Living LANI

15/10/2026

Sometimes the dog everyone else sees isn’t the dog you know at home.

At home, they can switch off. They feel safe. They can settle.

Outside, there are people, dogs, traffic, smells, sounds, movement and expectations coming at them all at once.

And when they struggle, it can look like a behaviour problem.

But instead of asking:
“How do I stop this behaviour?”

Try asking:
“What changes for my dog when we step outside?”

That one question can tell us so much.

Does your dog seem like a completely different dog at home? Tell me below — I’d love to know what changes for them.

14/10/2026

What if your dog's breed is giving you clues you've never thought to look for?

When we look at a dog, we tend to see 'the dog'.

Their face.
Their personality.
Their behaviour.
Their coat.

But after 10 years of working with dogs, I've learned to look a little more closely.
Because breed and genetics can form part of the bigger picture too.

And sometimes even characteristics we might barely think about — including coat characteristics and colour — can make me stop and ask a few more questions.

Not because one breed means one problem.
And certainly not because I believe you can look at a dog and instantly know what's going on.

Quite the opposite.

'They're clues.'

And clues are useful because they give us more questions to ask.

Why does this particular dog respond this way?
Why does something seem to affect them differently from another dog?
What might their history, genetics and individual characteristics be telling us?

This is one of the reasons I don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to dogs.

Two dogs can arrive with what looks like the same problem…
and still have completely different stories.

And that's what fascinates me.

'The individual dog.'

Not just the breed on the paperwork.
Not just the symptom we're trying to change.

'The whole picture.'

Have you ever been told, “That's just because they're a [breed]”… and wondered if there might be more to it than that? Comment below...I'd LOVE to hear your story 🤍

14/10/2026

13/10/2026

How many supplements are sitting in your cupboard right now?🌿

I've worked with dogs whose owners were doing everything they could to help them.

They'd bought the supplements.
Changed the supplements.
Added another one because someone had recommended it.
And another because they'd read something online that sounded promising.

And honestly?

I completely understand it.

When you're worried about your dog, you want to 'do something'.
You want to feel like you're moving closer to an answer.

But this is something I've learned over the years:
More isn't necessarily better.

And a supplement that is wonderful for one dog doesn't automatically mean it's the right thing for another.

So rather than immediately asking:
“What supplement should I give?”

I often want to step back and ask:
“Why am I giving it?”

What are we actually trying to support?
What is the dog showing us?
What else is happening in their world?
And could there be another piece of the puzzle we're missing?

Because supplements can absolutely have their place.
But they're not the whole story.

And after 10 years of working with dogs, I've become much more interested in understanding 'the individual dog' than collecting more things to put in their bowl.

Sometimes the answer isn't another supplement.
Sometimes the answer is taking a step back…
and looking at the bigger picture.

Be honest… how many supplements have you bought because you just wanted to help your dog? I'd LOVE to hear your story, so please do comment below or DM me 🤍

12/10/2026

Have you changed your dog's food… and you're still wondering why they're not quite right?

This is something I've seen so many times over the years.
A loving owner has already done everything they thought they were supposed to do.

Changed the food.
Tried a different food.
Added supplements.
Spent money trying to find the thing that will finally make a difference.

And sometimes those changes really do help.
But sometimes… they don't.

And that's when I think we need to stop asking:
“What's the best food for dogs?”

and start asking:
“What's the right food for THIS dog?”

Because your dog isn't a generic dog.

Their breed, genetics, age, history, environment, behaviour, individual constitution and everything else that makes them *them* can form part of the picture.

Food matters.
But it's only one piece.

And after 10 years of working with dogs, one of the biggest things I've learned is this:

There isn't always a universal answer.
There is the individual dog sitting in front of you.

And sometimes, finding the answer starts with looking at the whole picture rather than changing one more thing.

Have you ever changed your dog's food because you felt like you were running out of options? I'd LOVE to hear your story...so please do comment below or DM me 🤍

11/10/2026

10 years of learning about dogs has taught me something I didn't expect...

I started by looking for answers in food.
Then supplements.
Then behaviour.
Then breed.
Then environment.

And the more I learned, the more I realised that sometimes there isn't one thing to fix.
A dog is part of a whole picture.

Their food.
Their environment.
Their experiences.
Their behaviour.
Their relationships.
And the people they share their lives with.

Sometimes the clue isn't sitting in one of those things at all.
It's in the relationship between them.

That's why I stopped looking for one answer...
and started looking at the whole dog. 🐾

What have your dogs taught you that you didn't expect?

10/10/2026

What if you actually know more about your dog than you think you do? There's something I've learned over and over again in 10 years of working with dogs.

The person sitting in front of me often knows things about their dog that I could never discover in a consultation.

You notice the tiny changes.
You know when they're not quite themselves.
You know what their normal looks like.
You know what makes them excited.
What makes them uncomfortable.
What situations they avoid.
What settles them.
What makes them light up.
You know the little quirks that probably wouldn't even seem important to someone else.

And sometimes you've noticed something for months before anyone else has.

That's why I don't just want to know:
“What's wrong with your dog?”

I want to know:
“What have YOU noticed?”

Because you live with this dog.

You see them on the ordinary days.
The good days.
The difficult days.

You see the patterns that can be almost impossible to see in one appointment.

And I think sometimes owners need permission to trust what they're noticing. Not every instinct will give us the answer. But every observation can give us 'another piece of the puzzle.'

And that's something I've come to value enormously. Because helping a dog isn't just about me understanding them.

It's about me understanding them through the person who knows them best.

YOU 🤍

What is one little thing about your dog that you notice… but other people probably wouldn't? I'd LOVE to know, so please COMMENT below...

09/10/2026

What if the behaviour you're trying to stop… is actually trying to tell you something?

I've worked with so many dogs whose behaviour was the thing everyone wanted to change.

The barking.
The pulling.
The pacing.
The hiding.
The reactivity.
The inability to settle.

And I completely understand why.

When you're living with it every day, you don't want to spend your life managing a behaviour that is making things difficult for you — or for your dog.

But over the years, I've learned to become a little more curious before asking...

“How do we stop this?”

I want to ask -

“Why is this happening?”

What happens just before it?
When does it happen?
Who is there?
What changes it?
What makes it worse?
What makes it better?

And most importantly…what is the dog telling us?

Because our dogs are constantly giving us information.
Sometimes it's in the obvious things.
And sometimes it's in the tiny details we almost miss.

A change in behaviour.
A change in routine.
A different response to something they've always been fine with.
A new pattern that keeps appearing.

Learning to notice those things has completely changed the way I work with dogs.

I'm not just looking at the behaviour.
I'm listening to the dog behind it.

And sometimes, when we stop seeing behaviour as something that needs to be "fixed"…we start seeing it as something that needs to be "understood".

Is there something your dog does that you've never quite been able to understand?

08/10/2026

Does your dog behave completely differently at home?

Maybe they're calm when they're out.
Maybe they're perfectly lovely when someone else looks after them.
Maybe they've even behaved beautifully when you've taken them somewhere new…

…but at home?

That's where you see the barking.
The pacing.
The restlessness.
The inability to settle.
The behaviour that makes you wonder:

“Why are you like this at home?”

I've heard this so many times.

And one thing I've learned over the years is that we can't really understand a dog by only looking at what happens in front of us during a consultation.

Because your dog doesn't live in my consultation room.

They live in your home.

They wake up there.
They sleep there.
They experience the routines, the sounds, the people, the other animals, the changes, the quiet days and the chaotic ones.

That's their world.

So when I'm trying to understand a dog, I want to know about that world too.

Because sometimes the behaviour you're struggling with isn't happening 'for no reason'.

It may be giving us information.
And that's why I don't just want to know:

“What does your dog do?”

I want to know:
“What happens around your dog?”

That's a very different question.

And sometimes…
it's where the real story begins❤️

Does your dog seem like a completely different dog at home? I'd love to know...

07/10/2026

What if your dog's breed is giving you clues you've never thought to look for?

When we look at a dog, we tend to see "the dog".

Their face.
Their personality.
Their behaviour.
Their coat.

But after 10 years of working with dogs, I've learned to look a little more closely. Because breed and genetics can form part of the bigger picture too.

And sometimes even characteristics we might barely think about — including coat characteristics and colour — can make me stop and ask a few more questions. Not because one breed means one problem.

And certainly not because I believe you can look at a dog and instantly know what's going on.

Quite the opposite.

'They're clues.'

And clues are useful because they give us more questions to ask -

Why does this particular dog respond this way?
Why does something seem to affect them differently from another dog?
What might their history, genetics and individual characteristics be telling us?

This is one of the reasons I don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to dogs.

Two dogs can arrive with what looks like the same problem…
and still have completely different stories.

And that's what fascinates me.

"The individual dog."

Not just the breed on the paperwork.
Not just the symptom we're trying to change.

"The whole picture."

Have you ever been told, “That's just because they're a 'XYZ' breed”… and wondered if there might be more to it than that? I'd LOVE to hear YOUR story, so please do share in the comments below...🤍