Visualise the scene with me…

The grown-up holds the ~five foot lead…the dog at its very end…two small humans kick a ball and grown-up pursues…dog is moved along, jerked from left to right…

Indulge me again, if you will…

Picture any weekend market pretty much anywhere and you will see it…dogs on lead, scanning & surveying, tight mouths panting…
Humans moving them by their lead, pressing on their back ends to keep them sitting, restraining them from moving freely amongst so much mouth-watering food, allowing them directly approach others regardless of comfort, exerting enormous social pressure on them…

Surely, our dogs are enjoying just being there. Just being with us. Basking in our presence. Being our spare parts while we enjoy ourselves.

Dogs have fulfilled lots and lots of roles throughout their history alongside humans. As our communities evolve, so too do our relationships with our canine companions. For the most part, dogs are exceptionally adaptive but their abilities to cope with busy human-centric environments and lifestyles is only half the battle.

Dog (Un)friendly

Expansions of human-centric environments to incorporate dogs, while trendy and popular on social media, is big business. Allowing clientele bring their dog is all the rage and I can see the appeal.
As society, in general, becomes less tolerant of dogs and guardians, we want to show ’em that our dogs are special, and loved family members.

But, are we stopping long enough to ask, what our dogs might want and need?

Ignorance is bliss

Being oblivious to the experiences of dogs is something I envy often, particularly when I’m out in public where there are dogs. I would love not be aware of dogs’ discomfort or of them being put in inappropriate situations. I would love not to have the gift of foresight for where this will land in three months, six months, two years time.

Becoming aware of our dogs’ experiences can be both enlightening and heart breaking all at once.

Humans Humans Humans

We tend to take an anthropocentric view of dogs, discussing our relationships with them in terms of how they benefit us. We get dogs for companionship, to get us out walking, to help us connect with our communities, to help us, us us us.

Getting a dog isn’t some convenience, getting a dog isn’t to complete your family, getting a dog is not for practicing parenting or teaching kids life-lessons.

Dogs are not auxiliaries to the brunch or the picnic or the cafe lifestyles. Dogs aren’t tools. They aren’t spare parts.

Our dogs have needs and individual requirements that can only be established by us because we control everything. That’s the human-centric part…the buck stops with us…

What about “working dogs”?

We have spent a long time and much effort developing types of dogs that fulfill pretty specific roles. These dogs come with innate tendencies, built-in and requiring refinement to do their job.

Looking at traditional working dog histories it can be easier to see where notions of “dogs wanting to please us” came from; dogs were tasked with doing behaviours innately reinforcing for them because we had selected for that. And even then, we make it all about us.

Modern jobs for dogs have taken existing types and have continued to attempt to develop their tendencies, often trying to squeeze square pegs into round holes. Rather than choosing traits, we attempt to select against and suppress unwanted characteristics.

The promotion of dogs in every heroic role, particularly via social media, leads to raised and unrealistic expectations for all dogs. Dogs are amazing but their awesomeness is independent of their service to us.

It’s not a quid pro quo, ya know?!

Dogs don’t owe us anything.

Our dogs don’t owe us “good” behaviour just because we took them home and feed them.

Our dogs are not beholden to us and our expectations of them.

Dogs as spare parts

If one wants dogs to fit in in this way, that’s fine; I don’t run anyone else’s life. But expectations will need to change. That’s the bottom line.

And while expectations might change…what about the welfare experience of dogs? That doesn’t change, regardless of our whims, intentions or wants.

Are we really “rescuing” dogs, when we warehouse them, sometimes, for years?

Are we really considering the actual welfare of assistance dogs, therapy dogs, dogs as tools to serve human well-being?

Are we really meeting dogs’ needs with agility, food toys & human-directed detection sports…or whatever the activity du jour?

Is the “pet-life” really a good life? Is it good enough?

To me, the biggest threats to canine welfare are not shock collars or “balanced trainers”, it’s our blindness to dogs’ experiences and our apparent unwillingness to recognise their needs as important and distinct from our own.

This all turned out to be far more ranty than initially intended but there are important thought-experiments to consider. There are actions we can take proactively and we should focus on moving forward with our concerns in mind.

Not having been kind to his body one day throughout his long life has really started to catch up with Decker, this year in particular. He’s over 13 now, old for dog and pretty ancient for an AmStaff.

More for seniors, not less

He’s still super active. He regularly swims for 30 minutes in the sea and most days will hike at least about 6-8km. We train regularly and still have lots of fun. He does puzzles and continues to invent games, training me with his exquisite teaching skills.

He’s totally deaf now and although always an epic sleeper, he sleeps so deeply now; he has lots of memory foam beds, blankets and favourite comfy spots in the sun.

All in all, seniors require just as enriched a life and world in their later years as they did throughout life.

But the older body needs more support and dogs aren’t always super clear about telling us they’re in pain, they’re tired, that they’re aging body needs a break. We’ve gotta look real close and observe carefully, learning not to dismiss what their body tells us as “just being old”.

When the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

Of course, Decker doesn’t know he’s old and that his body is failing. He has mild arthritic change in his TTA knee (way less than would be expected) and some very very early neuromuscular changes mildly affecting the pelvic limbs.

His right elbow has been giving trouble for a while, wear and tear due to compensation for a long standing shoulder injury. And now his left elbow is showing some pain indicated by posture changes and occasionally, transient acute lameness. Ouch!

This means extra care is required, because he sure isn’t going to mind himself. We have some good pain relief on board and plenty of adjustments in place that are supporting him right now.

Behaviour happens in the environment

Our outings have to look a little different now with steady pottering and sniffing being much more beneficial, and safe for his body, than crazy carry-on and life-threatening antics.

Instead of seeking ways to calm the silly-boy or “training”, ask, under what conditions does steady pottering & sniffing happen?
While also asking under what conditions the crazy stuff happens…

Decker likes a path with a verge. A verge of trees, a verge of undergrowth, a verge of lawn.

When we walk along a verge, he sniffs and potters steadily, checking in, sniffing and pottering.

If we want to increase specific behaviours, we can recreate the conditions under which these behaviours happen. Visualise what it looks like when the dog is doing these behaviours…what’s the picture?

More open space, particularly grassland and long grass, or water…any water… and that picture starts to look a whole lot crazier and more active. He still gets to do that, these behaviours are important too and his behavioural health matters as well.

Understanding the conditions under which steady sniffing and pottering happens means we can do lots of that by going to those places, by being in those pictures.
And we can intersperse that picture with the other too, for some relief, for release and just for fun.

Instead of thinking in terms of the behaviours you don’t like, think of the behaviours you want to see…and then learn about the conditions under which they happen. Go there, do that. Be in those pictures.

To Book: IVBAed@gmail.com

I wear many hats, and have always done so, in this industry. Over the years, for various reasons, I’ve really focused my energies where they will be most effective and ultimately, will contribute to improvements to welfare. Plus, at this stage of the game, I’m only interested in working with really cool people who share these same goals and achieving them through true collaboration.

That’s why I’m really only involved with one industry organisation now…and that’s IVBA, the Irish Veterinary Behaviour Association.

I’m lucky to be the vice-chair of IVBA and part of the organisation’s Education Committee. We get to put together an educational program of resources for our members and I particularly love our From Paper to Practice series.

I can’t wait for our next webinar on Monday 19th May at 7.30pm (Irish time)! T o book: IVBAed@gmail.com

Lauren Novack MSc ACDBC KPA-CTP FPPE is joining us to discuss her published thesis, “The Science and Social Validity of Companion Animal Welfare: Functionally Defined Parameters in a Multidisciplinary Field” as part of our From Paper to Practice series.

We all aim to base our work in the most reliable evidence available, but determining the validity of available evidence can be challenging. Join us to look at the intersection between animal welfare & evidence based behaviour interventions for companion animals. Join us for free on 19th May!

This webinar is free for everyone and the recording will be available for members only. More about joining IVBA here.

Our wonderful speaker, Lauren Novack, has co-authored a book chapter with Dr Fernandez (who did a webinar for us last year on his LIFE model) and they’re sharing a pre-print. Download here.

The chapter, which functions as an extension of Dr Fernandez’s former LIFE model, goes into greater detail about the history of both training ethics and welfare, as well as how the behavioral and welfare sciences connect to improve the lives of animals.

To talk more about this important topic, join us for our webinar on Monday!

Book: IVBAed@gmail.com

Oh! And tell your friends…the more the merrier! Plus it’s free!

As is its way, and why I avoid it as much as possible, dog-trainer social media continues to promote polarisations. That our field of behaviour, the epitome of nuance, relies on such media for the dissemination of information is boggling.

Yes/no, nevers/always, while staples of social media, don’t really work in discussions of behaviour. The fetch-is-a-force-for-good/evil debate has been resurrected of late with the sharing of recent posts discussing the evils, and polar opposite responses promoting the good…

(I’ve even written about it before: Find It! & Fetch Can Live Together.)

This piece is just under 1500 words but there’s a second part to read too, with lots of ideas for refining fetch games here, and that’s just under 2000 words.
Settle down and dive in!

If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance…

This most latest flurry is inspired by a post that starts with a definitive statement directed toward all dogs, with an ‘always’ stuck in for good measure.

When we see posts like this, it’s a good idea to search for criteria for pseudoscience, for writings that use lots of sciencey sounding terms, with a pinch of accuracy, but a whole lot of bamboozling.

Professing certainty and the committing of many logical fallacies abounds, with claims that this is the only source of truth on this topic to top it off.

A common theme of these sorts of arguments will include many references to neurotransmitters. Individual neurotransmitters are not “good” or “bad” and dogs don’t need -detox from <insert neurochemical here>.
Neurochemicals interact and we can’t look at a dog’s behaviour and diagnose which singular neurotransmitter is in play…that’s not how this works. Neuroscience doesn’t come ‘dumbed-down’, and understanding the complexities of neurotransmitter actions extends far beyond textbook definitions of their functioning.

When arguments include references to fuzzy concepts like “drive”, it’s time for caution. And when terms are used without explanation or context, like “compulsive” or “obsessive”, it demonstrates a lack of understanding of meaning and application.

But those dogs sure look “obsessed“

We have selected for specific canine motor patterns in different dog populations to create breeds and types of dogs that do jobs for us.
Our selection has increased different dog-types’ sensitivity to certain types of environmental stimulation, raising arousal in anticipation of the challenges associated with efficient switching into workmode.

We have shaped dogs’ arousal systems to become activated under various conditions to prepare and support their body during the challenges and exertions of working.

These motor patters are neurologically cheap and highly motivated behaviours. And when dogs are under high stress, or in conditions that allow them to anticipate raised arousal, dogs will show these behaviours that might include predatory sequence responses, certain social behaviours including some play and sexual related behaviours.

According to the Yerkes-Dodson model of arousal, simple behaviours are best suited to high arousal, while complex behaviours are better performed under lower arousal. With rehearsal and rehearsal, behaviours can become more efficiently demonstrated.

Repetitive fetch behaviours appear ritualised, repetitive patterns of behaviours – each round looks the same, and the behaviours are repeated over and over. The Limbic arousal required to hone that focus on the ball and to support the body’s exertion contributes to the apparent intensity and ritualised nature of these responses in many dogs.

But that doesn’t make it “obsessive” or “compulsive” and it certainly doesn’t mean this will become a “compulsive disorder”. Abnormally repetitive behaviours (ARB) fulfill specific criteria and include specific actions that affect quality of life.

The B-word

Balance has become a bit of a dirty word in some dog training sects, just like the F-word…
So let’s balance the issues on fetch…

• Benefits of physical exercise: dogs need to move
• Is arousal “bad”?
• Life is not without risk
• Is fetch play?
• Find the balance

Dogs need to move

The benefits of regular, exerting exercise are well known and accepted.

Moderate exercise is associated with all sorts of biological effects contributing to elevated mood. Daily, free-choice exercise leads to sustained enhancement of serotonin metabolism, providing immunization to negative stress-effects.
(Dey et al, 1992) (Dey, 1994) (Chaouloff, 1997)

Dogs need physical exercise and adolescents particularly need opportunities to move and hone their developing physicality.
Dogs also need opportunities to move freely within their world, deciding, as much as is safe, how they interact with and explore their environment.

Reduced physical activity contributes to degenerations in physical and behavioural health in dogs.

Lower levels of activity are associated with the development of social fears (Puurunen et al, 2020) (Tiira & lohi, 2015), and non-social fears, such as fears of startling stimuli or loud noises in Dogos in Tami et al, 2008, and aggressive & anxious responding (Lofgren et al, 2014).

(In Puurunen et al, 2020, lower activity levels are defined as less than two hours per day.)

Is excitement good? Is arousal bad?

Humans tend to interpret dogs’ excitement as happiness. And we attempt to ‘tire our dogs out’ with lots of exerting exercise. Most guardians believe that their tired dog is good, and prefer a quiet dog.

Exertion requires increases in arousal and increased cortical inhibition so the dog is responding with arousal-related behaviours more efficiently. This arousal feels good, and dogs will put themselves in these situations to get their fix.

But is that “bad”?

High-octane isn’t without risk…but then, what is?

Repetitive exerting exercise like fetch or high-octane dog-dog interactions may present risks in a couple of ways, for example:

• reduces sensitivity to pain, discomfort, and social stimuli
  Dogs all wound up may not listen to their body and may not listen to communications from other dogs setting them up to rehearse inappropriate social behaviour.
• rapid deceleration and sudden turns may be damaging to the musculoskeletal system, particularly in growing dogs (Newton et al, 1997) (Qi & Changlin 2006) (Vasan 1982)
• increased arousal lowers inhibitions and abilities to respond to ‘trained’ behaviours and guardians may find it more difficult to build responsiveness, possibly resorting to aversive approaches of control
• lots of running, chasing and biting may not really be play…

Is fetch play?

Play between humans and dogs is wonderfully enjoyable for both species and beneficial to relationship building and resilience (Rooney & Bradshaw, 2002).

While we often refer to fetch games as ‘play’, do they fit the bill? True play involves specific interactions, a dance of communication and conflict resolution. (Burghardt, G. M. (2005). The genesis of animal play: Testing the limits. MIT press.)

If your interactions with your dog can be replaced by a mechanical arm, I dare say we are not looking at true play.

For fetch games to be play, interaction and the ‘dance of play’ must be present. 

Balance & the F-Word

It’s our job to support our dogs in developing behavioural repertoires that allow them to flourish and keep them safe and healthy.

We have selected dogs to show arousal related behaviours efficiently and have now decided that’s not acceptable anymore… because it doesn’t suit us.
What a cruel trick we play on dogs!

Recognise that over half the pet dog population being over-ideal-weight is a significant threat to canine welfare (Suarez et al, 2022). High proportions of dogs are not provided with daily exercise and even fewer with intentional enriching additions to their life and world (PDSA Paw Report).

Rather than punishing guardians’ attempts at providing for their dogs, instead, we should shape their efforts by refining fetch and exerting exercise to more completely support their dogs’ behaviour health…ROLLERCOASTERS!  

Arousal isn’t “bad”, it’s necessary, and is really an incomplete model. Find the balance.

Be a better human guide!

The renouncing of exercise as a primary approach to “behaviour modification” goes back in time in dog-training history. And there continues all sorts of movements to slow dogs down, to compare them to poorly validated ‘observations’ of free-living dogs (which is a false equivalence) and to maintain that sniffing provides just as much exertion as running around.

There is nuance to be found in all of these claims. But we are so resistant to allowing our dogs get excited and frightened of “overarousal”.

If the dog can manage themselves and we can balance their outlets, let them be. If not, get help.

If you’re concerned about a dog’s fetch-related behaviours, be a better teach and establish clearer stimulus control. This provide clarity, and improves predictability and controllability for our dogs.

Provide balance and design appropriate enrichment interventions based on valid evidence, and through listening to the individual dog. Their behaviour is information.

Now it’s time to check out lots of ideas for how you can refine ball-play, make it more like true-play, find the balance and inject some nuance: Fun with Find It! Not Just Fetch.

Dogs are the most gloriously uninhibited creatures.
Don’t suppress or manage this out of them. Be a better human-guide & find the balance!

 “I think we are drawn to dogs because they are the uninhibited creatures we might be if we weren’t certain we knew better…”
~George Bird Evans

I will preface this by clearly stating that I love longlines, I use them regularly, but like all tools, care is required in their use and application.

Longlines are, essentially, just very long leads usually made of similar materials and fashioned in similar ways. Whereas leads are generally 5 or 6 feet long, or shorter, longlines tend to be from about 5m and up.

Clip link

Clip link

I’ve handled longlines thousands of times, and, I’ve taught longline handling skills to hundreds of handlers because there are different and more challenging skills required, particularly the longer the line is.

And yet, when faced with more permanent longline use myself, I’m grappling…but probably not as much as my dog…

Grappling

For pretty much his entire life, Decker’s been off lead while out and about. We’ve work hard and he has always been exceptionally engaged and responsive; his is the best recall I’ve ever trained to any animal I’ve worked with.

Decker is 13 years old and completely deaf, but continues to be pretty active and gung ho. That means in dynamic environments, where we are most days, being off lead just isn’t safe anymore. We’ve found that a 15m longline works best and he is rarely at the end of a line this long. I follow him about as best I can so restriction isn’t too impactful.

Clip link

Clip link

There are plenty of complexities to grapple with when using long lines, with active dogs in dynamic environments.

Clip link

Feeding the line and keeping it up and coiled can help to manage the length, avoiding tangles and getting caught. But I feel it adds further constraints to the dog’s free movement.

Clip link

Not to mention my constantly muddy hands…

Clarity or lack thereof

The real challenge with longline use, however, is it functioning as part of communication.

What does pressure on the line cue?
What does it cue your dog to do?
What does it cue you to do?

Clip link

Does pressure mean to stop or slow down?

Clip link

Does pressure mean to change direction or re-engage?

Clip link

When the line gets caught on something, he pulls to free it. Maybe pressure just means pull harder…

But more importantly, how would the dog know the difference?

The more line we have, the more options there are. And this becomes especially important when the line is really the only effective way to cue the deaf dog’s behaviour.

Clip link

With a shorter line or lead (in the clip above, it’s 5m long), it’s easier to be clearer. As the line grows so can confusion.

Maintain a consistent length of line under different conditions, e.g. in more open areas versus busier areas. Tie knots along the line to cue your responses.
Practice directional cues and distributing pressure consistently to cue changes in direction or engagement.

Along with developing line-handling skills, we must also work to maintain clarity with line pressure and what that might be cueing for both ends.
Clarity in teaching is a welfare issue so be clear and consistent!

Join us for this free IVBA webinar on taking an evidence based approach to recognising pain and compensation.

Event details:

Monday 3rd March, 8pm (ROI time/GMT) via Zoom

Recognising Pain & Compensation: an evidence-based approach with Anna Lee Sanders CPCFT, Canine Conditioning Coach

It’s great that there is increased recognition for the effects of pain on canine welfare and behaviour. However, not all resources are evidence-based, and when it comes to pain and welfare, taking a truly evidence-based approach is a must.

This webinar will emphasise understanding how to apply an evidence-based approach to recognising pain, discomfort and signs of compensation in dogs. You will learn how to teach simple ‘conditioning exercises’ that allow accurate information gathering in the assessment of a dog’s load-bearing and movement.

This is a fully interactive and collaborative event, and we welcome your full participation. This webinar is perfect for all veterinary roles, those in training & behaviour roles, anyone training in dog-sports, and all dedicated dog-guardians.

You must book so please get your spot today to attend this event live and for free – email IVBAed@gmail.com and I will send you all the details.

This event is free for all to attend live and the webinar recording is available for IVBA members.

Join Anne from AniEd and lots of Border Collie experts for The Border Collie Summit 3.0 from Dingbatt Dog Training. And the best bit, it’s free to sign up!

Border Collies and BC mixes are super common, and we see a lot in rescue here. This is such an opportunity, even if you don’t have a Border Collie, to learn more and better understand dogs.

I was invited to discuss one of may favourite topics: building muzzle LOVE…not just muzzle training but building real joy and comfort while wearing a muzzle. Muzzle training, and muzzle LOVE, is for all dogs and makes a great teaching exercise providing so much learning for you and your dog.

Sign up today here!

Over the last week or so there has been much online and mainstream chat about cherry tomatoes taking over Bin’s Bridge in Drumcondra, Dublin. This appears to have started on TikTok when somebody noticed some cherry tomatoes that had been left on the wall. And for unknown reasons, it took off from there.

From the relative niche-ness of TikTok, its popularity soon saw this story picked up by mainstream media:

Just a simply bizarre and glorious story about humans and our weird and wondrous ways.
Of course, this was shared and shared and even became claimed as a tourist attraction likely owing to the international reach of social media within relevant demographics.

While this is all quite silly, and doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, this, to me anyway, is exactly what social media is supposed to do. It can bring us together, promote connection, linking us together through inconsequential but ultimately meaningful commonalities. Things that matter, but don’t really matter at all.

TV in the noughties

Way back in the late 90s, trainer-social-media was really taking off in the form of listservs and Yahoo groups. Spurred on by moves to advance our field, and via contributions from the recently departed Karen Pryor, teaching animals was being approached from a much more scientific manner. And as we moved into the noughties, these groups of trainers were further united in our objections to the meteoric rise of TV training styles, spear headed by Cesar Millan.

Millan’s dog whispering didn’t bring any thing new, we had seen it all before, but it was his TV stardom and massive reach that really was set to push our advances back by decades.

Rising social media communities diverged because this is actually what social media is really good at: polarisation.

Trainer-Wars

While humans have always been tribal and willing to identify differences between groups, and then fight about it, trainer-social-media has certainly amplified our differences, bringing us further and further from understanding and growth.

Fast forward to today, 2025, and social media has continued to expand, and so too has trainer-social-media.

Use it wisely

The reach of social media across our industry has become so extensive that it appears to be a primary tool of communication, of connection, and most concerningly, of dissemination, in our young industry.

By its very nature, sharing is what social media is about but to be used wisely, safely and effectively, there needs to be a heavy dose of critical thinking applied to…everything.

With all this information available and everywhere, I’m expecting to see more knowledgeable and skilled professionals, and more knowledgeable guardians. I am seeing neither.

What I do see are many, particularly, newer trainers (those who have come of age within this social media world) latching onto online gurus, perpetuating the newest and shiniest idea, and the rehashing of established terms and concepts in many inaccurate ways.

Back in those early trainer-social-media days, we talked about TV not being a great medium for our type of dog training. There would be so much too-boring-for-TV left on the cutting room floor, that we couldn’t really show the extent of our work in 45 minutes framed around adverts.

Today, consuming content is an even more concise affair. Fast cuts, reels and shorts, still lend themselves to teaching that relies heavily on suppression, a quick fix.

Social media deals in absolutes, always’ & nevers, and that’s what builds polarisation so beautifully. But this has led to a loss of a lot of the nuance of behaviour…and behaviour is all about nuance.

When we get sucked into social media as a source of information and education, we think we are making choices, that we are calling the shots. But we are not. As we scroll and tap, we put more money into the pockets of billionaires, and facilitate selling of agendas, the latest and greatest, and of course, every new and shiny idea and product.

For all sorts of reasons, and a global pandemic being a big one, short form education has become the norm and go-to. I am not impressed by lists of all the webinars and one or two day events trainers have attended – this so often correlates with a professional jumping on every Instagram band-wagon, tagging and being tagged in the ever looping echo chambers, and lacking the nuance in application of solid and evidence backed concepts that are seemingly inaccurately understood.
We need joined up thinking, we need nuance, and we need to understand what evidence-based actually means, and how to apply it.

Step away

At AniEd, we are trying to set pretty clear boundaries regarding our use of social media and our manipulation of those trends, particularly those targeting newbie trainers.
The tools that so-called influencers use to sell are regularly adopted by social media trainers, desperate to promote their wares. AniEd won’t be producing all those egocentric and disingenuous “talking head” clips, we won’t be tagging all our supporters ad nauseum, we won’t be adding to the echo chamber confirming our own biases.

It is possible to be a successful and effective dog trainer without social media; I have many colleagues doing just that.
And it’s also possible to use social media carefully and judiciously, while also succeeding and remaining healthy, while building an industry that requires so much ethical input.

Go outside. Read a book.

I’m not suggesting that trainers abandon social media. It’s an important marketing tool and particularly useful for building community.
But I think it’s important that we recognise its flaws and failings, and avoid getting sucked in, which is of course, how it’s designed to do.

There is an entire world of biology, behaviour sciences and canine sciences that have not been bastardised by trainer-social-media.

For our learners, I strongly encourage getting away from social media, reading original research and not just the stuff that accrues the most shares or confirms our strong trainer biases. Read books from way back before trainer-social-media took hold.
I encourage developing critical thinking skills and understanding what evidence-based really means…because I don’t see a lot of that throughout trainer-social-media.

Have social media as your background, it’s not the real world. We can advance our industry by making real connections, by critiquing sensibly, by building training communities based in evidence and ethics, and actual welfare. By being free of algorithms, scrolling, notifications, echo-chambers and so much talking to camera.
Go outside, breathe the air, stand up straight, and train all the dogs, not for likes and follows but for the joy intrinsically found in connecting with dogs and learning as much from them.