You didn’t see it coming. You weren’t supposed to. We share our lives with a captive animal. That’s the reality. An animal with natural behavioural patterns we don’t fully control and don’t always fully understand. That doesn’t make them dangerous. But it does mean we need to take responsibility for the environments we place them in and the behaviours we allow them to practise. Because we don’t always know what experience might awaken something natural. And once a pattern begins, it becomes something the dog will seek. This is where risk develops. Not from intent but from experience. Chasing wildlife, focusing on movement, rehearsing parts of the sequence all strengthen the behaviour over time. So the focus isn’t just on stopping behaviour in the moment. It’s about awareness. Avoid repeated chasing. Pay attention to early focus and interest. Be thoughtful about exposure to fast movement, smaller animals, and unpredictable environments. Not to create fear. But to build awareness earlier. Because the goal isn’t to remove behaviour. It’s to manage it responsibly.

Would you know the difference between Affective aggression and Non Affective aggression?

I’ve just assessed two dogs who are a bonded pair and were adopted together. I worked with them one at a time, starting with the more sensitive dog out of view to keep things as low stress as possible. They’re rarely separated, so it was important to give each dog space to show me what’s really going on. I’d really love you to have a watch and share what you notice. There’s no right or wrong here, just your observations and thought process. If you’d prefer to message me privately, that’s completely fine too. I’ll be writing up my notes tomorrow. This is very much a working case, so it will be interesting to see whether my current thinking holds up as we move forward. I’ll keep you updated.

Second dog same family, how do you think they differ ?