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

Ep 30: The Future of Dog Education Part 1 - The Dial Method with Justine Schuurmans & Kim Brophey

They say “it’s not the dog that has the problem, it’s the owner.”
One of those familiar tag-line phrases that sounds wise on the surface, but actually flattens what is, in reality, a deeply complex, individual relationship between a person and their dog.

Yes, some of the biggest lightbulb moments in working with dogs come when we realise just how much power we have to influence outcomes — for our dogs and ourselves. But sometimes… it really is the dog. Their biology, their history, their needs, their thresholds. And pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone.

In this episode, we chow down on the chunky topic of the future of dog education with two world-renowned educators of dog owners and pet professionals, Justine Schuurmans and Kim Brophey. Both are working hard to move dog education away from blame and binaries, and towards accessible, digestible, evidence-based frameworks that help us genuinely understand dogs, not just control them.

We talk about;

• ‘The easy life’ vs ‘the good life’ for dogs and weather we should let dogs keep some of their filthier habits (!)
• ‘Applied Ethology’ and the 5 welfare freedoms we need to help to provide for all captive animals
• How to build a trusting relationship with your dog rather than a transactional one based on reward and punishment
• The differences between UK and USA when it comes to dog freedoms
• How The Dial Method is a missing education piece all dog owners need before they start training

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

https://www.amplifiedbehaviour.com

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

@amplifiedbehaviour @thehannahmolloy

Ep 29: The future of dog breeding Part 6 - Temperament & Personality with Suzanne Clothier

Why does my dog… Is the most common question behaviourists and trainers get asked…

Now, the serenity prayer asks God to give us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference! And Suzanne Clothier is here to save the day and give us the wisdom that is so desperately needed for so many dog owners and pet parents looking to raise a healthy puppy or rehome a rescue dog.

Suzanne and Hannah explore the difference between breed traits, temperament and personality with dogs. We talk about;

• How much of a dogs personality is flexible or set when you get your dog
• How to recognise a dogs temperament to see if they fit your family before you get them using the CARAT Clothier Animal Response Assessment Tool
• How to learn about the dog in front of you so you can adjust your expectations of what that dog can excel in or might struggle with based on who they are.

• For more information on Suzannes exceptional courses, teaching and mentorship head to:

https://suzanneclothier.com

@suzanneclothierct

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

Ep 28: The future of dog breeding Part 5 - Perfecting Puppies with Suzanne Clothier

We buy puppies because in theory they are a clean slate and easier to fit into our lives and families.

But are all puppies born equal or are some more equal than others? How much can we effect the puppies we breed and buy in the first 4 months of their lives and how much of our puppies adult behaviour is really is nature verses nurture?

Breeding great dogs as pets or working champions is both a science and an art and no-one is better qualified to teach us about how to breed and raise amazing puppies than Suzanne Clothier.

Suzanne and Hannah take us on a journey to see puppies with fresh eyes explaining;

• How puppy brains are formed and develop
• How much power breeders have to teach puppies how to be calm and confident adult dogs
• The danger of neglecting a puppies key development ages
• How the Enriched Puppy Protocol blew the minds of the American Guide Dog Breeders and produced super capable guide dogs
  
  For more information on Suzannes exceptional courses, teaching and mentorship head to:

https://suzanneclothier.com

@suzanneclothierct

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

Its a shocking fact that 80% of dogs over the age of 8 have arthritis. And 67% of dogs are overweight! Many dogs live their lives with untreated and undiagnosed pain conditions that most owners can’t spot and vets are poor at recognising in practice.

Pain conditions naturally cause serious distress to our dogs and can also cause aggression and behavioural problems too. So how can we recognise signs of dogs in pain and what can we do to prevent injury throughout the dogs life and treat pain conditions as dogs age?

In this episode;

Hannah, Hannah & Julia chat about;

• How their beautiful working relationship began
• How the dogs environment and management can cause or reduce injury
• Why ball throwing needs to stop and what the alternatives might be for dog owners (!)
• How we can set dogs up for success from a young age to protect their joints

DISCLAIMER:
1.Apologies for some of Hannah (Capon)'s expressive expletives (!!)
2. Dogs when doing scent work hit 200 breaths per minute not 300 as quoted. 200-300 million is the number of neurones in the dogs nose that connect the nose to the brain compared to a humans pretty basic 6 million.

For more information on Hannah’s work with Canine Arthritis Management
https://caninearthritis.co.uk/

And for more information on Julias work with Galen Myotherapy, pick up Julias brilliant book 'How to build a puppy:into a healthy adult dog' and get a free puppy chart head to

https://www.galenmyotherapy.com/pawstolearn

More on 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

The XL Bully was defined and then added to the list of dangerous dogs under the dangerous dogs act on 31st December 2023 becoming the latest breed of dog that it is illegal to own in the UK without an exemption certificate and that it is illegal to breed, buy or rehome following a spate of injuries and fatalities that regularly occurred in the media in 2023.

At around that time, XL Bully owner Sophie Coulthard became the lead campaigner for campaign group ‘Don’t Ban Me Licence Me’ who raised over £200,000 in a bid to take the government to court via judicial review and over turn the decision.

Now in 2025 Hannah and Sophie catch up about;

• The whirlwind of a year from 2023-2024 that led to the campaign group being formed and the future work of DBLM
• They talk about what life is like for owners of XL Bully dogs in the UK then and now.
• They talk about some of the contributing factors that can lead to dog aggression and fatalities
• And the future of breed specific legislation in the UK
  
  
  

Stay up to date with the work of Don’t Ban Me Licence Me via their website

https://www.licenceme.org.uk/

And Sophie’s work with Axio Grow

https://www.axiogrow.com/

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

With an e-petition to regulate rescue centres currently collecting over 100,000 signatures, Hannah Molloy our host, and special guests, The Right Honourable Member for Basildon & Billericay Richard Holden, and grass roots rescue warrior, campaigner and director of Spirit of the Dog Rescue Jenna Miller discuss the pressing need to regulate animal rescues in the UK.

Richard explains;

• How the campaign to regulate rescues and his private members bill was born following a recent tragedy within his own constituency
  
  
• The scale of the issue of unregulated rescues and how simple and easy bringing this legislation into effect would be as a cross party win for animal welfare
  

And Jenna talks us through;

• How large the problem of unregulated rescues really is in the UK
  
  
• The impacts it’s having on the dogs, the community and the rescue centres
• How helpful regulation could be to cut out pet peddlers and protect well meaning people from ending up in dangerous hoarding situations with multiple animals
  

Sign the petition to regulate rescues before 8th October 2025 here

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/718660

Follow Richards work here:

https://www.facebook.com/Richard4NWDurham

https://x.com/RicHolden

https://www.instagram.com/ric.holden85/

And follow the work of Jenna here:

https://www.instagram.com/spiritofthedogrescue/

https://www.instagram.com/dogrescuediaries/

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

Dog breeding is the single most powerful change agent that can shape the future of dogs. And yet we are living in a time where hundreds of thousands of pet dogs are born into bodies that make it impossible for them to breathe, exercise, avoid injury clean themselves or talk to other members of their species on a level playing field due to extreme conformation.

In this second episode of an exciting 2 parter, Dr Dan O’Neil & Dr Rowena Packer from the Royal Veterinary Collage explore a bold new solution and unveil..

The Innate Health Assessment

What is this new tool, who is it for and how do we use it?

Could this be the end of some breeds of dog or is there potential for a more inclusive future?

The new Innate Health Assessment tool will go live online on the 18th November 2025!!
....Check back here for the website link coming soon...

In association with the APPG for Animal Welfare

https://apgaw.org/

For more info on extreme conformation head to:

https://www.icecdogs.com/home/extreme-conformation

https://www.ukbwg.org.uk/

https://www.alaw.org.uk/companion-animals/extreme-dog-conformation/

And more info on breeding reforms in the UK
https://dbrg.uk/

To stay in touch with the work of Dan & Rowena check out:

https://www.rvc.ac.uk/research/focus/brachycephaly

https://www.rvc.ac.uk/vetcompass/audio-visual-resources/pandemic-puppies-infographics

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