Pawplexity Pawdcast

E11: Why everyone has an opinion about your dog

Bruce watched a fully grown Rottweiler growl once at four-month-old Judge and had to trust it was the right thing happening. Ben has stopped trying to change how his dad handles two much bigger dogs off-leash near a blind corner, even after one of them nearly took his dad's finger off. Makenzie can't always talk herself down out of a tense moment with another dog, no matter how many off-leash owners insist she'll figure it out on her own. None of them are describing bad advice. They're describing the moment they had to decide, alone, whether it was even meant for their dog. This is a conversation about where dog advice actually comes from, and what happens to it once someone has had a dog long enough to have opinions of their own. Judge was a few months old the first time he met Trigger, a fully grown Rottweiler belonging to Bruce's best friend. Trigger's owner told Bruce beforehand not to worry, that Trigger would growl once and that would be the whole message. Bruce believed her and was still afraid watching the two dogs meet, Judge so small next to him. Trigger growled once. Judge understood immediately, and neither dog needed the lesson twice. The conversation moves through where ideas like pack order and "showing them who's boss" actually came from, and how much of that thinking the research has already moved past. Through why people trust their own judgment over someone else's almost automatically, and how differently that plays out for someone on their first dog versus their third. Through the particular kind of confidence that builds once a dog has been part of the same household for years, and what that confidence quietly stops noticing. Once you're sure enough to stop asking, how do you know you haven't also stopped listening? Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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E10: Two dogs and what really changes

Bruce got Max, a Chihuahua, as a birthday gift he hadn't asked for; he says now he'd never have chosen the breed himself, and that his vet is more wary of Chihuahuas than German Shepherds because of what she calls the little dog complex. Ben watched Bowie walk into a household with three bigger dogs and decide, within days, that he was in charge, taking whatever he wanted from dogs three times his size and never once being challenged for it. Makenzie has talked me out of a sibling more times than either of us can count, most recently by screaming in terror when a cat casually walked past her. None of the three of us added a second animal because the timing or the planning lined up. This is a conversation about what actually happens to a household, and to the dogs already in it, when another one arrives. Bruce's household grew one animal at a time, mostly by accident: Nipsey the cat, rescued off the street on a hot August day; Max, a birthday gift he hadn't asked for; Patches, taken in from a cat colony during a cold winter and still too scared to leave the bedroom months later. Judge, his first dog, turned out to be the aggressor with Nipsey rather than the one who needed protecting, chasing her under the bed for days at a time before they settled into an order of their own. The conversation moves through Ben's early mistake of feeding Bowie separately from the bigger dogs, convinced he needed protecting, before realising Bowie never needed it at all. Through the week Ben's other dog spent bonding with Kane, the German Shepherd, before he could even move in. Through my own case for keeping Makenzie an only dog: the naps that now run for hours, the cat she's more frightened of than curious about, and how quickly she can tip from fine to not fine with nothing in between. The decision looked straightforward from the outside. From the inside, it rarely is. Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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T1: The dog you pictured and the one that arrived

This is the Pawplexity Treat for episode 1: The Dog You Pictured and the One That Arrived. Written and read by Annika. Bruce wanted anything but a Pomeranian. He came home with one anyway, after Tatiana touched the glass and the puppy inside woke up licking her fingertip. Ben bought a crate too large for Bowie, heard what he describes as a human-like scream on the first night, and ended up with his head inside it until Bowie fell asleep. The Treat moves through what those first weeks actually asked of all three of us: research on predictability and perceived control, the physiological stress a puppy can carry even while looking settled, and what a puppy's zoomies are actually asking for. We had each pictured a dog we thought we were ready for. What arrived were three dogs who'd already started reading us, long before we worked out how to read them back. Curious to go deeper? Here's the real research behind this Treat: „Human analogue safe haven effect of the owner: behavioural and heart rate response to stressful social stimuli in dogs" | Gácsi et al. (2013): An owner isn't just company. In this study, dogs facing a threatening stranger had a far smaller heart-rate spike simply because their person stayed in the room. „The influence of predictability and controllability on stress responses to the aversive component of a virtual fence" | Kearton et al. (2020): Not a dog study at all — sheep, actually — but it's the closest thing I found to an answer for a question that kept nagging at me: is knowing what's coming enough, or do you also need to feel able to do something about it? „Physiological stress reactivity and recovery related to behavioral traits in dogs (Canis familiaris)" | Lensen, Moons & Diederich (2019): Some dogs' stress markers were still elevated forty minutes after the stressful moment had ended, not just ten. Those were also the dogs more likely to struggle with fear, other dogs, or training, a reminder that "calm-looking" and "recovered" aren't always the same thing. Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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E9: About the walk and the leash

Judge lunged for a passing bus in New Jersey, and Bruce jerked the leash back with maybe a second to spare. Bowie sprinted for a pond full of ducks so fast that not even Ben's voice could call him back. Makenzie used to get her recall for free in Seattle, riding a pack of other dogs home; in London, with no pack and no dog park left, the walk itself had to become the whole point. In all three households, the leash was never just about the dog on the other end of it. This is a conversation about the walk in its entirety: the leash, the route, and what happens the moment it comes off. Judge's story runs the full length of it. A trainer recommended a pinch collar when he was a puppy, certain it wouldn't hurt him. The first time he ran and hit the end of it outdoors, he choked and coughed for an hour. Bruce switched him permanently to a front-clip harness, and still keeps him on a leash on every walk except the dog park, where letting him off once meant half an hour spent unable to get him back at all. The conversation moves through the pressure a pulling collar puts behind a dog's eye and not only the throat, something none of us had thought about until Judge's choking scare. Through the two-harness trick I read about, one harness signalling a five-minute errand and the other a real walk. Through the on-leash-dog-is-never-at-fault principle that keeps Judge leashed everywhere except the dog park, and Bowie's one blind spot, a pond full of ducks. Through what changed for Makenzie once a walk in London stopped being just a way to get somewhere. If the leash comes off, does the responsibility come off with it? Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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E8: When you have to correct your dog

Judge, three-quarters through one of Bruce's notebooks, freezes mid-chew the moment he hears a single stern word. Bowie, caught mid-heist with a treat several sizes too large for his diet, drops it instantly when Ben says his name, then goes and buries a smaller one in the garden for later. Makenzie tucks the evidence of her nightly treat runs under a pillow and gets away with it until the smell gives her away. Three different dogs, three different corrections, and none of the three people holding the leash are entirely sure why the ones that work, work. This is a conversation about the moment itself: what actually happens when a dog does something it shouldn't, and how a person responds in the seconds that follow. Bruce is certain Judge knows exactly when he's crossed a line. There's video evidence: Judge, caught with a fresh hole chewed into the couch, scooting himself over the stuffing before Tatiana can spot it. Bruce has rewatched the footage more than once, looking for proof his dog felt something like guilt, and he is fairly convinced he has found it. The conversation moves through whether dogs actually understand what they've done wrong or only appear to, what the so-called guilty look might really be tracking, how being the strict one in a house with four dogs changes the sound of a correction entirely, and what a sharper-than-usual no costs a relationship in the hours after. What is a dog actually reading, in the half-second before the word even arrives? Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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E7: Socialisation and the world our dogs grew up in

Judge grew up before COVID in a house with a backyard and learned to go on concrete for the first time when he moved to London. Bowie was a pandemic puppy in Canada who ended up better socialised than most, because during lockdown the parks were full and it was the only place anyone could go freely, then moved to a farmhouse in England and laid down the social order the day he arrived. Makenzie arrived in London at eleven months and stopped on her first time out, held in place by the Canary Wharf wind tunnel, and couldn't go to the bathroom there for weeks. In all three cases, the world each dog had been prepared for was not the one waiting for them. This is a conversation about what socialisation actually builds, and what it can't anticipate. I used to have a checklist for Makenzie: the vacuum, the washing machine, the car door, all introduced on my own terms. What it didn't cover was a dog approaching before she'd seen it coming, on its own timing, the moments no checklist could prepare either of us for. About a year and a half ago I started stepping in between her and whatever was approaching instead, showing her I was there to handle it rather than leaving her to work it out alone. It's changed how quickly she moves past those moments now. The conversation moves through Judge's first flight in the cabin as a trained service dog, and his refusal to go to the bathroom until he had made it past customs. Through Bowie telling his new farmhouse pack he was in charge within days of arriving. Through the idea I brought into the conversation myself: a dog who gets to feel a hard moment through and recover from it comes out the other side more capable than one who is kept from ever meeting one. Can a dog be socialised for a world that no longer exists? Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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E6: Beyond the breed: the dog you actually live with

Bruce wanted a Rottweiler and came home with Judge, a Pomeranian he had not intended to buy, after Tatiana touched the glass of his puppy pen and Judge woke up and licked her fingertip. Ben wanted a Husky and got a Pomsky who walks up to Kane, the German Shepherd he lives with, presses a squeaky toy directly into his face at close range, and waits. Makenzie, before she was vaccinated, stood outside the small dog park opposite our building every day, pressing against the fence and wanting to get in. At four months old she was finally allowed, went straight to the Great Dane in the corner that the other dogs had been avoiding for weeks, and began chasing him wildly around the park. None of the three of us ended up with the dog the breed description promised. This is a conversation about what actually predicts a dog's personality, and how little of it turns out to be the breed. It took Trigger, a Rottweiler, a single low growl to teach Judge exactly where his boundaries sat, and Judge came home from that friendship with a habit he'd never had before: scraping the ground after he goes, something he'd only ever seen Trigger do. The conversation moves through Bowie ending up on top in a house of three bigger dogs, Kane taking Bowie's whole head into his mouth in play and never once closing down on it. Through Pomeranians once being kept, in 1970s and 80s Cologne, as older ladies' lap dogs, more toy than companion, a long way from a dog willing to bark at strangers twice his size. Through everything the Shiba Inu warnings had told me to expect, and how little of it prepared me for the dog who actually walked in: stubborn in exactly the way described, and not much else the reading got right. If the breed doesn't tell you who your dog is, what does? Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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E5: When your dog doesn't eat

Judge stopped eating this week. Bruce was away, Judge spent it at daycare and did not enjoy it, and now Bruce is home and Judge is mad at him. Ben switched Bowie's food so many times that he started handing rejected bags off to neighbours in Toronto when Bowie decided he was done; now, alone in the flat, Bowie's food can sit untouched for an hour, and at his cousins' place with three other dogs eating alongside him, he finishes it immediately. Makenzie eats from a bowl that is held, at the right height, by a person who stays. In all three households, the bowl was never just about the food in it. This is a conversation about what actually changes when a dog stops eating the way we expect. I tried meatballs spaced across the plate, tried spoon-feeding, tried every food including one from a Seattle shop I could watch them cook through the window. I followed Makenzie through the flat with her bowl in my hands for weeks, adjusting the temperature, the topper, the room, certain the right version had to exist. Then one evening I knelt on the floor with the bowl on my lap instead of carrying it after her, and she came and sat down and ate. The food hadn't changed. I had stopped walking away. The conversation moves through what owners consistently report about a dog's appetite tracking their emotional state more than their menu. Through the research on how much individual dogs differ in food motivation, and how little that variation has to do with what's actually in the bowl. Through Bruce coming home to a dog who isn't ready to forgive him yet, and Bowie eating instantly surrounded by his cousins after ignoring the same food alone. Sometimes what the bowl is asking for has nothing to do with what's in it. Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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E4: Leaving your dog alone

Ben has three phrases he uses with Bowie. "Won't be long" means a few hours. "See you soon" means a few days. If he says "see you soon," Bowie goes under the sofa. Bruce backs out of the apartment facing inward, playing goalie, because the moment Tatiana opens the door Judge makes a run for it. Makenzie's angry zoomies start before the door has even closed, the tense kind, targeting you, body-slamming, and she mirrors whoever is leaving, which means if I am anxious about going, she already knows. In all three households, the leaving has begun before anyone has gone anywhere. This is a conversation about what happens on both sides of the door. Bruce backs out of every departure facing inward, playing goalie, and it hasn't always worked. Tatiana came home once to a couch gutted from the inside, stuffing across the floor, and found Judge lying on the bed with his paw laid deliberately over the hole. When she moved him to look, he scooted himself further across it, still trying to keep the evidence covered. The conversation moves through what dogs are actually responding to when someone leaves, the duration or the emotional state carried to the door. Through the cameras: Ben watching Bowie pace in the cinema and finding it made things worse, not better, to watch. Through a friend who forgot her dog for an entire workday, came home dreading the worst, and found her fast asleep on the couch. Which side of the door settles first? Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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E3: We are going to the vet

Judge peed on Bruce's leg on the examination table. From nerves, in a dog who is otherwise excellent about where he goes. Ben gave Bowie the wrong human allergy medication, Reactine Complete instead of plain Reactine, and spent two days calling the emergency vet at 6am while Bowie's pupils stayed fully dilated. Makenzie runs out the moment she is done, stops at the door, takes a breath, and then turns back. Three dogs, three clinics, and in all three the visit asked something the appointment did not prepare anyone for. This is a conversation about what actually happens in the room, for the dog and for the person on the other end of the lead. We talk about the dog who looks fine on the table and what that compliance is actually made of. About Makenzie's hip dysplasia diagnosis, and the seven vets who said surgery immediately, and the eighth who said no. About the physiotherapist in the US who asked questions none of the previous vets had raised, and what changed when those questions went back to the vet in London. About finding that Makenzie is calmer at the vet when I am not in the room, and what that changed about what I thought presence was doing. The conversation moves through what fear looks like in a clinic when it does not look like fear. Through what it means to advocate for a dog who cannot speak to the vet directly. Through the moment the list of options is placed in front of you and you are expected to decide. The vet lists the options and waits. What we carry into that pause is rarely just the question we came with. Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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E2: The instructions we leave for our pet sitters

Bruce had nine steps for Judge. Most of them were about possession aggression: don't leave bags unzipped on the couch, don't leave anything at dog height, have something he really wants ready if he gets hold of something he shouldn't. The pet sitter read them as a warning. What Bruce had written was everything he had learned about the situations where Judge's instincts run ahead of his judgement. Ben worked in dog daycare in Toronto and picked up a dog called Justice by throwing a towel over her before scooping her up, because otherwise she would bite. Once out of the apartment, she was social, relaxed, and sat on his lap the entire ride. Makenzie has spreadsheets, PowerPoints, and a dog walker in London who needed none of it. In all three households, the notes are trying to do something a list cannot. This is a conversation about what those notes are actually for. I have spreadsheets for Makenzie, colour-coded by situation, more detail than any dog walker has ever asked for. None of it explained what actually worked. What worked was Kasha, our walker in London, who never read a single page and whose only instruction was her own calm, steady presence. Makenzie followed her within minutes, no negotiation asked for or given, the same dog who reads every other stranger's intentions in half a second and rarely gives an inch. The conversation moves through what it looks like when a dog appears fine at drop-off and cannot rest once there, the daycare that did everything right and still cost Makenzie more in a day than she could recover from. Through what stress research says about dogs who look like they're coping and are not, and what changes in a nervous system when the one person it trusts most is gone. Through the sitters who read a room without a single instruction, and the ones who had every step written down and still missed what the dog needed. The longer the notes get, the more they are trying to hand over the relationship itself. Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com

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E1: Our truth about puppyhood

Bruce walked into a pet store looking for a Rottweiler and came out with Judge, a Pomeranian, having paid more than double what he'd planned to spend. Ben bought a crate five times too big, put Bowie in it the first night, heard what he describes as a human-like scream, and ended up with his head inside the crate until Bowie fell asleep. Makenzie arrived with strong opinions about her own toilet schedule that turned out, mostly, to be right. In all three households, the puppy we had pictured and the dog that actually arrived were not quite the same animal. This is a conversation about what those first weeks actually asked of us, before we had words for any of it. Bruce's version runs the fullest arc. He'd wanted a Rottweiler, ended up negotiating a price for a dog he hadn't planned to buy, and told himself he had the reading done and a plan in place for the weeks ahead. But then Tatiana touched the glass of the pen where a tiny Pomeranian slept curled up in his own food bowl, and the plan was gone before Bruce had even finished paying for him. The careful, well-researched plan he did have met three sleepless weeks anyway: Judge crying through the first nights, out to the yard twice before dawn, days when nothing about a puppy who looked calm on the surface matched what Bruce and Tatiana were living underneath it. The conversation moves through what a structured routine can actually do for a young dog, and what it cannot. Through Ben's first night with Bowie, the scream, and the month it took before the crate finally felt safe. Through Makenzie's own timetable, stubborn and mostly correct, and what it cost to enforce ours over hers instead. None of us had expected how quickly we'd stop being the ones with the plan. Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com