(This went longer and longer than I expected. At about 12500 words this will be at least a 10 minute read. The images shared on our socials, and here, provide a slimmed down summary.)

While I’ve written a lot about this and adjacent topics a lot, I talk with other guardians about it more and more. Off-leash, out-of-control dogs have become a scourge in public places and while this issue was relevant pre-pandemic, during and since COVID-19, it’s really exploded as a very serious and dangerous trend.

Read more:

No, your dog is not just being “friendly” – the problems with off-leash dogs and applicable ideas for keeping you and your dog safe.

It takes a village – we can be kind and compassionate to other dog-walkers, by helping them out and giving their dog space to maintain comfort

Ya know how you help others out? Put your dog on leash… – if your dog needs to run up and attempt to interact with other dogs, that behaviour is information and those dogs, plus their humans, need guidance

Pandemic Headaches

We are a society still reeling from a generation-defining experience, and likely won’t fully understand the implications for years and perhaps decades.

And the Pandemic led to an increase in the dog population, that hasn’t always been beneficial to dogs. Because dogs were viewed beacons of hope and defenders against loneliness, there were cultural changes in how dogs are viewed and kept.

(Murphy et al, 2022) (Walsh 2023)

Bringing our dogs out and about during those lockdown days, months and years, presented so many difficulties. Lots of on-leash and suburban sniffs, along with everyone else doing the same, meant that dogs’ behaviour was being shaped, much like our own experiences under restrictions. We wrote about those challenges at the time: A Good Walk Spoiled.

While pandemic and lockdown conditions certainly presented lots of challenges to supporting our dogs’ behavioural development and support, many of those challenges were perceived as problematic because of a warped understanding of “socialisation”. (Example here.)

Sun’s out

I notice that each year when the clocks spring forward at the end of March, there is an explosion of off-leash dogs and an increase in incidents involving off-leash dogs. Writing this in the middle of April, I have had two client dogs, and one foster dog, injured by off-leash dogs who ran up to these dogs while they were on lead and engaged with their humans. All of these dogs required veterinary treatment after these interactions and we won’t know yet the behavioural implications.

Regardless of how “doggos” are portrayed on social media, dogs are not benign animals. Normal dogs have complex social lives and they display social stress in multi-dimensional ways. To respect and love dogs, we must recognise that.

It’s not safe for your dog or for other dogs to approach and interact with dogs unfamiliar to them or you.

Other dogs exist. And that’s none of my business.

We play a cruel trick on companion dogs. We ask so much of them, to straddle (at least) two complex social orders, at the same time keeping them in environments suitable for humans, that facilitates human behavioural development and health. Companion dogs often live in social isolation, in under-enriched worlds, and we expect them to like it.

In our attempts to compensate, we provide acute, intense and often inappropriate social and environmental enrichment.

Not only are increased expectations thrust upon dogs, but also guardians. Social media “doggo” culture is not kind to either end of the leash.

Guardians require guidance to understand how to support their dogs, and help them develop appropriate social skills.

The pressure on guardians and their companions to have dogs who love everyone, who are tolerant of all types of social interaction, who can go to all sorts of “dog friendly” (or what we often consider dog-unfriendly) places and events. And that their dogs will enjoy every second.

Let’s reframe and develop a new mantra:

I will support my dog in developing friendships & learning that other dogs exist. I will prioritise supporting my dog through appropriate environmental management to maintain my dog’s comfort in social contexts.”

Our goals are to help our dogs live successfully and comfortably in our human world. That’s no mean feat! Dogs must be able to cope with all sorts of experiences that even humans can find challenging.

What’s more, we have a limited time during which we can safely and effectively prepare dogs for all this human-world nonsense.
We ask dogs to develop social skills to survive and thrive in human and canine social contexts.

What is “socialisation”, anyway?

It’s great that people are aware of dogs’ needs for “socialisation”, but this term, in its popularity, has lost meaning. “Socialisation” has become synonymous with puppies and dogs ‘playing’ with others. And that skewed understanding meant that puppies and dogs during the Pandemic missed out because puppy classes weren’t available. But preparing our dogs for life in the human world requires so much more than class and puppy-play, and indeed might not even need those things at all for success.

Read: Off-Leash Puppy Play…yay or nay?

Learning through play is absolutely valuable for puppies and dogs of all ages but the sorts of behaviours that many people believe to be play should not be our focus and might not be beneficial at all.

But here’s a problem. The use of the term “socialisation” is confused among dog-professionals too so could we expect guardians and non-pros to get it right?

Terminology Tumult

In animal training, as an applied science, terminology is drawn from lots of fields. And to add further confusion, lots of terms are used in every day language differently too.

Terminology Tumult from Dr Susan Friedman.

But we have a problem in our professional and applied field. We don’t have standardised entry routes, educational minimums or well-organised literature from which we can draw consensus on terminology.

“To socialise“, in our everyday uses and understanding, might mean to hang out, to participate in social groups. But “socialisation” in our everyday language, has more specific meanings as a process.

“Socialisation” as a dog-training process

Most of what we understand about socialisation and early rearing needs of puppies stems from classic studies from the 1950/60s, such as Pfaffenberger & Scott, 1959, and Scott & Fuller, 1965.

These works showed us that puppies must have social contact, with other dogs and humans, during their Socialisation Period between 3 weeks and 3 months of age approximately. This period provides a primary socialisation window allowing puppies to form social attachments. If puppies don’t have adequate social exposure in these first months of life, social comfort will be unlikely with later exposure.

During this time, puppies are more likely to interact with novelty (because everything is new!) and their brains are particularly open to learning about how to be a dog and how to interact with humans.

To start with, socialisation happens during these first few months of puppy’s life and is about facilitating the formation of healthy social bonds.

The sorts of experiments designed to identify the limits to developmental periods in puppies required isolation and treatment of puppies and dogs that would not be considered ethical today.

While research has certainly continued looking at this topic, it’s largely been survey and questionnaire based with some validated surveys and independently developed questionnaires. But a common problem in our field is that the literature is relatively small and disjointed; these works have studied early exposure effects in different ways, with different tools, and have described diverse socialisation procedures.

Read more in this review: McEvoy, et al, 2022.

The research we base our understanding of ‘socialisation’ is muddled so it’s no wonder that professionals and pet guardians alike might not always be clear about what it is and how best to do it.

Indeed we don’t really have much valid evidence that confirms most of the procedures we recommend to puppies and their people.

Is “socialisation” for life, and not just for puppies?

In terms of those classic works, socialisation describes a developmental stage early on in puppies’ lives. However, some further works have shown that puppies and dogs must continue to have appropriate social and environmental exposure throughout puppyhood and into adolescence, for example, Serpell & Duffy, 2016.

What is “socialisation” and what does it matter?

Exhaustingly, our field attributes great importance to all sorts of processes and procedures, without a level of valid evidence or clarity to warrant such emphasis.

For sure, puppies and dogs must be reared in enriched environments so that their behavioural development is healthy. Nobody is arguing with that!

The term “socialisation” has come to be applied to providing puppies with social outlets but also with exposure to traffic, substrates and noises. Decidedly non-social stimuli.

Scott, 1957, discusses “localisation” during which puppies appear to form attachments to a particular physical environment, becoming upset, especially when isolated, in novel environments. It is suggested that may be a related process to socialisation.

Perhaps, instead, the importance is on how exposure happens, within appropriate and healthy social contexts. Puppies develop environmental comfort through social comfort, and vice versa. Social environment matters.

Appropriate Social & Environmental Exposure

Because there is so much up in the air about what “socialisation” might mean and how the term is used, I prefer to emphasise the importance of appropriate social and environmental exposure tailored to the puppy’s or dog’s behavioural development as indicated by their behaviour.

Regardless of what we call it, dogs becoming overwhelmed by the presence of other dogs, showing behaviour that indicates they have difficulty recovering from proximity, that’s associated with loss of control, is not in any way akin to preparing dogs for coping with their social world.
Dogs and humans are certainly different but we have lived together for thousands of years, sharing much in terms of social etiquette.

Because we poorly select for behavioural attributes and then keep dogs in under-enriched environments, dogs, particularly young dogs, need support in becoming dogs and being dogs.
This is extra challenging for young dogs who are often highly socially motivated but instead of free-for-alls, they need support to develop appropriate social skills…behaviours that allow them to succeed in relevant social environments.

Bringing our dogs out should provide appropriate enrichment; just enough challenge to maintain interest and learn behaviours that allow them to access reinforcers.

Read more: Speed Walking into 2024?

That can include social contact but remember that social interaction for dogs will include sniffing and marking too, not just physical contact. I know guardians express great joy at watching their dog romping with others but our perception of canine excitement is often skewed and doesn’t necessarily mean we’re observing healthy behaviour and interactions that will forge appropriate behaviours over life.

It all starts with focusing on friendships.

The popularity of “neutrality” in dogs has been driven by a need for us to help our dogs appear more comfortable around other dogs. This is a good awareness. But, as with “socialisation”, the devil is in the details.

We can help dogs, particularly young dogs, develop improved comfort and build more appropriate dog-dog skills, but that might not require direct contact and certainly doesn’t need tight leashes, marching drills and “corrections”.

More about how we do it: Neutrality is no big deal…or is it?

Socialisation is:

• a process relevant to specific times during behavioural development in puppies
• not just about puppy play and excitement
• about the facilitating the development of neutral responses to their world as adults
• important
• poorly understood, defined and applied

Think of how we might help our children develop healthy social relationships. Our primary approach is unlikely to be focused on high-octane interactions with randomly encountered kids in poorly controlled environments. Instead we nurture, model and guide, and provide well supervised outlets in enriched environments.

No, dogs and kids, and dog-guardianship and parenting, are not the same. But there are similarities at various levels. Building family and friendships is multi-species, for both us and our dogs. And that’s why we have been such great companions for so long.

Join Anne from AniEd for an Instagram Live with Kilian from Ruby Reese, an Irish luxury dog-care brand.

Kilian hosts regular Tuesday Talks on the Ruby Reese Instagram channel (@rubyreeseoffical). And this Tuesday, I will be joining him to talk about what enrichment really is.

If you’re here, you probably already know about our enrichment program, 100 Days of Enrichment. And that will form the basis for our discussions, along with the frameworks behind enrichment for companion dogs (and other species too).

While it’s great that “enrichment” has become widely known, as a buzzword its meaning if often lost or misunderstood. Join Anne & Kilian to get the low-down and start to develop a real understanding for enriching our dogs’ lives and worlds.

Bring your questions and discussion points as I would love to collaborate with you all and make this an immersive event.

Where: Ruby Reese Instagram

When: Tuesday 26th March

Time: 7.30pm, ROI time

Looking forward to seeing you there!

There are many features of aging that guardians of an older dogs expect and find unsurprising. But there a few aspects of aging that are cause for pause, that guardians are often not expecting…
(Wallis et al, 2023)

Age-related cognitive decline is normal as we, and dogs, age, and because it affects executive functioning, impulsivity increases (Szabo et al, 2016).

Increases in impulsivity is associated with aging in humans too (Morales-Vives & Vigil-Colet, 2011) (Sakurai et al, 2020).
In dogs, impulsivity may be pretty consistent over life (Riemer et al, 2014), but the individual’s abilities to inhibit their responses and tolerate delay of reward can be context specific.

Dog trainers often refer to teaching impulse or “self” control, which is not quite accurate and is more “training lingo” that we could probably lose. Rather, we are teaching dogs that doing some behaviour, e.g., sitting or standing waiting, under certain conditions, leads to access to reinforcement.

These abilities may decline over time due to age, but also because we might stop practicing (reinforcing those contingencies) as diligently with our aging dogs as we do with our puppies and teenage dogs.

Aging dogs might do unexpected things, behaviours they haven’t done since they were a puppy. To keep everyone safe we might have to re-introduce some management, re-jig their world & get back to teaching!

You might need to better manage countersurfing and searching for forbidden foods. More here about helping with countersurfing.

And we certainly need to get back to practicing carefully building or rebuilding tolerance for reward delay, without frustration. Another effect of aging is decline in learning so that means we have to become better and clearer teachers.

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Decker has consistently scored high for impulsivity. When he was about nine and a half, he developed cachexia, secondary to gut impaction & intussusception, and that marks a significant increase in his impulsivity, to my mind.
It makes sense that his enthusiasm for food would increase after his body was experiencing starvation; he was very enthusiastic for food before and an increase wasn’t thought possible!

I try to build waiting and patience into lots of contexts, particularly relating to eating and toy-biting. And we still practice. A lot. He’s just about 12 years old so this will likely continue.

Age-related cognitive changes & sensory decline lead to behaviour changes. Being aware of these changes allows us to better support our aging dogs.

Aging dogs need more, not less!

Cognitive aging leads to sensory decline & declines in learning, memory & executive control and changes in social responsiveness, to comfort with novelty, to attentiveness & to sleeping patterns.

We often assume that these changes are part of aging and tend to presume that aging dogs need less activity.

First, it’s important that we don’t normalise aging related effects that can and should be treated and supported.
For example, we presume that older dogs will be stiffer and slower, and many are. But, these are signs of pain and pain must be treated. Older dogs must be comfortable, even if we presume their pain, stiffness, slowing down, lameness and so on, are associated with normal aging effects.

We thought that Decker had slowed down a little, walking more than trotting, but no clear or distinct deterioration. He had a little bit of arthritic change in the TTA knee, but less than his surgeon expects. However, we started him on Librela in October 2023 and the difference has been…insane…
The level of his deterioration didn’t appear as great, but the improvement in activity, strength and other mild effects has been significant. While no medication can be considered a cure-all or miracle, this monthly injection has truly provided a new lease on life…as if he needed to be more gung-ho…but it’s so awesome to see him so full of beans. And I do mean, FULL.

Aging dogs need guardians who:

• bring their dogs for regular vet checks
• keep a log of their dog’s day to day
• recognise and monitor for signs of chronic pain
• make adjustments for now and the future
• make those changes gradually and carefully
• monitor their dog’s worlds to maintain their safety and comfort
• implement appropriate and evolving environmental and behaviour supports and adaptations

What’s more, aging dogs don’t need a less interesting life! Just because we think aging dogs are less active, less social and less fun…perhaps it’s our inhibiting their entertainment that’s contributing.

Aging dogs need us to:

• be better teachers
• provide more and appropriately enriched worlds and lives
• modify their world so it’s safer and more comfortable for them

And all this according to their current and future needs.

Extending healthspan is lifelong

Extending healthspan means meeting canine physical & behavioural needs throughout life.

• appropriate activity
• enriched life & world
• weight management
• life long learning
• healthy social relationships

It’s never too late, or too early, to start!

Age is just a number…

but, behaviour is information to guide us.

Let’s not pathologise aging in our dogs, aging them through our views. At the same time, we are aware of the changes that come with aging and how to recognise when those changes require extra support.

Although aging is a normal process that leads to declines in functioning around the body, we don’t have to think of our aging dogs as ill or fragile.

Behaviour is information…for all ages. Future proofing through awareness of behaviour markers is important for puppies, but what about our aging dogs?

We can prepare our dogs, and their worlds, for what’s to come to maximise healthy aging and extend healthspan.

I have often had a hard time coming to terms with Decker’s aging, he is old. But, it’s important to accept so that we can keep on living. He is the absolute best model for this; he never wastes a second of whatever time he might have. Not. One. Second. Lessons from Dog.

I like to remind guardians, any myself (!), that dogs are here for a good time, not for a long time. Make it a good time for as long as possible.

The main focus of toilet training is to establish appropriate substrate preference and understanding these processes, and realigning expectations with reality, help to reduce the considerable distress often experienced by guardians.

New dogs, regardless of age, and dogs in new or exciting places may have toileting lapses. And obviously when dogs are ill, they may have accidents.

So much so, toileting accidents in dogs who have been pretty reliable, indicate that a vet visit is needed.

Dogs for adoption, advertised as ‘toilet trained’ may raise unrealistic expectations. Instead, new dogs who may have appeared toilet trained previously should be given some time after a move. They need time to learn where they go, how they get there, if and when it’s safe, and so on.
Expecting them to be clean right off the bat is not realistic, or fair. As with all aspects of settling in, it takes time and usually more time than we expect.

With young dogs, it’s not physically possible for them to wait and control their urge to toilet, for very long and this isn’t mature until dogs are into adolescence. I tend to find that toileting becomes more reliable by 9-12 months of age, but with so much individual and situational variation.

Establish a toileting routine

Make it easy for the dog to access preferred substrates and toileting spots with very regular trips and extra trips after any changes, activity or excitement.

Most dogs will prefer to toilet on absorbent substrates which makes sense from a hygiene point of view.

• be clear about choosing appropriate toileting areas and recognise how they might be perceived by the dog
• bring the dog to suitable toileting areas regularly, rather than just leave the door open or leave them outside
• prepare a little pot of AWESOME treats and leave them just inside or outside the door
• remain outside with the dog and be boring…business first, fun after
• learn to spot your dog’s behaviours that tell you they need a toilet break and just before they go
  Most dogs will circle, apparently move aimlessly close to doorways and then will circle or pace more purposefully just before they squat.
• remain pretty still and quiet while your dog prepares and goes
• wait for them to move away from the magic-spot and then praise enthusiastically (or whatever works for your dog) and bound back in toward the toileting-treat-pot
  It’s very important that you let them finish – we reward emptying most generously!
• have a treat party: scatter some treats (away from toileting areas), toss treats for catching, play food-games, have some cuddles or relaxing time to bring them down again
• spend some time with your dog after successful toileting
  This is an important step often missed. Our dog toilets, we might reward and then go about our business. The dog learns that toileting ends the fun & interaction so they are trying to hold it…usually unsuccessfully! This is often a troubleshoot for dogs who have accidents after being brought out for toileting.

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With that ongoing…and going and going and going…make sure to do your best to prevent accidents in other areas. The dog having an accident is no big deal – don’t sweat the small stuff, we can build appropriate toileting behaviour.

Accidents are to be expected and dealt with quietly and calmly. Making a fuss, or worse, scolding a dog, about accidents will lead to a dog who is worried about toileting when you’re around rather than teaching them not to toilet in that spot.

Clean it up carefully and limit the dog’s access to that area or context unless they’re empty. Get help for extra guidance and support, the earlier the better.

A note about marking

Marking, as opposed to toileting, often requires extra considerations. It’s social behaviour, rather than just needing to toilet, and can be intensified after sniffing, social interactions, and particularly relating to increased stress levels, social or otherwise.

Establishing a solid toileting routine is still important but there may also be some analysis required to get to the root of marking behaviours.

Get help! Keep a diary of toileting behaviour and the goings on surrounding it, and learn to diligently manage accidents. The fewer toileting accidents your dog has had by the time you call in the cavalry, the more successful we all can be!

It’s that time of year again when I often see many dogs apparently reluctant participants in their human’s fitness resolutions…

Getting healthy is great and including your dog can be a winner for them as well but we need to consider their physical and behavioural health too…

But we do have funny notions about “walking dogs” and generally approach it from an anthropocentric point of view. As in, we look at how walking our dogs affects humans, rather than having a whole lot of consideration for the experiences of our dogs.

We study dog walking from a human health perspective (e.g., Christian et al, 2018), to promote increased human physical activity (e.g., Westgarth et al, 2014), its effects on the health of senior citizens (e.g., Motooka et al, 2006, Curl et al, 2016) and adolescents (e.g., Engelberg et al, 2016) and the social (e.g., Antonacopoulos & Pychyl, 2014) and mental health benefits (e.g., Cui et al, 2021) to humans walking their dogs.

Sometimes we see works that look at effects of walking on dogs and their humans (e.g., Akiyama & Ohta 2021) but relatively speaking, there is little about the experiences of dogs during these outings.

The good news is that, we are starting to see more interest in dogs’ experiences on their outings including their intraspecies social interactions (e.g., Akos et al, 2014; Rezac et al, 2011; Westgarth et al, 2010), how and when they’re walked (e.g., Kinsman et al, 2022) their relationship with their humans (e.g., Fletcher & Platt 2016) and the behaviours they engage in (e.g., Foltin & Ganslosser 2021) and their experiences in different environments (e.g., Cupp 2023 (Master’s thesis)).

Shift the focus!

Modern pet dogs live a pretty socially & environmentally restricted life (Meyer et al 2021). And the more we ask them to inhibit their behaviour and assimilate into our world, the more we have to compensate.

I certainly don’t want to suggest we further restrict their already limited lives. But if bringing the dog out in a way that causes them further stress, it’s not very enriching and likely quite damaging.

Dogs need activity and entertainment and by shifting the focus beyond walks and alongside walks, we may be better able to provide for their needs.
Outings might form part of that, possibly in different or varied ways, but there must be more regardless of whether walks are a part of that program or not. That’s why 100 Days of Enrichment exists!

Go Adventuring instead!

Go beyond ‘traditional’ walks for dogs, Adventure everywhere and anywhere.

It takes a village

When you do go out and about, spare some thoughts for how we can all help our fellow dog walkers. Just with some of these tips in place, we might be able to lift restrictions for lots of dogs and provide appropriate outings for pets & their people.

And mostly, don’t allow your dog be a nuisance for others. Your dog is not being “friendly”, and you are not “socialising” by allowing your dog run up to others unsolicited.

Think beyond walks for dogs. Shake it up and shift focus to provide for our dogs’ needs appropriately and safely.

2023 has come to a close and we have moved into a New Year. And rather than this be a time for resolutions, it’s a time for reflection.

It was a year of ups and downs for me, and AniEd, with some serious downs around the middle and some temporary and unofficial suspensions of services for mental health breaks. It ended in a whirl wind, and on the up, that I think I’m still processing.

And not just last year, but the last few years. We, as a global society, emerged from the strangest of times…from a Pandemic that I certainly don’t think we’ve taken the space or time to process.

And that’s affected the world of dogs, and dogs for this world, greatly.

2023 Stats

In review of last year, about 64% of the dogs I saw (through AniEd’s Behaviour Matters programs) had come home during Pandemic conditions, which in Ireland, went on and on. These dogs had even higher expectations thrust upon them…dogs were seen as cure-alls to treat your lockdown-ills throughout that time.

These dogs came home when the world was very odd indeed, and of course those conditions couldn’t persist and within, on average, 1-3 years of arriving home, they and their humans required intense and very specialised help.

There wasn’t a dog to be got throughout the country from pounds, rescues, breeders, DBEs…or from anywhere. Such was the panacea that dogs, at that time, represented.

Over the 12 months of 2023 I saw more cases involving behavioural euthanasia than ever before. 23% of my cases ended sadly and all but one of those dogs came home during Pandemic conditions.
Another 4% were rehomed due to their behaviour too.

That’s over a quarter of these dogs, and their humans, suffering under their current environmental conditions. And I do mean suffering.

No shaming. No blaming.

While these data make me sad, they also make me regretful, frustrated, exhausted, and sometimes even angry.

Let me be very clear here. This is not about guardian-bashing. Pet owners/guardians are our most vulnerable stakeholders in our industry; high expectations, little support, substandard education yet all the blame and all the shame is directed at guardians. We don’t shame or blame here.

But I am going to hold our animal care industries and dog producers, including breeders and rescues, to higher standards than guardians. We are supposed to be the ones setting the tone, providing the support, being ambassadors, guiding and educating.

When I work through histories with each guardian, on behalf of their dog, I spot markers along their journeys where if only they had received the right guidance, if only their decisions had been better directed, if only they had got in touch…if only…

If only…sourcing

If only we could have been there to support and guide these prospective guardians in choosing a suitable source for their dog.

I don’t care about ideologies, I care about welfare. So when dogs are reared, kept, or handled in ways that do not support welfare and behavioural health, that that dog has come from a rescue organisation, from a DBE, from a breeder, is not a priority to me.
What does the dog’s behaviour say about their experiences? What does the dog’s behaviour say about what they are going to need to remain healthy (behavioural health is health) and for welfare to be maintained?

60% of the dogs I saw last year in relation to behaviours of concern had been reared outside of a home environment and/or spent time in kennels/outside home environments during vulnerable behaviour developmental periods.

Dogs, who are expected to live as companion animals in family environments, are less likely to be successful when reared like livestock. Dogs have different developmental periods to livestock and require careful exposure to the worlds with which they are expected to cope when they are young. Not to mention the expectations thrust upon dogs by humans and society.

Did you know that the first FIVE weeks of a puppy’s life are exceptionally important to support brain building?!
Did you know that the first THREE-ish months of a puppy’s life are exceptionally important to support brain development?
Did you know that the FIRST year (at least) of their life is exceptionally important to support social behaviour development?

We have so little time to do so much so carefully. And it’s very difficult to do this when the dogs are not developing in enriched environments, supported through enriched experiences.

If only…country folk & city folk

Just like with early rearing experiences, during puppyhood and adolescence, the world in which a dog has been living prepares them for that world.

So when we take dogs from rural, quiet circumstances and bring them a world away to the city and the depths of suburbia, there will often be difficulties.

And that’s exactly what happened 57% of the dogs I saw last year. Dogs who had been provided with minimal exposure and then expected to slot into the hustle and bustle of Dublin. Of family comings and goings. Of traffic and doorbells and bangs and construction. Of seemingly non-stop action. Having been prepared for a quieter and slower life.

If only…too little, too late

We well understand that guardians tend to seek help for their dog’s behaviour reactively and usually when their dog’s behaviour becomes obstructive for the humans.

Sadly, just 23% of guardians had sought any training from a professional (calling themselves trainers, behaviourists, vets) regarding their dog’s behaviour but only when things were going South.
Just 4% had any professional training in place proactively…before any behaviours of concern had reared their ugly heads.

My entire hope in developing AniEd as an educator for trainers was to reduce reactivity and promote proactivity. By getting the best trainers out there and into the lives of guardians and their pets, surely we can prevent behaviours of concern arising…right?!

Guardians who had rehomed their dogs had little to no support post-adoption, with most not being able to source recommendations for help from the organisations from whom they had adopted dogs. Just 2% of guardians (who had adopted from a rescue organisation) had help in place for their newly adopted dog in their first three months home…and that was mainly me…because their dog’s behaviour had deteriorated to concerning levels during this time.

88% of cases that sadly ended with behavioural euthanasia had been dogs adopted from rescue organisations. Guardians, new adopters and rescue organisations need better and more support to make sure that dogs go to the right homes, stay in those homes, are safe in those homes and thrive in those homes.

If only…let’s get physical

The connections between physical and behavioural health are well established…behavioural health is health.

And 53% of the dogs I saw relating to behaviours of concern were experiencing or suspected to be experiencing physical contributors, most commonly signs relating to musculo-skeletal pain and gastro-intestinal inflammation. Behaviours can be considered clinical signs of pain and physical disorder.

Almost all of these dogs had no treatment or veterinary plan in place relating to their physical disorders before we started our program. For the most part, seeking veterinary consultation has been an important part of program development and we need veterinary personnel on board to treat pain and GI discomfort proactively. Dogs are stoic and they don’t make the diagnosis of chronic pain easy for us.

What’s more, 41% of dogs were assessed as overweight at the beginning of our program and most guardians had not been aware. Of course, this is never an easy conversation to have but carrying extra weight is contributing to a welfare crisis for companion animals In Ireland, and beyond.

Correlation is not causation

These data are just from one small business for whom these are not our primary services. How meaningful are they in the grand scheme of things?

But, to me, these data are impactful. The numbers tell me about the experiences of these dogs, and their humans.

And most importantly, they tell me where our efforts are needed, where our industry needs to direct its attention.

But we need help. While we, as an industry, must present ourselves as educated professionals with years of experience and years of building knowledge and skills, guardians must begin to recognise that.

Every single guardian I work with experiences revelations during our first conversations. The level of knowledge of canine behaviour and skill in teaching and handling pet dogs, among guardians (and many pros too) needs a lot of building and development. We are all learning always, including me. Every case teaches me so much.

Decades of shaming and blaming guardians has been emphasised by TV training and now, social media, where it seems you can’t do anything right for your dog. Almost all guardians who come to work with me express that they have experienced that and that they have sought help with trepidation.

When the prevailing culture says that “there are no bad dogs, just bad owners“, that “puppies are clean slates” or “it’s all in how they’re raised” and other myths, it’s no wonder we have difficulty reaching our target market in time.

Reflections

In reflecting on the year past and stepping into this New Year coming, I see plenty of ways we can make things better for dogs and their humans. But we need help, we need collaboration and connection. Working together with a central focus on welfare allows us to dig our way out of these many pits, and progress.

And besides all that serious stuff, make this New Year more dog. At a time so obsessed with deprivation in all that New-Year-New-You marketing, make 2024 MORE DOG.

I haven’t added pictures and funny memes to this one in respect of this reflection. Sorry if it’s all been a bit wordy (about 1600-ish words) so if you’ve made it this far, thank you! Let’s start digging and making progress in the lives of pets & their people!

With NYE ’24 just days away, we can prepare our pets for yet another onslaught of fireworks.

For a full run-down and more links to more supports, check out our Halloween prep-post…which only seems a couple of weeks ago.

Once we get through this, and Chinese/Lunar New Year in February, we have a relatively clear few months and that’s when we can really get stuck into fireworks work…