Dawn Walton, a human therapist, and Jess Probst, a dog behaviourist are joined by trainers Jess Williams (Stormzy) and Kym Cleary.

They begin by discussing an event that happened on a recent walk where Stormzy was told to do something with her dog, Storm, by Jess and asked why, because it felt like a step back.

They discuss why people can't see aggressive behaviour signals in their dogs and return to a favourite subject - how do you we know who we are?

And of course there is the normal meandering through different topics including how to get people who bring their reactive dogs along, to not get defensive and actually see the dog in front of them !

Dawn Walton, a human therapist, and Jess Probst, a dog behaviourist are joined by Author, Speaker and Kindness Scientist David Hamilton Phd.

As David is a scientist they get into the physiology and genetics of kindness. David has his own dog, a Bichon Frisé called Daisy, and for the first time joined Jess and Dawn in comparing what kindness looks like to a human and a dog.

They talk about communication and the five love languages for humans, and the new love languages that Jess and Dawn have formulated for dogs and their owners.

The dog Love Languages are : Food, Play, Meeting other dogs, breed specific games, Exercise and Physical touch.

This is podcast explores the science and meaning in practical terms of kindness, connection and communication.

More about David:

After completing his PhD in organic chemistry, he worked in R&D in the pharmaceutical industry, developing drugs for cardiovascular disease and cancer. Inspired by the placebo effect, and how some people's conditions would improve because they believed a placebo was a real drug, he left the industry to write books and educate people in how they can harness their mind and emotions to improve their mental and physical health.

Dawn Walton, a human therapist, and Jess Probst, a dog behaviourist talk about emotional hijacking and the different levels, from fight, flight, freeze to the top level - which is switched off and not connected.

They discuss behaviour and where it comes from, leading to a conversation about parts. Enjoy listening as Jess (yes Jess, not Dawn) describes parts. They reference IFS (Internal Family Systems) which is parts work

Dawn Walton, a human therapist, and Jess Probst, a dog behaviourist compare their definitions of what mental health issues actually means, after Jess asked Dawn if she has any mental health issues and Dawn said yes!

The talk about the term "to provoke" and how there is an underlying level of stress and then situational / provoked stress on top of that (Is the cup full of water or the bucket half full of blood - you decide!)

And of course there is the normal meandering through different topics!

(please note this episode is recorded in a restaurant so may have more background noise than a usual podcast)

Dawn Walton, a human therapist, and Jess Probst, a dog behaviourist talk how we all believe we can time travel and how we end up regretting stuff because of that.

They talk about strategies that you can use to compensate for this emotional hijacking.

And of course there is the normal meandering through different topics!

(please note these episodes are recorded chats in Tim Hortons so may have more background noise than a usual podcast)

Dawn Walton, a human therapist, and Jess Probst, a dog behaviourist talk about snow globes and spiders in the context of phobias, anxiety and fear.

This episode is about who you are versus what your environment is versus how you are behaviour, and explores the nature of humans by looking at gangsters as per Get Gotti on Netflix.

They talk about the mind body connection and how powerful mindset it. Please note this involves a conversation about illness such as cancer so please avoid if you are in a sensitive place on this topic. As ever, discussions happen with openness and curiosity

Please note there is a bit more noise than usual on the first part of this podcast - sorry! Plus a dog went mental with the barking in the middle so we had to stop and start it again 5 minutes later.

Dawn Walton, a human therapist, and Jess Probst, a dog behaviourist talk about Percival the Mali pup as he chills out in Starbucks. Dawn hasn't seen Percival for at least 6 weeks, when he was first picked up. The change in him is remarkable. He lay down in Starbucks with very relaxed body language. He was alert and curious but not anxious, despite being next to a table with two noisy kids. At no point did he have to be given instructions on what to do. His lead was loose.

And this led Jess and Dawn to talking about how much we have a need to control everything, even in a positive way. We teach puppies obedience and then control their every move. We do the same with kids - trying to control what they do so they don't get in trouble. When owners come to Jess for help they want to understand what to do, when first they need to understand why they should do it.

Understanding why allows you to adapt. Dawn taught their child how to make decisions - e.g. how to interpret social media posts - so that they could make the right choices.

The need for control often comes from our own anxieties and issues. Accept that it is a normal human reaction, but then ask "What next?" rather than trying to control everything that happens.

Percival hit 12 weeks and started doing some innate behaviours - he started barking at people. This was not something that he could carry on doing, but also something that he shouldn't be told off for because we could end up with a very anxious dog. Teaching him that it's not ok (with a pattern interrupt) and getting him to do an alternate behaviour has led to a dog that can relax as he knows what's expected of him.

Jess talks about the word "Matriarchy" and how that can inform the leadership we use to guide our dogs, rather than nag them

Dawn Walton, a human therapist, and Jess Probst, a dog behaviourist continue the discussion on XL Bully's and what is going on just now.

They discuss more about pathways using a story of an apple to explain how easy it is to negatively reinforce a memory / emotion.

They discuss breed genetics and the influence they have on dogs - and as always, discussing "So what?" relating it to how we correct children.

What is the difference between training and control?