Stress in Dogs

To the 'canine behaviour' savy person the picture to the left shows a dog displaying multiple signs of stress. (See Scholz & Von Reinhardt's 'Stress in dogs' for more information).

At the core of Competent K9's operations are the welfare of our dogs and the wellbeing of the people involved in our services. This entails always ensuring that no dog is ever placed in a situation where they may feel vulnerable and setting our clients up in a way that...  

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minimises their risk of harm.

The body language that the dog on the left is eliciting may be due to the fact that the dog had a camera (a potentially unfamiliar scary object) positioned in close proximity to it's face; being restrained by the child or a myriad of other possibilities as the cause. Nevertheless the dog is not comfortable and unless the source of stress is able to be identified and eliminated almost instantaneously the dog should be removed from the situation for it's welfare and the welfare of others.

Unfortunately this was an image placed alongside an article written about the start-up of Competent K9 by an unsuspecting magazine design team. This image is in no way, historically or currently connected with any of Competent K9's Programs.