We are all familiar with the expression “Oculi speculum animae”, the eyes are the mirror of the soul. When we look at another person’s eyes, we can tell a great deal about how that person is feeling at that moment: calm, afraid, angry, sad, depressed, disbelieving… and this information helps us modulate our approach. When [...]
After a couple of unfortunate incidents with a neighbour’s dog, Salma has been wary about unknown dogs approaching her. Today, she had a positive learning experience! As we parked to start our walk, from the car parked alongside emerged an Englishman man who lives in Madrid with a young vizsla. The man asked whether they [...]
Sometimes things we do with the best of intentions turn into a problematic situation. When the little feral cat turned up on our doorstep in the midst of torrential rain, providing her with food and shelter seemed like the right thing to do. The consequences of this decision have been far-reaching. Then she had her [...]
Mimi is a 10 year old mini pinscher who came to us with her mother 5 years ago. Unfortunately her mother is no longer with us. Her mother, Ophie, was a stalwart and fearless little dog but her daughter is quite the opposite, fearful and hypersensitive and this has increased since losing her mother who [...]
Our aim is that the animals we work with should be present throughout the activity. Only when the animal is aware of what is going on can he assimilate the experience and learn from it. We must always offer them that crucial "pause" so that they can process the information. For the very same reasons [...]
Of course we can compel animals to (apparently) extinguish undesirable behaviours, but is this really the case? Normally what happens is that the behaviour is covered over and hidden: it becomes less visible. because the consequences for the animal if it does not comply may be more than disagreeable - even violent. The truth is [...]