Category Archives: behaviour

The possible fallout of old-age deafness on our dog

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Theo Stewart

I try to imagine what it must be like for him. Deaf Pickle is now in a silent world – a world in which as a pet dog he has little control. He has no early warning system anymore. Continue reading →

Posted in behaviour, PAWS for Thought, Science & Health | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

You say your dog is ‘a member of the family’. But….

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Theo Stewart

We may say our dog is a ‘member of the family’. But do we really treat him or her like another member of the family? When you come home, do you welcome your teenagers with ecstasy, kissing them and fussing … Continue reading →

Posted in behaviour, Training | 5 Comments

Shades of grey between leadership and giving our dogs autonomy and choice.

Posted on March 8, 2024 by Theo Stewart

So what should it be? Giving our dogs autonomy and choice – or ‘Leadership’? There must be many shades of this grey amongst trainers, behaviourists – and owners/guardians. Continue reading →

Posted in behaviour, choice, PAWS for Thought, Training | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“My Dog Won’t Listen”

Posted on December 26, 2021 by Theo Stewart

How many times do we hear that? We all remember from our school days the Mr. Smith who couldn’t keep control; we all ignored his shouting and ‘discipline’. There were riots in his class. Mr. Smith dished out detentions and … Continue reading →

Posted in behaviour, PAWS for Thought, Training | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Silence is Golden

Posted on October 6, 2021 by Theo Stewart

There is a lot nowadays in books and the media about humans reading the language of dogs, a pioneer of this being Turid Rugaas in her book On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals.  There is less said about how … Continue reading →

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Mental Health and Wellbeing is for dogs too.

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Theo Stewart

In these days of lockdown, we constantly hear about how the mental health of us humans can be affected. Have you thought how many of our dogs live their lives all the time? Eight-week-old puppies deprived company, many older dogs … Continue reading →

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‘Me Too’ for Dogs?

Posted on January 4, 2020 by Theo Stewart

I was lying on the sofa, just thinking, observing my own dogs doing their own thing. They have their casual hello code. They may politely acknowledge a dog they happen to approach or to pass by. Humans however regularly break … Continue reading →

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Shameless anthropomorphism – and why not?

Posted on December 26, 2019 by Theo Stewart

Well, the only reason I can see for avoiding anthropomorphism is it’s impossible to spell. Wikipedia says: Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. For me, in my dog behaviour work, I am teaching dog owners who mostly … Continue reading →

Posted in behaviour, fear | Tagged | 2 Comments

Dog Behaviour Reality Check

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Theo Stewart

LOSING HEART Why do so many clients with fearful or reactive dogs, who often have started off so well, lose heart? The reason is because they just don’t fully accept the time and work that changing fear-based or guarding behaviours … Continue reading →

Posted in behaviour | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Old Person Young Dog

Posted on December 21, 2018 by Theo Stewart

Age is catching up on me fast. A couple of months ago I went to see a lady who described herself on the phone as a pensioner. She sounded elderly (it turned out she was younger than me). I have … Continue reading →

Posted in behaviour, PAWS for Thought | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments