Leaps and Hounds Behavior

10/04/2025

Some reflections I had while at a beautiful Sniffspot yesterday! How do you support your dog’s needs, and help them break free of life’s daily frustrations?

10/04/2025

A perfect illustration of the utility of our comprehensive L.E.G.S./FDM model to unpack a dog’s so-called “behavior problems”,
and why we focus on supporting needs and welfare first 🤓☝️

Also, GO LUCY MAY GO!!! 🙌😍

10/03/2025

A hero of mine, Jane Goodall ❤️ What an incredible impact she had on the world, all animals, and the sciences.

Some of what I’ve learned from Jane Goodall? Beyond the evident compassion and loyalty for all animals, her wisdom, courage, perseverance and trailblazing, are traits that she exhibited throughout her long career; and despite, or rather in the face of, adversity and often persistent scrutiny.

She also was a highly intelligent observer and communicator, with her own unique style of grace — it is so rare in this world. I didn’t realize this until recently, but I’ve been espousing that vision and skillset. A significant part of that for me starts with being a curious and keen observer, which effectually involves checking those cognitive biases and misbeliefs.

I’ve always felt a profound sense of empathy for human and non-human animals, as far back as I can remember. And, I’ve realized in order to channel that effectively as my purpose, I need to work on those communication/observational skills. Interestingly, Jane Goodall just seemed to do all that so effortlessly ❤️

📷 Photographer Hugo van Lawick and Jane Goodall observe a family of chimpanzees in Gombe Stream Reserve. Credit: Jane Goodall Institute/Templeton Prize

10/02/2025

10/02/2025

We’re having a wonderful time caring for and bonding with our pal Rose this week! We’re providing her “rich” opportunities (affordances) to express an array of healthy natural behaviors and behavioral interactions.

When those behaviors are overly restricted or suppressed it often leads to friction in a dog’s life (L.E.G.S.) and various “behavior problems”— effectively, compromised welfare.

Conversely, when we focus on providing those healthy opportunities that are essential and purposeful for the individual dog (and their L.E.G.S), AND prevent prolonged fear/anxiety/stress/frustration emotional states, we are helping them live “a good life”. It’s a ‘WELFARE FIRST’ thang!! ❤️🙌

09/29/2025

.e.g.s.appliedethology

09/23/2025

Sniffspots can provide bountiful opportunities for a dog to express natural behaviors, which is essential for a life well lived (welfare). This 10 acre fenced Sniffspot really fits that bill 🙌🤩 For Sagey that means plentiful sniffing, foraging, running, “ball is life!”, “check ins”, and the freedom to explore to her heart’s content.

09/21/2025

Meet your dog’s need to be the “right” kind of naughty with The Naughty Dog Hack!! 🙌🤩

09/17/2025

Topic of the day, Affordances and Trade-offs!
——-
Definition: “The affordances of the
environment are what it offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill. It implies the complementarity of the animal and the environment.”
— James J. Gibson (1979)
——-

FIRST, Dog parks are NOT for all dogs, and tend to be lacking when it comes to management and safety.

They’re NOT for (a short list here):
🚫 Dogs who have a bite history, or displaying aggressive behaviors
🚫 Dogs with certain fear/anxiety responses
🚫 Puppies (especially for “socialization”)
🚫 Dogs with certain medical conditions (disease risk)

Further, there’s no screening or monitoring process for safety/management— dog parks are just more risky. Incidents can happen at any time and to varying degrees of severity: dogs have teeth, will use. That means greater potential for affordances “for ill”. **So proceed at your our own risk!**

AND, for Sava and Sage with their individual needs and their families needs, going to this particular dog park today— with these other dogs and their owners, at this time of day, etc— provided many affordances “for good”.

They were able to engage in and perform a a variety of (ESSENTIAL) canine behaviors, I.e. digging, running, playing and social bonding, play mouthing/“bitey chew face”, foraging, chasing, sniffing, navigating healthy conflict, avoiding unhealthy conflict; and even cobbing!

There can be “too much of a good thing”, and there was some of that, but nothing unsafe or maladaptive. Overall, we saw a “richness and evenness of their behavioral repertoire” being expressed (behavioral diversity).

For Sava and Sage it really boils down to a trade off:
WITHOUT consistent experiences like we had today, that may lead to compromised welfare starting to creep in (the lack of behavioral diversity).
WITH today’s experiences, however, these two dogs are on the way to living their best lives. That’s our hope for them— even if, just One Day at a Time ❤️🙏

09/16/2025

Excellent insight here from Tabitha! 🙏

09/15/2025

Sooo… this happened yesterday! We did a safe, controlled intro with Luna and Jelly— two bully dogs I know well and care for 🙏 🤩 These two found so much joy, happiness, and safety playing and interacting in this context, and have been yearning for more!

Note: I have an 8 minute video clip which I need to edit, and include “real time” observations of dog body language, arousal, and behavior. This is all for educational purposes. It’s been fascinating to unpack all the healthy behavioral interactions and communication— so much nuance! I’ll share the video with the world when I get some editing time 🤣 🙏