When it comes to dogs, we’re all carrying around dusty old accordion files that we’ve inherited from society, but have never actually paused to inspect.

We’ve unknowingly and unintentionally bought into outdated ideas from bygone eras that are no longer fit to represent our lives with dogs.

A complicated canine is so much more than what troubles them.

They are troubled, yes. They have anxiety, or reactivity, or poor health, or aggression.

But they are also silly, and loving, and sassy, and so damn cute.

I want my dog to have confidence that I’ve got her back, that I can sense her discomfort and will respond accordingly, that I will keep her safe.

This is important for all dogs, but especially for a nervous dog living in a world where so many things make her feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

I’m mindful of the little moments that build or break her trust in me.

How Stella Learned To Talk is the remarkable story of how speech pathologist Christina Hunger taught her dog to talk using an Assisted Augmented Communication Device (buttons).

In this blog I share about how my dog Mango is nervous, feral, a medical mystery (a bag of health issues) and sees the world differently to other dogs. If you’re the owner of a reactive or sensitive dog you’re in the right place.

How do we understand the love language of non-human animals? What if they don’t want snuggles? Snuggling an animal - be it a chicken or a dog - against its will isn’t cute; it’s creepy.

A friend introduced me to Susan Garrett’s “Circle of Fun” concept - a way to determine what state your dog might be in and how conducive it is to learning and training. But something was missing - so I added an extra element for feral dogs like mine.

Doggie Language, by Lili Chin, is a pint-sized guide to doggie body language, helping owners understand the meaning and subtlety of how their dogs communicate.

Both humans and dogs are social species, who feel a wide range of emotions that they express predominantly in body language as well as vocalisations. After millenia together we’ve developed a shared understanding of one another’s language.

All of which is pretty remarkable, when you remember that dogs are canids and humans are primates.

I don’t really know my dog, Mango. It makes sense that I don’t fully understand her because it’s hard enough for us to know ourselves, let alone an animal companion from an entirely different species.

My dog’s list of ailments include allergies, meningitis, and neck pain. Here are some of the strange things we have to do to keep her comfortable when she’s sick.

My dog Mango is ¾ blue heeler, ¼ kelpie, and just a little bit feral.

In the weeks leading up to Mango’s arrival, in between thinking about vaccinations and toilet training and the contents of the videos on Kikopup’s puppy playlist, I spent an inordinate amount of time daydreaming about our life together.