About Kindred Creatures

My name is Cate Taylor

In the beginning, I was motivated to study canine behaviour and learning by a persistent curiosity about 'the dog's point of view'. I really wanted to be in the dog's head to see the world, especially human behaviour, through the dog's eyes. I wanted to know how to know what a dog is communicating about what it needs and how it perceives the actions of people. In particular, I wanted to know how I would know if a 'strange' dog was likely to be suspicious or aggressive or happy in response to being approached, or touched.

I have learned a lot in the eleven years since I started training--I have acquired certification in training skills and learning theory, studied body language and emotions, natural canine behaviours, the impact of captivity, pain, anxiety and stress on behaviour and much more.

Today I remain motivated by my curiosity about the dog's point of view and experience. As a professional behaviour specialist I am driven to continue learning and to grow my understanding and nuances of perspective and behaviour across different individual dogs, breeds, circumstances and ages and stages to create the conditions and opportunities that support guardians to gain understanding and communication that optimize their dog's responsiveness, prevents or resolves behaviour problems, and maximizes the peace and satisfaction in their cross-species partnership .

My goal with every dog and guardian is to positively impact quality of life and bond for each by providing information, and teaching skills, that enhance cross-species understanding, and effective behavioural rapport.

I launched Kindred Creatures in 2015 following a 25-year career in community and home support services devoted to helping people get the information and resources they needed to function well when challenged by disability, illness or other barriers to social well-being. In that capacity I often observed that the behaviour of misunderstood and untrained dogs contributed significantly to the stress in the home, and that often dogs, as well as people, were suffering.

My commitment is to provide and promote behaviour-change strategies and training methods that: are positive and free of stress; that enhance each dog’s well-being and relationship with his/her guardian; and that grow awareness of the nature and benefits of humane and welfare-centered methods in the larger community.

The Dog's POV

Dogs are feeling, thinking, beings who perceive the world through the lens of their species, paying attention to the things that they are hard-wired by nature to notice and to anything that serves or threatens their safety.

A dog’s radar is necessarily hypersensitive to threats, assessing safety constantly—in all interactions, in every moment and and sound and movement of every person, object, and animal in its space—physical, mental and emotional safety.

A dog must feel safe, not simply be safe. Only a dog's own point of view counts in this; perceived safety is an essential ingredient in any and all positive experiences.

Button: Reach Out

Dogs experience emotion before cognition and before acting. Observing our dogs' behaviour and body language offers us the opportunity to see with ever-more clarity the changing emotions that drive their behaviour moment to moment. To learn about a dog's unique point of view however, requires informed empathy, informed consideration of the role and impact of the environment and context in which the dog is operating at any given point in time, and respect for the dog's experience as separate from our own.

We must be curious about, and above all, respect the dog's point of view in order to optimize our communication, our effectiveness and trust-worthiness as their guides, and the quality of their life with us.

The beauty of leaning into the dog's point of view is the opportunity we then create for ourselves to be open to our dog's influence. And that is a beautiful thing.

When we allow our dogs to influence our thinking about them, and our behaviour towards them--not our reactivity to them but our proactive interest in the nature of their experience--when we pay close attention to and become informed and responsive to what they are communicating and to what meets their conditions for their unique 'felt' safety on every level--then our dog may choose us as their Best Friend.

Button: Reach Out

Some of the things we do to keep our dogs healthy and safe from a human perspective have no positive association for dogs--they do not convey safety and often are not pleasant, or appreciated by the dog. Safety from the dog's point of view is not found in involuntary confinement or restricted movement (i.e. the restraint of a tight short leash, or a backyard tether, involuntary crating, too much time in a crate, or home alone, walking on a short leash, walking without stopping to sniff so as to 'get exercise', going to the vet (unless you have cultivated friendly vet visits and practice cooperative care) eating a restricted and/or repetitive diet, or the multitude of other things we humans do for our own convenience--to keep the house clean, or quiet, or so we don't have to worry about the dog, that limit the range and frequency of the expression of natural behaviours.

Individual differences determined by genetics, biology and prior learning play a significant role in a dog's perception of what is safe, and the point at which conditions in the environment (scent, movement, sound, other dogs, other animals and human behaviour) are perceived as safe or unsafe.

Button: Reach Out

By and large, for dogs living among and captive to humans, it is our behaviour and things within our control that largely determine if a dog feels safe or stressed and whether it's lens on life is coloured with optimism or pessimism.

Why a focus on stress?

Life in a human world is often very stressful for dogs. Lack of training can significantly add to that stress. And sadly, training itself can be extremely stressful. Stresses, such as those caused by frustration, are a normal part of life, and will occur and impact our dogs. Our role then is to support opportunities for problem-solving and healthy self-soothing, and to intervene when the frustration is becoming too intense, going on for too long, or otherwise is not resolving. It is our role as dog guardians to protect from harmful and protracted stressors and to be mindful about not intentionally using stress or stressful situations as strategies to teach or train.

Stress interferes with learning, motivation, and trust.

Stress is an issue of welfare and well-being. A stressed dog is one who in the moment has not been able to meet or manage one or more of its biological needs, including the need for exercise, mental stimulation, and ‘felt’ safety. Dogs, like humans, don't do their best thinking when stressed, and in fact can panic or shut down.

Believing that what your dog is communicating is relevant, and being responsive to that communication can be life changing for you and your dog.

The dog’s “point of view”! What exactly does that mean?

It means what the dog perceives and experiences is real for the dog. A dog’s well-being must be measured from its point of view.

For example, if a dog shows fear when encountering the vacuum or a Halloween prop, then the vacuum and prop ARE frightening. The fear is felt by the dog, therefore it is real. The human's point of view, that there is ‘nothing to be afraid of’ is not valid for the dog.

When you want the best from your dog, do the best for your dog...

Give you and your dog the gift of stress-free learning and watch the positive changes add up!

[CREDENTIALS detailed]

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Learn from a Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behaviour Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP).

See the KPA pledge here.

Benefit from the expertise of a designated Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT). See here for information on the advantages of working with a CSAT when your dog can’t handle being alone. Learn more about the CSAT credentials here.

Tap into the 'made for families' Dial Guide resources created by The Family Dog, available to clients of Kindred Creatures. See more about the Dial Guide here.

Lean on Kindred Creatures for help with some of your dogs more ‘challenging-to-manage’ genetic-driven behaviours. We'll explore together to identify the do-able ways to meet your dog's breed needs when your dog needs some nurture for the nature within.

Currently enrolled in the LEGS Family Dog Mediation program which holds pet training up to the lens of applied ethology–the study of animals in captivity (captive environments).

See more about Family Dog Mediation here. MAYBE

Attend professional development conferences and continuing education workshops and webinars covering strategies and techniques targeted to specific behaviour challenges and needs, at the rate of about 20 per year.

Full training member and professional advocate of Force-Free Methods with the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) an international organization committed to public education and professional development initiatives.

The Force-Free Method - Informed by Science, Guided by Empathy, Governed by Ethics" TM Pet Professional Guild

Read more…collapsing text from the PPG about the science behind the force free method here.

Link to the following paragraph:

“The Force-Free Method - Informed by Science, Guided by Empathy, Governed by Ethics" TM

PPG promotes the use of positive operant and respondent training methods, both personally and professionally, and holds that all training should be conducted in a manner that encourages pets to enjoy the process, which will, in turn, lead them to become more confident and well-adjusted pets. PPG members optimize the use of applied behavior analysis to systematically identify and resolve problem behaviors using the least aversive and intrusive methods, tools and equipment. Further, both PPG and its members actively recommend against the use of any training tools and equipment whose purpose and/or intent is to interrupt or redirect behavior using fear, force or pain.

About Kindred Creatures

When you want the best from your dog, do the best for your dog...

Give you and your dog the gift of stress-free learning and watch the positive changes add up!

[CREDENTIALS detailed]

.

Learn what your dog loves. Love what your dog learns.