Everything on this site comes out of practice. Out of what I have seen work, out of what I got wrong, and out of what I started doing differently afterwards.
Below they are all lined up. Dogs on the left, cats on the right.
I was still quite young when she died, so I cannot remember much about her. But she was there at the start of my life.
Kitty was already there when I was born. A bit of a madam, but very sweet underneath. After we moved she was attacked by a dog in the new street and kept walking back to our old house. We fetched her by car every time, but that route was far too dangerous. In the end she stayed there, with the new owners.
Kitty's son. She had a litter and we kept Simba. He liked to suckle on your clothes.
Left at a boarding kennel and never collected. My first dog with a history.
A ginger tom, and very much an outdoor cat.
Binky came from a litter belonging to friends. I was allowed to pick one and they let the kittens race towards me, which Binky won, although I had long since known I wanted him. Before Mowgli came along I thought I could never love another cat.
She turns sixteen this year. She cannot hear a thing any more and she is seeing less and less, but she is still enjoying herself thoroughly.
A yard dog. She lay outside and the whole neighbourhood came to stroke her. That was the best part of her day, and I think it is why she lived years longer than we had dared to hope.
Came with me when I moved out on my own. He is properly my mate and would happily sit near me all day.
Zowie came alive again when Bo arrived. She started mothering her, and that gave her the push to want to carry on. Bo herself is fairly unsure of things, but also the biggest cuddly bear there is.
I looked after her and saw her get more stressed every time. In the end she stayed.
What walking with Coco changed
This is the part I least saw coming myself.
When I moved out on my own I said I did not want a dog. Too much responsibility, and I did not like walking. I barely went outdoors.
The first was not true, and the second only half. I did not like walking the way I knew it: an hour alongside a dog while nothing else happens. I still find that boring.
Walking with Coco is something else. We work together. I ask things of her along the way, she checks in with me, and there is constantly something going on. It is not an obligation, it is simply enjoyable, and it gives me something to focus on.
And there is something underneath that. I used to be permanently busy with the world around me when I was outside, because I found it stressful. With Coco there, I am busy with her. I wanted to help her so the world felt less frightening, and exactly the same thing happened to me.
That is ultimately what this site is about. Not a dog who does what you say, but two who make something of it together.
What I am not
I am not a certified behaviourist, not an instructor and not a vet. What is written here is not a treatment plan, it is how I do it myself and why.
Bring in someone who can see your dog in person if you are dealing with aggression, with biting where it is serious, with a dog who panics, or with behaviour that suddenly changes out of nowhere. That last one is nearly always a question for the vet first and a trainer second.
That is not hedging. A page on the internet cannot see your dog, and some things you do not solve by reading.
Why this site exists
Because almost everything you find online starts at the behaviour. Your dog pulls, so here is an exercise against pulling. Your dog barks, so here is an exercise against barking.
That works immediately with one dog and not at all with another, and then it is not the exercise that is wrong. Then something underneath is missing.
That is what this is about. First look at what is happening, then where it comes from, and only then what you do about it.