Ruth Hegarty

If you live with a reactive or anxious dog, you’ve probably noticed something curious: in moments when you  feel tense, rushed, or overwhelmed, your dog seems more on edge too. Some trainers will tell you that’s coincidence — that your dog doesn’t care about your stress scent and is only responding to learned cues or external triggers. I strongly disagree. And science is on my side. Dogs Are Exceptional at Detecting Emotional Scent Dogs experience the world primarily through their noses. With...

For reactive dogs, focus isn’t about manners or control. It’s about where safety lives. When your dog can briefly turn their attention toward you — even for a second — it creates a pause in the chaos. A tiny window where their nervous system can breathe.

There’s a moment every reactive dog parent knows. It’s the split second when you realize your dog is about to flip the "F" out . Their body stiffens. Their breathing changes. You feel it in your body before anything even happens. In that moment, the panic hits: Oh No!What do I do now? If you’ve ever frozen, fumbled for treats, or tried to remember a technique that completely vanishes from your brain under stress—you’re not failing. You’re human. And your dog isn't being "bad," they're...