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

🐾 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

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

🏆 A rather lovely bit of news from Mutts & Mischief… I’m incredibly happy to share that Mutts & Mischief has received a @Quality Business Awards for Best Dog Trainer in Lincoln 2026, with an overall quality rating of over 95%. Awards have never been why I do this work, but I won’t pretend it isn’t rather lovely when the work is recognised. Especially because behind Mutts & Mischief are years of learning, teaching, advocating, questioning, adapting — and, of course, an awful

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

🐾 2am Dog Questions: Does my dog know they’ve done something wrong? You know that look. The lowered body. The ears. The looking away. Perhaps quietly disappearing when you discover the remains of something that definitely used to be a cushion… It can look remarkably like guilt. But rather than assuming our dogs understand that they have broken a human rule, it can be much more useful to notice what they’re responding to right now. A change in our voice. Our facial expression

🧠 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