Ep 31: The Future of Dog Education P2 - Total Welfare Justine Schuurmans & Kim Brophey

Ep 31: The Future of Dog Education Part 2 - Total Welfare Justine Schuurmans & Kim Brophey

If Part 1 asked how we understand dogs better, Part 2 asks the far more uncomfortable question: what are we actually responsible for once we do?

“Responsible dog ownership” is a phrase we hear constantly, in legislation, in media soundbites, in professional spaces.. and yet it remains strangely undefined. We are quick to blame, slow to educate, and often operating from inherited assumptions rather than evidence-based frameworks. As our understanding of canine behaviour, welfare, and emotional lives grows, the gap between what dogs need and what we expect of them is becoming harder to ignore.

In this episode, we continue our conversation with two world-renowned educators of dog owners and pet professionals, Justine Schuurmans and Kim Brophey, to explore what a modern, measurable, and ethical definition of dog welfare could, and should, look like. Moving beyond training techniques and behaviour modification alone, we widen the lens to consider the whole dog: their choices, their agency, their behavioural diversity, and the systems we build around them.

We talk about;

- How bonkers it is that ‘Responsible Dog Ownership’ has never been clearly defined

- The work that is being done to design the foundations of a national responsible dog ownership course

- The 5 welfare freedoms of all captive animals and how we can meet those needs those for our dogs at home

- How the new Total Welfare App coming soon for dog professionals and the public can be used to measure behavioural diversity for each dog we work with

To learn more about the Dial Method and Justine’s work check out:

For pet owners: https://www.thefamilydog.com/Blue-dial

And pet professionals: https://www.thefamilydog.com/become-a-dial-guide

@justineanddogs

To keep up to date with the development of the Total Welfare App and Kims rebound LEGS applied ethology course go to:

https://www.familydogmediation.com/

https://www.totalwelfareapp.com/

@familydogmediation

More about your host:

Hannah is a qualified dog behaviour specialist in the UK with a degree in Animal Behaviour and a specialism in dog body language and pet dog behaviour. She's trained over 10,000 pet dogs in the last 10 years and written an illustrated guide to dog behaviour called ‘Whats my dog thinking: Understand your dog to give them a happy life’. She featured as one of 3 experts on the prime time Channel 4 television series 'Puppy School' and currently teaches body language and handling courses to vets, groomers and pet shops to reduce bite incidents and increase the handling and observation skills of these awesome, but often overlooked, fields of pet care. She currently works as a behavioural expert for Agria Pet Insurance and leads the campaign for responsible dog ownership with the All Party Parliamentary Dog Advisory Welfare Group in Westminster.

Big thanks to our season 2 sponsor Amplified Behaviour

www.amplifiedbehaviour.com

And you can train along with Hannah as a pet owner or a pet professional at www.amplifiedbehaviour.com

@amplifiedbehaviour @thehannahmolloy