Behaviour
Separation distress, barking, guarding, fear, reactivity and the ordinary problems of living with a dog in a building full of neighbours.
23 articles. Search the full index.
23 articles
Adding a second dog: the honest version
Two dogs alone for eleven hours is two problems, not half of one.
Reading your dog: the signals people miss
A wagging tail is arousal, not consent. Here is the sequence dogs actually use before they growl.
Fireworks and noise phobia: preparing before December
The work that makes New Year survivable happens in September. On the night itself you are only managing.
Barking in an apartment: six causes, six different answers
Shouting at a barking dog is, from the dog's point of view, joining in.
Hybrid working and the dog that cannot cope with Wednesdays
Practise being alone on the days you are at home. It is counter-intuitive and it is the whole fix.
Preparing your dog for a baby
The aim is not for your dog to love the baby. It is for your dog to find the baby unremarkable.
The dog left behind when another pet dies
Often the real change is not sadness. It is eleven hours a day alone for the first time.
The dog that is afraid of people
Dogs love me, said while crouching with a hand out, is pressure rather than friendliness.
Resource guarding: trading instead of taking
The growl is the part you want to keep. A dog that stops warning is more dangerous, not less.
Sharing paths, parks and terraces with everyone else
Access to shared space is granted by consensus, and withdrawn when enough people have a bad experience.
Adolescence: when your trained dog stops being one
The dog chewing your skirting board at eleven months is not the dog you will have at three.
Adopting a rescue dog: the first three days, three weeks and three months
The dog you meet in week one is not the dog you will have. That is normal, and usually good news.
When two dogs in the same house start fighting
Never punish the growl. A dog that learns not to warn goes straight to the bite.
A dog living between two homes
What the dog was missing was never the other house. It was knowing what happens next.
Working breeds in a city flat: the honest version
Almost none of these dogs needed a more active home. They needed a shorter absence.
What actually tires a dog indoors
A dog that worked twenty minutes for its breakfast sleeps through your morning calls.
How much exercise does your dog actually need?
A dog who gets two hours of walking and still cannot settle does not need three hours.
Enclosed dog areas: who they suit, and the etiquette nobody writes down
The dogs whose owners most want a fenced area are often the dogs least suited to one.
Dogs and cats in the same flat
The failures almost always start the same way: both animals in one room on day one, to see how it goes.
Why group dog walks are not always a good idea
Six dogs, one handler, forty-five minutes. Work out how many minutes belong to your dog.
Separation anxiety: the signs owners miss and what actually helps
Destruction at the door is the obvious sign. The quiet ones are the dogs nobody notices until something breaks.
How long can a dog really be left alone?
There is a number people quote. It is roughly right for a roughly average dog, and useless for yours.
The dog that eats faeces
Punishment produces a dog that swallows faster, or waits until you are not looking.
No article matches that search. Try a shorter word, or browse the full index.
Between the articles
Dogs being dogs, in every season.
The practical reading is above. This part is just for the pleasure of it.
The PAWLY journal
New articles, straight to your inbox
One short email when a new article goes live: Luxembourg rules, seasons, behaviour and health. No offers, unsubscribe with one reply.
Reading about it is not the same as covering the day
A free meet & greet takes thirty minutes at your home and commits you to nothing.