Blog
Behaviour Blogs
Case Study: Nell the Dog Who Guarded in Kennels and Not at Home
Nell: The Dog Who Guarded in Kennels and Not at Home Nell came in as a stray. Three-year-old, collie cross, no history. Within a week she had a note on her kennel card that said food aggressive, do not approach while eating. What that note was based on was this: a...
Beyond the Swap: What Comes Next for Resource Guarding Dogs
Most of us learned the swap first. The dog has something they shouldn't. You get the chicken, you make the offer, they drop it, you pick the thing up. Everyone breathes out. Swapping is a useful skill and should be part of your approach. But in a busy shelter with...
How is Dog Training and Behaviour Valued?
A study recently carried out by the Royal Veterinary College and funded by Battersea Dogs and Cats Home provided figures on something many of us have been considering for some time now. Namely, that as the cost-of-living crisis goes on, dog owners are gradually...
Blue the GSP
This week we are looking at Blue a beautiful German pointer who has struggled with frustration since coming into the centre. When working with frustration I always consider the 3 Rs to help develop a plan. This is how we approached the three Rs with Blue. Risk...
A Dogs Rescue Journey- Assessing Behaviour
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of rescue work is appropriate assessments, and therefore there is often a lot of attempt to improve best practice. One thing that has been identified as an important part of the assessment process is early identification of...
Evaluating Factors for Returning Dogs
Evaluating factors influencing dog post-adoptive return in a Canadian animal shelter by J R Friend and C J Bench We have previously discuss the important of gathering information and data at the point of handover or return, in order to improve the sucsess of next...
Milo the Resource Guarding Spainel
This Week we are going to discuss Milo the cocker spaniel. Milo was relinquished to a shelter and subsequently rehomed twice, in both homes he had stolen items such as socks and kids’ shoes. When the adopters tried to collect these items from Milo, he showed...
UK Cat Welfare Considerations- An Approach for the Future
With approximately 11 million pet cats in the UK, they are possibly the UK's most popular pet. In 2022, Cats Protection, the UK’s leading cat welfare organisation helped 144,000 Cats and kittens, equating to a massive 400 cats a day. Estimated numbers of cats entering...
Dogs Rescue Journey- Gathering Information from Owners
Relinquishing a dog can be a challenging thing for owners to do and is often full of mixed emotions. Any information provided to us maybe of varied use due to: fear of judgment; concern about what will happen to the dog post relinquishment, particularly in the case of...
Difference between Adopted and Purchased Dogs
Rescue dogs show few differences in behaviour, cognitive abilities, and personality compared with non-rescue dogs. This study looked to determine any difference between behaviour and cognition of dogs from a rescue and non-rescue background. Cognitive tests were...
A Dog Rescue Journey- Intake
Where do our dogs come from? Dogs find themselves in rescue for a variety of reasons, data form the 2022 Dogs Trust annual review showed that Dogs trust, the Uk’s largest dog welfare charity received over 51,000 relinquishment requests. The most common reasons for...
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
"Let him sleep. For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own. Let him swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud.” Albus dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I don’t know about you, but I often wonder what my dog, Jess, is...
A Thought on Canine Frustration
This week we have talked a lot about frustrations, today I just wanted to provide some further context about why it can be so prevalent in shelter. If we consider the oxford dictionary description of frustration “The feeling of being upset or annoyed as a result of...
Development of the Canine Frustration Questionnaire
This week I'm off to The Pet Professional Guild Homeward bound summit, to talk about frustration in shelter dogs, so frustration is going to be SSB theme of the week Questionnaire based Psychometric tools have been developed for assessing behavioural and emotional...
Shelter Cat Sociability
The suitability of rehoming cats from shelters hinges on their sociality towards humans. Often the Cats socialisation history is unknown and whilst there is a structured and validated assessment, it can take a lot of time. This study looked at piloting a quicker...
Development of a Cat Behaviour Issues Assessment Scale
Problem behaviours in cats, such as urine marking, scratching, fear, and problems of cohabitation between cats, can present a potential welfare problem for those affected cats and have a negative impact on the human–animal bond....
Top tips for Reducing Cat Stress on a Shoestring
Stressing Meowt- Cats Protection conference. Top tips for stress on a shoestring- Juliette Jones and Sam Prior from Woodgreen Pets Charity have years of experience working with cats in Shelter. Together they presented on Stress reduction on a shoe string. ...
How Can I Help?
Individual Animal Support
Stuck with a dog in your care? Dog Support Sessions give you an in-depth assessment and a plan that fits your resources — so you feel confident about the next step.
Support your Team
Give your team the skills to match their commitment.. Practical behaviour and training development, so decisions are confident and consistent across your whole team.
Support your organisation
Behaviour and welfare, written down.
Whether your policies need an update or you’re starting from scratch, I help organisations build behaviour and welfare procedures that hold up in practice