Author Archives: Elina Halonen

The bittersweet nature of love and loss

It’s been a month and we miss this lady more than words can say – her absence means our lives are much quieter, and it feels a bit like the balance of our family has been shaken.She was my constant companion for so many years that on some days it feels a part of meContinueContinue reading “The bittersweet nature of love and loss”

A love letter to my heart dog

Nell was lovely, charming and extremely lovable… But if you shared a life with her, she was not an easy dog to love – she was intense, loud, exuberant, demanding, opinionated, short-tempered and persistent. She challenged me year after year to learn more about dogs and how they think because in many ways she theContinueContinue reading “A love letter to my heart dog”

An extraordinary dog

With incredible sadness we need to share the news that our beloved Nell unexpectedly and suddenly lost her fight with cancer on Thursday night. We discovered 2 weeks ago that her lymphoma had returned immediately after chemotherapy ended, which was extremely bad news.  We did not want to cut her life too short for our emotional orContinueContinue reading “An extraordinary dog”

Toy review: Trixie Cat Activity Board – for dogs!

https://videopress.com/v/MUlHdOaM?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true I got one of these cat activity boards to try something new – I’m running out of dog brain games to try 😅 I’m not a fan of the one-trick pony games which are solved a few times and then too easy, and many of them rely on dogs lifting or pulling pieces withContinueContinue reading “Toy review: Trixie Cat Activity Board – for dogs!”

How to think about your dog’s age

Someone asked about the age of adolescence on a dog related social media group, and after typing up my answer, I thought I’d post about it too. The short answer: It depends on the individual dog and their gender – like in humans. The long answer: Personally, I use a rough benchmark that around 9ContinueContinue reading “How to think about your dog’s age”

Why you should start walks with a sniffing game

Lots of new owners struggle with recall and this morning I realised I do a lot of things automatically now that might be helpful insights and ideas for others. So, here’s a short film about how sniff games can really help with both recall and your dog paying attention to you outdoors – none ofContinueContinue reading “Why you should start walks with a sniffing game”

Do dogs have a right to refuse food?

There was a question on our Polish Hunting Spaniel owner group recently about what to do in a situation where a puppy/young dog is not eating their food very enthusiastically, and the owner has already tried a lot of things. I replied to the question and realised maybe the answer would be interesting for otherContinueContinue reading “Do dogs have a right to refuse food?”

How to change your dog’s behaviour in three (not easy) steps

My day job includes human behaviour change and it occurred to me today when I was thinking about recall that actually… without realising, I analyse my dogs’ behaviour with the same tools that I use with humans. So, without further ado, I decided to give it a go! This is just the first draft, soContinueContinue reading “How to change your dog’s behaviour in three (not easy) steps”

Recall is (mostly) based on relationship and trust

I saw this post yesterday (also at the end of this post) and it resonated because I see so many questions on dog groups all the time about recall. People think it’s a training issue and in some ways it is, but mostly… it’s about relationship and trust, but nobody (especially new dog owners) don’tContinueContinue reading “Recall is (mostly) based on relationship and trust”