

If your trainer is using a slip lead, e-collar (banned in Wales), choke chains or prong collars to train yours or other dogs, please read!

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The magic loose lead walking tools - Slip leads, grot collars, choke chains and prong collars 😡

Some dog trainers (i say "trainers" but its an unregulated industry so there are those with no actual education, or experience that call themselves "dog trainers) that will use, or recommend to use these torturous tools, because its a quick fix, which they "think" makes them look good.

But there is NO MAGIC!
JUST PAIN, AND DISCOMFORT
The dog just learns how to avoid this pain and discomfort by shutting down.

(What kind of person would want to intentionally cause pain and discomfort to a family member?)

But its not just the physical pain and discomfort, or the emotional pain and trauma, there is also a lot of physical damage these tools can do.

A dogs neck is a very delicate part of their bodies!

The neck and cervical spine contain the spinal cord, this is where the nerves of the front legs originate. Excessive paw licking is quite often misdiagnosed as allergies when it is in fact pain.

Putting stress on the neck can cause painful disc damage and shoulder problems

One of the most important structures of the nervous system "The Vagus Nerve" originates at neck level and this controls life essential organs like lung, heart, stomach, and intestinal tract.

The Thyroid gland is located in the neck. If this gets inflamed the immune system trys to remove the inflamed cells.
The destruction of the Thyroid gland cells can lead to hypothyroidism

Increased pressure put on the Jugular vein can cause seizures
Ear and Eye issues are significantly increased

Being je**ed on a lead causes whiplash and bruising.

The epidermis of a dog is only 3-5 cells thick
A humans is 10-15 cells thick (prong collars HURT)

Unfortunately there are some dog trainers that dont care if their results hurt or worry the dog.
All they care about are their own egos and money, not the welfare of the dog.

No educated, positive trainer would ever use or recommend these tools.
Please advocate for your dogs. Dont be a yanker, and find a trainer with ethics, morals and compassion

A well fitted Y shaped harness is the safest and kindest peice of equipment to use on a dog.

22/06/2025

Even though temps may have dropped a little today, the humidity and air flow can still have an effect on your dog, so please take things carefully.

Here is some advice from the Blue Cross which you may fine useful

Dogs can overheat easily as they can’t sweat through their skin. They rely on panting and releasing heat through their paw pads and noses to keep cool. Our advice will help you keep your dog cool in hot weather.

21/06/2025

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What does a stressed horse look like? 🐴

I think most people would be confident in identifying a horse who is so stressed they have gone into a fight/flight response. Bolting, spooking, broncing, rearing, snorting etc, very loud behaviours. But what about beyond that?

When a horse becomes stressed and fight/flight behaviour doesn’t work to get them out of the situation, where does that stress go? We need to be careful that when we think we’re achieving relaxation, we’re not actually pushing a horse into a shut down state. They can look outwardly calm but they are in fact still feeling stressed about the situation, they’ve just learned there is no way out.

A really common misconception I hear is horses who won’t load, they just plant at the bottom of the ramp and will not be moved. People will say “he’s clearly not scared, he’s just stubborn, look he’s going to sleep”. If a horse stands unmovable, closing his eyes while someone hauls on his face and someone else chases him from behind, believe me he is scared and he is desperately trying to cope with a situation he has learned is inescapable.

Sometimes horses who don’t outwardly express their stress through loud behaviours can be struggling more. I used to help my friend care for her extremely quiet, laid back cob on a livery yard. They ended up not being allowed out of their stables for 2 weeks straight one winter, and while many horses were exploding and box walking, he would just stand quietly at the back of his box and make no fuss. Around this time he started to be a little bit shifty at the mounting block, it turned out he had developed severe stomach ulcers from the stress of being in. I think of this often when I see quiet horses.

When we are training we really need to consider the horse’s emotional wellbeing throughout the process, not just what the end result looks like to us. Only with context are we able to tell if our horse is truly okay with something or if they have perhaps shut down a little to cope when we wouldn't take no for an answer. There is a whole spectrum of stress and behaviour, it is not just a case of a shut down horse is shut down about everything, or that an anxious horse always has to feel anxious.

Many horses are living with a high level of chronic stress in their daily lives that affects them not just emotionally but can hugely impact on their physical wellbeing too. Sometimes a large part of the answer to our issues is not where we’re looking. If we can reduce the level of stress our horses may be experiencing overall, we can see improvements in areas we perhaps wouldn’t think are linked.

If we want to have a genuinely good relationship with our horses we need to look more closely and have higher standards for our training beyond whether it gets the horse to comply or not.

Pictured is me riding Dan "tackless" many years ago, logically you'd think tackless horses would simply leave if they didn't want to do it or felt stressed, but he had been conditioned that if he veered off course I would touch him with the stick to correct him, which he found unpleasant and threatening despite me never actually hitting him with it, "just" tapping and irritating him with it. You can see the tension above his eye, his ear locked onto the stick and his tight muzzle. I don't choose to train like this anymore as I don't want my cues to actually be threats of escalation, that doesn't feel like a partnership to me and created negative associations with training for Dan that I was unaware of.

It is uncomfortable to look deeper, but if you really value your horse and their wellbeing above all else we have to be better and really think about how are horse is experiencing things. 🐴

21/06/2025

🐶 Did you know your dog’s fears might not be “just theirs”? 🐾

I wanted to share a story of a recent case of how kinesiology and communication session and working in synergy with a local dog trainer can transform a pup's life.

I was recently working with a fantastic local dog trainer who asked me to do a kinesiology and animal communication session for a young dog they are currently working with. With respect for the dog, trainer and guardian in question I won't share too many details but it brought up a really interesting scientific phenomena.

The dog was showing anxiety and emotional memory in the session about a stick and items that were very similar to this e.g. mops, walking sticks etc. There was no reason for the dog to be scared of these things or have memory of them being negative.

Yet this was showing up in their session as a trigger that caused fear and anxiety. With this insight, I talked to the trainer and they suggested that it could be a memory that the dog's ancestors experienced.

BOOM! it all suddently became clear.

So..... welcome to the fascinating world of epigenetics where experiences don’t just affect one dog, they can echo down generations.

A fear your pup shows today could be the emotional residue of what their ancestors lived through. It might surprise you to know that your dog’s fear of something like walking sticks could be linked to trauma experienced by their ancestors. Even if they were never hurt, the memory can live on.

This isn’t woo-woo it’s epigenetics, and researchers have seen it in action. A study published in Nature Neuroscience (2014) showed that mice exposed to a smell paired with a shock produced offspring and grandoffspring who also feared the smell without ever experiencing the shock themselves.

👉 For example, a dog who’s terrified of walking sticks or stick-like objects even if they’ve never been hit may carry inherited trauma from a relative who was.
💥 Stressful or traumatic experiences can alter how genes express themselves, and those changes can be passed on like emotional fingerprints through a family line.

Understanding this helps us meet our dogs with empathy, patience, and curiousity instead of frustration. ❤️ 💛 This is why compassion is key when supporting fearful dogs. You may not know their full history, but their DNA might carry part of the story.

📩 Curious to learn more about how to support a fearful dog and experience a profound kinesiology and communication session and how they can help with your training?

Drop a 🐾 or message me!



Source:
Dias, B.G., & Ressler, K.J. (2014). Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations. Nature Neuroscience, 17, 89–96.

21/06/2025

🐾🔥 Too hot for walkies? No worries! 🔥🐾

With temperatures soaring again today, keep your pups cool and happy indoors with my FREE Enrichment Challenge! 🎉

Fun, stimulating activities that tire out their brains (not their paws) 🧠🐶

👉 Perfect for beating the heat
👉 Safe, engaging & totally free!

Please make sure you provide plenty of cool shade and fresh water when undertaking any of the activities.

Drop a 🐶 if you want the link or check it out here : https://pawsforthoughtcaninecoach.newzenler.com/courses/5-day-enrichment-challenge

20/06/2025

Behaviour speaks volumes.

Every bark, tail flick, growl, or quiet withdrawal is part of an unmet need and a deeper story waiting to be understood.

A sudden change in temperament, signs of anxiety and fear, or even a burst of energy can all be messages about how an animal feels, what it needs, or what it has been through.

Behaviour is their way of telling us what they can’t say out loud.

When we label behaviours as reactive, attention-seeking, or stubborn, we miss the opportunity to understand them.

When we learn to look beyond the surface and truly listen to what an animal’s behaviour is communicating, we can respond with empathy, support healing, and build stronger bonds rooted in trust.

"Their behaviour makes sense when we understand their story",

There are many ways I can support with this, so let me help you to understand them.

~ Paws for Thought Canine & Equine Coach