When we ask people about their ideal dog, the answers usually sound very reasonable. The dog should be healthy. Safe with children. Non-aggressive. Affectionate. Housetrained. Non-destructive when left alone. Not prone to escaping. Ideally medium-sized, with a short, low-shedding or non-shedding coat. It would also be good if the dog were a puppy and came from a shelter or rescue organisation. This is exactly how the ideal dog was described in an Australian study from 2024, involving 337...

When a dog lunges at other dogs, barks at people, growls near the food bowl, pulls toward a bicycle, or barks at the sight of a stranger, the guardian usually wants one thing: for the behaviour to stop. That is understandable. These situations are difficult, embarrassing, exhausting, and sometimes dangerous. The human feels they are losing control. They want to stop the dog quickly, interrupt the reaction, and regain the possibility of simply walking down the street. And sometimes the...

A dog walks at heel. Wags his tail. Looks at the human. Follows cues. Does not protest. Does not bark. Does not move away. “Behaves nicely.” It is very easy to say then: everything is fine. But with dogs, as with humans, what is visible on the outside does not always tell the truth about what is happening inside. A dog may look calm because he really is calm. But he may also look calm because he has frozen. Because he has withdrawn from communication. Because he has learned not to show that...