Tia can’t be doing with the sloppy stuff, but Troy - oh my goodness!! I’m out for a few hours and after he’s said his hello’s I need a shower! He’s not a drooly breed, but he does give a good workout with his tongue. Tell me about how your dog greets you!

I like to read. Quite a lot. I also love dogs. So it’s probably not a surprise that the two things coincide sometimes. Right now I’m 2/3 of the way through Wonderdog by Jules Howard. There’s lots of books available about interpreting dogs behaviour, but this is the first one I’ve read about how we’ve come to learn how to interpret that behaviour. It’s a bit of a mix between science and history. Not for the faint hearted as the author pulls no punches in the first section about the types of experiments conducted on animals by vivisectionists that hit me emotionally hard. But the author writes from the perspective of a love of animals, we move on to some beautiful stories that had me smiling and reading on. It’s a thought provoking read, I feel I’ve learned something new and it’s given me lots of things to think about as I observe my dogs. I’d love to hear about any books - or films, or anything anyone else has come across that’s made an impression

Tell us how many time you are actually spending outside, with your dog together. Like being in each others presence, doesn't need to be active the whole time 🙃 Does it change with the seasons? Choose what fits you best 🙂

So what do you do when you are out walking and a complete strangers tells you what to do with your dog?🤔 I think it probably depends what they are saying and how they are saying it. Today, Leif wearing his ‘anxious’ raincoat, in the rain of course, we moved off the track to give a man and his off lead smallish dog space. His dog was admittedly very well behaved. Leif was watching his dog, became a little excited and barked. The man stopped and said you need to let him off lead, don’t put him on a lead because he is protecting you. I politely explained that he was hurt by a dog about 2 yrs ago and since then can be reactive.i said that people may not appreciate my dog running up to them off lead and possibly biting or nipping their dog. He again said let him off and walked off. I tried to call to him to suggest we walk together at the secure field but he ignored me. Now I do see his point but how many times have we been really annoyed at the owner who allows this? Has he taken Leif’s breed characteristics and history into account? No he most definitely has not and he has also not considered my abilities to chase after Leif over fields and rivers when he runs off especially as there is livestock in fields🤔I am going to search for this man on FB and call his bluff about the secure field.

Is your dog reactive? Is it sometimes reactive? Will it at times try to self-regulate because something is about to trigger a reaction? Let’s remember that reactivity may not be the barking and lunging that we expect, it could be trying to run away, cowl down and make themselves smaller or even become submissive. Perhaps they have been injured in play and are pre-emptying another incident. My thoughts are, are we reading the signs our dogs are showing us? Or do we just accept that they can be reactive and nothing can be done? I have come to find that Leif does all the usual Lip smacking, almost tip toe, very alert signs, really focused on the oncoming dog. So I ensure that there is Leif’s comfortable distance between us and other dogs. We can then carry on, possibly walking behind the other dog, unless they are coming towards us. I do need to find enough space and at times Leif just watches and we continue our walk. How do you manage reactivity? Are you reading those tells before something happens and taking steps to support?