Just because your dog is comfortable with one person, place or situation doesn’t mean that learning automatically transfers to every similar one. Different movement, distance, smell, location or context can matter. Categories are convenient for humans. Dogs experience the details. 🩵 #dogbehaviour #dogs #themischiefmethod #behaviourmakessense #cookiepushersunited

🌿 Tiny Toxins: Paws Off Plants 🐾 (A little series combining my love of plants and pets 🌿🐶) Today’s tiny check: Elder — the shrub that produces elderflowers and elderberries. Those clusters of tiny flowers and dark berries may be familiar sights in hedgerows and gardens. But they aren’t something we want our dogs helping themselves to. The leaves, stems, bark, roots and unripe berries contain naturally occurring compounds called cyanogenic glycosides. If chewed and digeste

Your dog absolutely smashed it. And it’s incredibly tempting to think: “Right! Let’s make it harder!” But you don’t have to. You can repeat the easy version. You can keep the same distance. You can finish while everyone is still having fun. You can let success simply… be successful. Learning doesn’t require us to continually test whether our dogs can cope with something more difficult. Repeated experiences of feeling safe and successful are valuable in their own right. There’

🐾 2am Dog Questions: Why did my dog suddenly react? “They were absolutely fine five minutes ago!” And they may well have been. But the thing immediately before a reaction isn’t necessarily the whole story. Maybe there was a noise earlier. A difficult interaction. Poor sleep. A frustrating moment. Something uncomfortable in their body. A dog staring from across the road. Then another little thing. And another. Until one seemingly tiny event becomes the moment when their syste

THE MISCHIEF METHOD™ — ADVENTURE ONE IS HERE! What if learning with your dog wasn’t about getting everything right? What if you could explore, experiment, change the plan, make mistakes, celebrate the unexpected and discover what actually works for you and your dog? Welcome to The Mischief Method™ — Adventure One. 10 weeks. One shared adventure. No perfect required. Across ten weeks, we’ll explore listening and observation, choice and agency, curiosity, connection, scent and

Time for our Behaviour Makes More Sense clip: Habituation vs Sensitisation “They’ll get used to it.” But… will they? With habituation, repeated exposure to something that is insignificant or harmless can lead to a decreased response over time. But repeated exposure can also have the opposite effect. With sensitisation, the response becomes stronger. The dog who becomes increasingly worried by a particular sound, increasingly alert to dogs appearing on walks, or increasingly u

Something mischievous is coming… 👀🐾🔍 The Mischief Method™ — Adventure One 10 weeks. No obedience checklists. No chasing perfection. Just you and your dog learning to notice more, understand more, make choices together — and have some mischief along the way. And yes… there are Mischief Medals. 🏅 Adventure One is coming very soon. Fun, Not Formality — Building Connections Through Paws to Play. 🩵🐾 #themischiefmethod #funnotformality #cookiepushersunited #dogs #muttsnmisc

2am Dog Question “My dog can do it perfectly in the kitchen… so why can’t they do it on a walk?” Because learning doesn’t automatically transfer from one environment to another. Your kitchen and the outside world are very different learning environments — different sights, smells, sounds, emotions and distractions. Rather than thinking “but you know this!”, try asking: “Have we practised this version of the behaviour, in this environment, under these conditions?” Dogs aren’t

Behaviour Makes More Sense 🧠🐾 Prediction Error Sometimes, learning happens because something doesn’t happen the way the brain expected. That’s prediction error. A dog anticipates one outcome based on their previous experiences — but something different happens instead. That little mismatch between “what I thought would happen” and “what actually happened” can provide incredibly important information to the brain. And this is one of the reasons simply repeating an experience

🧠 Behaviour Makes Sense: The Amygdala Have you ever wondered why your dog sometimes seems to react before they’ve had a chance to think? One reason may be a small, almond-shaped structure in the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is often described as the brain’s alarm system. Its role isn’t to make your dog obedient or disobedient. Its primary job is to detect potential danger and prepare the body to respond. When the amygdala perceives something as threatening—whether

🧠 Behaviour Makes Sense: Activity-Dependent Synaptogenesis It might sound like a bit of a tongue twister, but activity-dependent synaptogenesis describes something wonderfully simple. The brain builds and strengthens connections based on what it repeatedly does. Every time your dog experiences something, billions of nerve cells (neurons) communicate with one another. When those same neurons are activated repeatedly, the connections between them become stronger and more effic

🧠 Behaviour Makes Sense: Neuroplasticity Neuroplasticity might sound like a complicated scientific word, but the idea behind it is beautifully hopeful. It simply means the brain can change. Every experience your dog has helps shape the pathways inside their brain. The more often a behaviour is practised, the stronger those pathways can become—whether that’s barking at the window, chasing squirrels, or calmly watching the world go by. This isn’t about blame. It’s about unders

It’s easy to compare your dog to the dog you hoped for. The dog you imagined. The dog you see online. Today, try something different. Compare your dog to who they were six months ago. Compare them to where they started. Growth becomes much easier to see when we stop measuring ourselves against perfection. #dogs #dogeducation #dogpsychology #dogbehaviour #dogtraining #cookiepushersunited #gentlereminder

Your dog does not need a perfect guardian. They do not need flawless training plans. They do not need endless patience every single day. They need someone who keeps showing up. Someone who tries. Someone who cares. And if you’re reading this post, chances are you’re already doing far better than you think. #dogs #dogeducation #dogpsychology #dogbehaviour #dogtraining #cookiepushersunited #gentlereminder

It’s easy to compare your dog to the dog you hoped for. The dog you imagined. The dog you see online. Today, try something different. Compare your dog to who they were six months ago. Compare them to where they started. Growth becomes much easier to see when we stop measuring ourselves against perfection. #dogs #dogeducation #dogpsychology #dogbehaviour #dogtraining #cookiepushersunited #gentlereminder

Say Yes More Today, try noticing how often you say: * no * leave it * stop * ah ah Then see if you can replace just ONE moment with guidance instead. Maybe: * scatter treats * redirect to a toy * move the environment * invite sniffing Behaviour change doesn’t always begin with stopping behaviour. Sometimes it begins with changing what the dog can do instead. #onesmallthing #dogs #dogtrainingadvice #cookiepushersunited