Whether you’ve owned dogs all your life or are just considering your first puppy, you should watch this video.

This video simplifies and summarises the most salient points of the course I recently undertook to refresh and refocus my work with dogs after over a decade in the field.

As some of you know, I recently became a Certified Family Dog Mediator. I have been a trainer and behaviour consultant for 14 years, having spent a year with the National Dog Trainers Federation and another year studying postgraduate Canine Science at UNSW to earn my stripes.

But before that, I was a wildlife biologist, studying animals not for how they could be trained to suit humans, but how they evolved to thrive in their environment. And it was magical.

When I heard about the Family Dog Mediation course, based on Kim Brophey’s superb L.E.G.S model for studying dogs (Learning, Environment, Genetics, Self), it reawakened a sense of that magic buried in the old biologist part of my brain. Studying dogs the way we study every other species, rather than simply training them like programmable pieces of cuddly furniture. I knew I had to dive in – and I wasn’t disappointed.

This video will give you a glimpse of the Family Dog Mediator approach, and why understanding your dog’s LEGS is essential to help them thrive in our weird, modern human world. Then, if you want to know more, just seek out your nearest Certified Family Dog Mediator