Leash Reactivity in Dogs: Why Your Dog Loses It on Leash
He isn’t being disobedient—in high arousal, flexible processing can be impaired. Joy and fear look alike, and the reason the behavior sticks lies elsewhere.
April 26, 2026 · 29 min read
Guides
Dog Behavior and Training Guides
Practical guides for dog owners—on behavior, training and everyday life with a dog. Every guide cites the studies it relies on and says where the evidence ends.
They come from unterHUNDs, a dog training school with behavior therapy in Saarland, Germany. For the evidence in depth, written for professionals, see our research library.
Behavior
Separation Anxiety in Dogs: What Research Shows About the Owner’s Role
Separation problems rarely originate in the dog alone. Owner stress, training methods, and features of the human–dog relationship show associations—but that does not prove cause.
April 1, 2026 · 16 min read
How a Single Experience Can Change a Dog’s Behavior Long-Term
A single experience can have effects for years. Dogs often learn from intensely frightening moments in a single trial—that is well documented. What happens at the molecular level is less so.
March 28, 2026 · 11 min read
Why Dogs Growl—and Why You Should Take This Signal Seriously
Growling is not an attack. It can be a distance and warning signal, but it also happens in play. Punish it, and the warning may fade—the conflict stays.
December 1, 2025 · 17 min read
Aggressive Behavior in Dogs: Not Simply Innate, but Shaped by Experience and Environment
“That breed is just like that” – a stubborn belief that doesn’t hold up. There is no aggression gene: aggression arises from predisposition, experience and current conditions, and it can change.
November 24, 2025 · 14 min read
Fearful Dogs: Understanding the Causes and Finding Ways to Help
He stops, doesn’t respond, won’t listen: what looks like stubbornness is often overwhelm. The advice “he just has to get through it” makes it worse. Here’s what helps instead.
November 20, 2025 · 15 min read
Comforting a Fearful Dog: Why It Doesn’t Reward Fear
“If you comfort him, you’re rewarding his fear.” That advice rests on a misunderstanding: fear is not an operant behavior but an emotional response.
November 1, 2025 · 15 min read
Dog Trainer or Behavior Consultant: What Does Your Dog Really Need?
Learning task or behavior problem? What decides is less “emotion or not” than risk, suffering, possible medical causes and everyday impact – and training and therapy often go together.
July 10, 2025 · 13 min read
What Is Emotion-Based Dog Training?
Your dog acts not only out of obedience, but out of feelings. Emotion-based training changes not only the visible behavior, but also what lies beneath it.
July 10, 2025 · 15 min read
Dog Barks at Visitors: Understanding the Causes and Training Calm
He barks the moment the doorbell rings – not disobedience, but a report. Which one? Excitement, a need for distance or an alert look alike and call for different training.
June 11, 2025 · 17 min read
Territorial Behavior in Dogs: Why Your Dog Guards the House, Yard and Fence—and How to Handle It More Calmly
Barking at the fence or at visitors is not dominance. Often it serves to create distance; insecurity, arousal or learning history may lie behind it.
October 20, 2024 · 20 min read
Rehabilitating Fearful and Aggressive Dogs: Understanding Fear, Aggression, and Insecurity
Rehabilitation doesn’t mean quickly catching up on what was missed or training a behavior away. It means helping your dog re-evaluate a situation.
October 15, 2024 · 21 min read
Warning Signals in Dogs: How to Spot Escalation Before It’s Too Late, and Why Children Miss the Signs
“He bit without warning”—often there were subtle changes beforehand that nobody noticed. And young children in particular can misread threatening dog signals in surprising ways.
July 20, 2026 · 23 min read
Training
Should Your Dog Be Allowed on the Couch? The Dominance Myth, House Rules, and What Really Matters
Lying on the couch doesn’t make a dog dominant. The idea comes from a model that research has discarded—and whose own originator later retracted his conclusions.
August 2, 2026 · 20 min read
Why Dog Training Doesn’t Work When It Matters—and How to Approach It the Right Way
A dog can know a cue perfectly and still not perform it—not because he won’t, but because stress makes it much harder for him. That is one of the biggest misconceptions in training.
April 8, 2026 · 18 min read
Force-Free Dog Training: How It Works and Why It Makes Sense
Do you sometimes have to show your dog who is in charge? Almost every owner asks this. Why professional organizations answer more clearly than the debate suggests.
April 5, 2026 · 22 min read
Puppy Training Weeks 1–2: The First Two Weeks with Your New Puppy
The first two weeks with a new puppy are not about commands. They are about orientation, safety and bonding—your goal is a puppy who settles in with you.
March 21, 2026 · 17 min read
Puppy Training Weeks 3–4: Confidence, Boundaries, and Discovering the World
Your puppy is getting bolder, more curious, and more energetic. This is the phase when first rules take shape—and when two mistakes are especially easy to make.
March 20, 2026 · 18 min read
The Biggest Puppy Training Mistakes: Why Problems Don’t Start Later but at the Very Beginning
Many problems don’t start later but at the very beginning. When a six-month-old dog doesn’t listen, the causes are often things hardly anyone recognizes as mistakes.
March 18, 2026 · 17 min read
Puppy Biting: Why Those Little Teeth Raise Big Questions – and What Really Helps
Your puppy bites hands, pant legs, everything. Usually not an aggression problem but how it explores the world – and learns to moderate its bite. What helps and what doesn’t.
March 17, 2026 · 19 min read
Training Your Dog in Winter: Why It Matters Now—Just Differently
Winter isn’t a break from training—it’s a chance to train differently. Shorter, darker days change routines, and many dogs react before their people notice.
December 10, 2025 · 13 min read
Recall Training for Dogs: How to Build a Reliable Recall
A reliable recall isn’t built through volume or strictness. It is one of the few cues where even individual mistakes can set your progress back by weeks.
November 3, 2025 · 17 min read
Puppy Training: Why the Start of a Dog’s Life Matters So Much
Training starts on day one—not with commands, but in every everyday situation. And relationship comes before obedience, which in practice means the opposite of what many people do.
June 11, 2025 · 17 min read
Dog Training Without Treats: What’s Really Behind It—and Which Alternatives Work
“No treats” doesn’t mean “no reward”—and that is what the whole debate hinges on. Behavior is shaped by its consequences; the only question is which ones.
May 24, 2025 · 15 min read
Dog Training Myths Put to the Test: What Does the Science Really Say?
Be the pack leader, go through the door first, no dogs on the couch: many of these rules were shaped by misinterpreted observations of captive wolves.
April 16, 2025 · 14 min read
Mental Stimulation for Dogs: Brain Games and Scent Work Indoors and Outdoors
If your dog can’t settle despite long walks, mental work may be missing—or something else. Why it works differently from exercise, and why more of it isn’t automatically better.
April 14, 2025 · 20 min read
How Dogs Understand Us: Words, Gestures, Gaze and Tone of Voice
Dogs don’t understand language the way we do – but words are more than noise to them. What research on word meaning, gestures and gaze shows, and where misunderstandings start.
April 1, 2025 · 19 min read
First-Time Dog Owner Guide: How to Get Off to a Good Start with Your First Dog
Not every dog suits every person—an honest look at that can prevent many later problems. And at the start, your dog mostly needs something few people expect.
December 5, 2024 · 20 min read
Mantrailing: A Fascinating Form of Scent Work for Dogs
Your dog follows the individual scent of one specific person – and decides for himself where to go. That is exactly what makes mantrailing so demanding and so valuable.
September 1, 2024 · 16 min read
Ball Games with Dogs: Myths, Facts, and What’s Really Going On
Does playing fetch turn a dog into a hunter? The most common claims don’t hold up to a sober look. The real risk lies elsewhere — and has little to do with the ball itself.
January 21, 2024 · 15 min read
Tightening Anti-Pull Harnesses: Risks, Effects and Better Alternatives
Tightening harnesses work through discomfort—and your dog does learn something. Just rarely what you wanted. What he picks up instead and what works better.
December 23, 2023 · 15 min read
Trick Training for Dogs: Why Tricks Are More Than Entertainment
Tricks are often seen as a gimmick. In fact, they are mental work: understanding, coordinating, watching for subtle cues. That challenges dogs differently than exercise and complements walks.
November 5, 2023 · 19 min read
Motivation in Dog Training: How Dogs Learn Through Rewards
Why does your dog work with intense focus one day and not at all the next? Motivation is a state, not a character trait – and what tips it over has little to do with the treat.
November 1, 2023 · 23 min read
Learning Theory in Dog Training: How Dogs Really Learn
Your dog never learns through consequences alone—emotional appraisal is always part of it. That's why the same training can end differently with two dogs.
October 27, 2023 · 30 min read
Loose-Leash Walking: How to Teach Your Dog to Stop Pulling
No dog is born walking on a loose leash. And very few pull out of stubbornness – usually it’s overload or tension. Here’s what that means for your training.
October 21, 2023 · 16 min read
Getting Your Dog Used to Car Rides: Calm, Safe and Stress-Free
A dog that has only ever ridden to the vet may have learned that car rides end badly. Riding calmly is not a given but learned – and it can be relearned.
October 19, 2023 · 17 min read
Waist and Armpit Leashes on Dogs: Why These Methods Are Risky and Harmful
These leashes work through pressure on sensitive areas, not through training. The dog learns not what to do, only what avoids pain. And both contact points sit in vulnerable places.
October 14, 2023 · 18 min read
Teaching Your Dog to Be Home Alone: How to Build Calm Alone Time Step by Step
Being alone doesn’t come naturally to dogs – it’s a skill that has to be built. And the most important rule isn’t about pace at all, but about something else.
October 2, 2023 · 13 min read
How to Choose a Good Dog Training School: What Really Matters
One criterion you can verify instead of guessing: the permit commercial dog training may require. What it means – and why one observed session tells you more than any website.
September 28, 2023 · 14 min read
Puppy Classes: Why They Matter and What to Look For
Puppy class falls into a period when young dogs are especially receptive to new experiences. That is exactly why quality matters more here than in any later class—in both directions.
September 28, 2023 · 19 min read
Clicker Training for Dogs: A Practical Guide for Getting Started
The click is not a reward but a promise: every click is followed by one, even if you clicked by mistake. Why that is where most beginners go wrong.
September 21, 2023 · 14 min read
Retrieve Training with Dummies: Building Focus, Teamwork, and Impulse Control
The difference from throwing a ball starts with waiting: the dog only goes on cue. That practices calm where throwing builds arousal. And the work is done with the nose.
September 17, 2023 · 14 min read
How to House-Train a Puppy: A Step-by-Step Guide to a Clean Home
House-training is a mix of physical maturation and learning: voluntary bladder control is still developing, and your puppy has to learn where to go.
September 15, 2023 · 17 min read
Muzzle Training for Dogs: How to Help Your Dog Wear a Muzzle Calmly
The best time to start is now—not the day before the vet visit. A dog who first meets a muzzle in an emergency may link it with stress or pain.
September 7, 2023 · 19 min read
Puppy Socialization: The Foundation for a Relaxed Life with Your Dog
Socialization isn’t about ticking off as many dogs, people, and places as possible. It means deliberately collecting good experiences—quantity is more of a risk than a goal.
March 19, 2026 · 18 min read
Health
When Does Your Dog Need a Veterinary Specialist? Specialists, Referral Hospitals and Referrals Explained
The vast majority of concerns are in good hands with your regular veterinarian. Which problems are the exception – and how a referral actually works.
August 4, 2026 · 15 min read
Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) in Dogs: Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment
DCM goes unnoticed for a long time—and heart findings made under anesthesia are a regular source of confusion. What the diagnosis really comes down to.
July 27, 2026 · 29 min read
Anesthesia in Dogs: Risk, Preparation, and What to Expect
The risk of anesthesia is much lower than most owners fear. What actually shapes it is more surprising – and often starts well before the appointment.
July 24, 2026 · 31 min read
Mitral Valve Disease (MMVD) in Dogs: Heart Murmur, Symptoms, and Treatment
The most common acquired heart disease in dogs starts with a murmur that can stay harmless for years – until it no longer does. How to recognize the turning point.
July 24, 2026 · 29 min read
Why Is My Dog Coughing? Causes and When to See a Vet
Coughing is not just a symptom but above all a protective reflex that clears the airways. Suppressing it without knowing the cause takes a tool away from your dog.
July 24, 2026 · 31 min read
Cushing’s Disease in Dogs: Recognizing the Signs and Testing Right
Increased drinking is one of the most noticeable early signs—and the only one you can measure at home. Why the tests that follow are trickier than you might expect.
July 23, 2026 · 32 min read
Deworming or Fecal Testing? What Actually Makes Sense for Your Dog
A dewormer does not prevent a new infection. It kills what is there today—tomorrow your dog can be reinfected. And the usual “every three months” is not a research result.
July 23, 2026 · 29 min read
Diabetes in Dogs: Signs, Insulin, and Everyday Life
Unlike in cats, diabetes in dogs almost always means lifelong insulin. And there is one special case that changes everything: the intact female dog.
July 23, 2026 · 31 min read
Itching in Dogs: Finding the Cause Instead of Guessing
Itching is a symptom, not a diagnosis—and its causes differ so fundamentally that guessing gets expensive. Why parasites come first, even if you have never seen a single flea.
July 23, 2026 · 30 min read
Osteoarthritis in Dogs: How to Spot the Signs and What Actually Helps
Osteoarthritis is not just a disease of old age—X-rays show it in many young dogs. Many don’t limp; they get slower and more irritable. And that gets put down to personality.
July 23, 2026 · 30 min read
Bloat (GDV) in Dogs: Recognize the Signs and Act Immediately
Only a few hours can pass between the first signs and death. This is not a time to wait and see or to hold out for the next business day. How to recognize it before it is too late.
July 22, 2026 · 30 min read
Cruciate Ligament Rupture in Dogs: Why It Is Usually Not an Accident
In dogs, it is usually not an accident. The ligament mostly tears not because of an unlucky jump but because it has degenerated over time—the jump was only the final step.
July 22, 2026 · 31 min read
Diarrhea and Vomiting in Dogs: When to Wait and When to Act
Many cases are mild and resolve on their own. What matters is spotting the exceptions – certain accompanying signs turn an upset stomach into an emergency right away.
July 22, 2026 · 30 min read
Dog Vaccinations: What Your Dog Really Needs
Which dog vaccinations are core, which depend on your dog’s life, why the puppy shot at 16 weeks matters so much, and why vaccinating for everything every year is outdated.
July 22, 2026 · 32 min read
Ear Infections in Dogs: Why They Keep Coming Back
Ear infections are among the most common diagnoses in dogs—and they come back when they are only treated, not investigated. The key distinction is almost always missing.
July 22, 2026 · 31 min read
Hypothyroidism in Dogs: When a Low T4 Result Misleads
A low T4 does not prove hypothyroidism. A considerable share of low results come from dogs with a healthy thyroid—and they get treated anyway.
July 22, 2026 · 30 min read
Pancreatitis in Dogs: How to Recognize the Signs and What to Do
No single test proves pancreatitis—not even the common rapid test. And the prayer position, a clear warning sign, is often mistaken for an invitation to play.
July 22, 2026 · 31 min read
Dental Health in Dogs: What Actually Helps
Periodontal disease is among the most common diagnoses in dogs – and it is badly underestimated. What helps is not what sells best.
May 5, 2026 · 30 min read
Grass Awns in Dogs: The Underestimated Summer Hazard for Ears, Paws, and Nose
Thanks to its barbs, a grass awn travels mostly in one direction: deeper. And in the case series, the most common site is not the paw but the ear.
April 26, 2026 · 29 min read
Anal Glands in Dogs: What Helps and What Harms
Scooting doesn’t automatically mean anal glands. And recurring problems are a symptom, not a diagnosis: expressing alone treats the result every time. Here’s what gets at the cause.
April 21, 2026 · 29 min read
Giardia in Dogs: When to Treat and When Not To
A positive test alone is no reason to treat. Many infected dogs have no symptoms—you treat the dog, not the lab report. Here is when treatment is still needed.
April 20, 2026 · 29 min read
Processionary Caterpillars and Dogs: Symptoms, Dangers, and First Aid
The problem isn't the caterpillar itself but its stinging hairs, and they stay active in old nests for years. What you do in the first hours shapes how things go.
March 26, 2026 · 29 min read
Spaying Your Female Dog: Medical Facts, Behavior, and Practical Management
Early spaying is widely said to protect against mammary tumors—a systematic review sees it differently. What the evidence supports and what it doesn’t.
March 24, 2026 · 27 min read
Epilepsy in Dogs: How to Recognize a Seizure and What to Do
Keep your hands out of his mouth. A dog can’t swallow his tongue—but during a seizure he may bite uncontrollably. What matters in the first minutes, and when it’s an emergency.
March 21, 2026 · 30 min read
Chronic Kidney Disease in Dogs: Catch It Early, Manage It Well
“But his values were always fine”—that is exactly the problem. Creatinine only rises once a substantial share of kidney function is already lost. What shows up earlier.
February 21, 2026 · 30 min read
Heatstroke in Dogs: How to Recognize the Signs and What to Do
The most common trigger is not the hot car but exercise – by a wide margin. How to recognize heatstroke and what actually helps in the first few minutes.
June 15, 2025 · 30 min read
Summer Heat and Your Dog: How to Keep Walks Safe
The most common situation in which dogs overheat isn’t the car – it’s the ordinary walk, and by a wide margin. What that means for your summer.
May 15, 2025 · 18 min read
Recognizing Pain in Dogs: How to Tell Whether Your Dog Is Hurting – and What to Do Now
Pain is one of the most commonly overlooked causes of behavior problems. How to spot it before anyone even thinks to look for it.
April 23, 2025 · 24 min read
Merle Dogs: Genetics, Health Risks and Living with Special Needs
The difference between single and double merle is substantial: in one study, a quarter of dogs carrying two copies of the gene were affected by deafness.
January 12, 2025 · 31 min read
Caring for a Senior Dog: What Changes as Your Dog Ages and What Helps
There is no valid way to convert dog years into human years – the common methods contradict each other. What matters instead, and which sentence makes the senior years most costly.
November 14, 2024 · 28 min read
Foods Toxic to Dogs: The 10 Most Dangerous and What to Do
With grapes, tartaric acid is now considered the likely toxin. That could explain the inconsistent amounts and points to two sources hardly anyone thinks of. One is in your baking cupboard.
April 20, 2024 · 18 min read
False Pregnancy in Dogs: Causes, Symptoms, and What You Can Do
Heat and false pregnancy are typically about three months apart — which is why many owners never connect the two. How to recognize it and when to see your vet.
November 10, 2023 · 15 min read
Plants Toxic to Dogs: Which Garden and Houseplants Can Be Dangerous
The most dangerous plants aren’t the exotic ones but the everyday ones. And some toxins take hours to act—so a dog with no symptoms proves nothing at all.
November 5, 2023 · 16 min read
Tick Prevention for Dogs: How to Protect Your Dog from Tick Bites and Disease
Removing ticks quickly makes a measurable difference – Borrelia needs one to two days. Still, it’s no guarantee: another pathogen can be transmitted within the first minutes.
November 3, 2023 · 17 min read
Winter Coats for Dogs: When They Make Sense and What to Look For
A coat is neither humanizing your dog nor a must – it answers one question: is this dog cold? How to tell, and where a coat does more harm than good.
November 2, 2023 · 14 min read
Dog Health Basics: Prevention, Warning Signs and What Matters in an Emergency
Many illnesses show up in behavior first, long before anything is visible on the body. That makes you the early-warning system – if you know what to look for.
October 30, 2023 · 31 min read
Choosing Safe Dog Toys: What to Look For When You Buy
One rule of thumb prevents many bad buys: if you can’t dent the material with your thumbnail, be careful. What that rules out in one go may surprise you.
October 26, 2023 · 15 min read
Dogs in Winter: How to Keep Your Dog Safe in the Cold
The biggest winter danger isn’t the cold but antifreeze – it tastes sweet and dogs lick it up of their own accord. And there’s a phase when everything seems fine again.
October 25, 2023 · 15 min read
Ideal Weight for Dogs: How to Tell and Why It Matters So Much
48 Labradors, followed in pairs for their whole lives: the leaner-fed group lived a median of almost two years longer. One of the cleanest studies on the subject.
October 8, 2023 · 16 min read
Stick Injuries in Dogs: Why Playing with Sticks Is Riskier Than It Looks
The next toy is lying right by the trail, and most dogs love it. Why this harmless-looking game can cause injuries that veterinary clinics dread.
October 7, 2023 · 9 min read
GPS Trackers for Dogs: Safety, Transparency, and Fast Location
When a dog disappears, every minute counts. What a tracker can do—and the technical limits nobody mentions in the sales pitch.
October 6, 2023 · 10 min read
Suspected Poisoning in Dogs: What to Do in an Emergency
If you suspect poisoning, every minute counts—and the most common first-aid tips online make things worse. What to do, what not to do, and who to call right away.
October 5, 2023 · 9 min read
How to Choose a Good Veterinarian for Your Dog
"Calm and patient" isn't a personality trait but a learnable method – low-stress handling is a field of its own, with certification. How to recognize it.
September 30, 2023 · 15 min read
Dog First Aid Kit: What to Keep at Home for Emergencies
The gold-or-silver rule for emergency blankets does practically nothing for warmth. What really matters is rarely mentioned—and you can check the key emergency signs with no equipment.
September 24, 2023 · 16 min read
Human Medications and Dogs: Why Your Medicine Cabinet Is Off-Limits
The more common case isn’t a well-meant dose—it’s the dog who gets into the pill box himself. Handbag, nightstand, a dropped tablet—and what happens next.
September 24, 2023 · 15 min read
Why Dogs Eat Grass: What the Research Shows and When to Pay Attention
In the available studies, every dog ate grass – small samples, but the behavior is considered normal. The most popular explanation for it is the one with the weakest evidence.
September 9, 2023 · 29 min read
Poisoned Baits and Dogs: What to Do If You Find One or Your Dog Eats One
If your dog has eaten something, drive to the vet right away – even if they seem fine. With the most common rat poisons, the first signs only appear days later. By then, things are much more serious.
August 30, 2023 · 17 min read
Road Salt and Dog Paws: What It Really Does and What Helps
Rock salt doesn't burn paws – it draws moisture out. The difference sounds academic, but it changes the order of what you do. And the usual first step is the wrong one.
January 17, 2023 · 14 min read
Everyday life
Emergency Plan for Your Dog: What a Caregiver Really Needs to Know
What happens if you are suddenly out of action? A list of everything that belongs on one sheet so your dog is cared for even when nobody can reach you.
August 6, 2026 · 15 min read
When a Dog Bites: Why the Answer Isn’t the Breed
Breed explains only a small share of behavioral differences between dogs—and it is especially weak for bite threshold. Why breed lists miss the real problem.
July 9, 2026 · 31 min read
How to Build Trust with Your Dog: What Really Strengthens the Bond
That dogs use their people as a secure base is well supported by experiments. The popular oxytocin explanation is shakier than its reputation. What really strengthens the bond.
June 21, 2025 · 21 min read
Forest Bathing with Your Dog: Slowing Down Together
Forest bathing isn’t just a walk by another name – it’s about perception, not exercise. The research in humans is real, but weaker than popular accounts suggest.
May 7, 2025 · 12 min read
Dog Trainers and Dog Owners: The Most Common Misunderstandings in Dog Training
A good trainer mainly trains the human – change happens in daily life, not in the lesson. And "stubborn" is almost never the explanation. Three other things are more common.
January 27, 2025 · 14 min read
Signs Your Dog Feels Good: How to Tell If Your Dog Is Really Doing Well
Having no problems is not the same as having a good life. What well-being can actually be read from, which signs get misread, and what part you play in it.
November 17, 2024 · 35 min read
Dogs in Public Spaces: How to Be a Responsible Dog Owner
Depending on where you live, you may be liable for damage your dog causes even if you did everything right. Knowing this changes your everyday decisions.
November 22, 2023 · 12 min read
The Yellow Dog Project: What a Yellow Ribbon on a Dog Means – and What It Doesn’t
A yellow ribbon is a request, not a safety measure. It only works with people who know it. If you rely on it instead of a leash and distance, you hand your management over to strangers.
November 22, 2023 · 10 min read
Retractable Leashes: Freedom or Risk for You and Your Dog?
The most underestimated risk of a retractable leash affects not the dog but the person holding it. Emergency department data include cuts, fractures and amputations.
October 30, 2023 · 12 min read
Children and Dogs: Living Together Safely with Trust and Respect
The biggest risk for young children is not the strange dog on the street but the familiar one at home. Many bite incidents arise in everyday situations.
October 23, 2023 · 17 min read
Vacation With Your Dog: What to Sort Out Before You Go
Three risks are regularly underestimated on ordinary vacation checklists—and with the third, many owners rely on a vaccine that doesn’t protect against exactly that risk.
October 4, 2023 · 13 min read
How to Recognize a Responsible Dog Breeder: What to Ask, See and Check
Some of what counts as a sign of good breeding isn’t a recommendation at all—depending on where you live, it’s the law. Rehoming age, outdoor time, health results: what to check.
October 2, 2023 · 19 min read
Why You Shouldn’t Leave Your Dog Alone for Long Hours
There is no universal hour limit for leaving a dog alone—but there is a better question: how often each day does your dog get real contact? Plus how to tell if your dog copes.
September 15, 2023 · 8 min read
Before Getting a Dog: What You Really Need to Think Through First
Settle two questions before you fall for a photo: whether your housing actually allows a dog, and how you would pay a vet bill that arrives without warning.
September 12, 2023 · 10 min read
Cycling With Your Dog: How to Build Up Safely and Know the Limits
On a bike, you set the pace – and your dog can’t opt out. It sounds trivial, but it’s the heart of the matter: they keep trotting as long as you ride. What to watch for.
September 12, 2023 · 11 min read
Canine science
The Predatory Motor Sequence in Dogs: How It Works and How to Use It in Training
Hunting isn't a single act but a chain: orient, eye, stalk, chase, grab. Where your dog enters that chain decides which training can work at all.
November 14, 2025 · 31 min read
How to Read Dog Body Language: Signals, Sounds and What They Really Mean
A wagging tail doesn’t mean happy, and a yawn doesn’t mean tired. Dogs communicate through several channels at once—which is why any signal read on its own leads you astray.
November 10, 2025 · 35 min read
The “Dangerous Breed” Myth: Why Certain Breeds Are Wrongly Considered Dangerous – A Scientific Look
“Fighting dog” is a social label, not a scientific one. The evidence is nuanced—which is exactly why neither side of the debate likes to cite it in full.
October 29, 2025 · 18 min read
Can Dogs See in the Dark? How Night Vision in Dogs Really Works
Dogs can't see in total darkness, but their adaptation to twilight is remarkable. Three anatomical features make the difference—and almost everyone knows one of them from photos.
September 20, 2025 · 20 min read
Dogs as Emotion Readers: What Your Dog Shows You About Yourself
Your dog reads faces, voices and posture – and can even smell how you are doing. What follows is less romantic than it sounds: he picks up your signal, not your feeling.
May 24, 2025 · 20 min read
Can Dogs Ease Pain? What Research on Social Closeness Shows
Social closeness changes how pain is processed. A study from Humboldt University of Berlin tested whether the same holds for a dog’s presence—with a nuanced result.
April 8, 2025 · 18 min read
Social Contact for Dogs: Why Quality Often Matters More Than Quantity
What matters for your dog is not how many social contacts they have, but which ones. Why the daily trip to the dog park is not automatically part of it.
March 25, 2025 · 18 min read
What Dog Research Means for Everyday Life: Six Practical Findings
Six areas of canine behavior research, translated into everyday actions. Not a survey of studies, but what you can do differently tomorrow.
January 23, 2025 · 22 min read
Do Dogs Lower the Risk of Allergies and Asthma in Children?
For decades the advice was: no dog in allergy-prone families. Some research has turned that around – but the evidence is less clear-cut than the headlines suggest.
November 4, 2023 · 15 min read
Do Dogs Make Their Owners Healthier? What the Studies Really Show
Almost all studies on dogs and health show associations, not causes. That doesn’t make them worthless – it only changes what you can conclude from them. And that step is rarely taken.
October 4, 2023 · 14 min read
Behavioral biology
How Dogs Perceive Human Emotions—and How They Respond
Facial expressions, voice, body language, scent: dogs pick up emotional cues through several channels. What research shows—and where it reaches its limits.
May 20, 2026 · 11 min read
Metacognition in Dogs: Do They Know What They Don’t Know?
Does a dog notice when it’s missing information? There are hints: it checks more often when it didn’t see where the food was hidden. But that proves less than it seems.
March 3, 2026 · 12 min read
Prey Drive in Dogs: Why Motivation Explains More Than Classic Drive Theory
“It’s just his drive, nothing you can do about it”—that sentence is the real problem. The idea of pent-up inner pressure has been considered outdated for decades.
November 6, 2025 · 31 min read