Blog — polyvagal theory

  When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Appears Does your dog push your buttons? Do you ever feel an exaggerated reaction to your dog's behavior? Downright triggered? Your most uncomfortable emotions can be activated and mirrored by your dog. Your shadow self might be unconsciously projected into your dog. Your unhealed inner child. Your refusal to accept the truth or the reality of your current situation. One of the simplest practices (not necessarily easy, but straightforward) is to write your dog a letter of gratitude. This can help you process the emotions coming up around your dog's behavior. This...

Expressing Sympathetic Arousal with Resistance Feeding and Tug-of-War “In the intensity of sympathetic mobilization your clients are looking for an organized way to use and safely discharge their energy. “    --Deb Dana, Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection   Resistance Feeding:   Allows the dog to express the “surge” of energy resulting from sympathetic arousal Dog pushes into the handler to discharge sympathetic energy of fight/flight/hunt Constructive way to channel fear, reactivity, fight drive, and even hunting instincts       Tug-of-War:   Uses the dog’s natural instinct to bite in a playful way that regulates the dog and...

  Mirroring your dog during play can help you connect and co-regulate. Play-fighting is a great way to regulate the nervous system and start to feel safety within activated states. Your dog should have a soft mouth when you play! Raise the intensity slowly to be sure you don't trigger a traumatized dog. You want the dog (and yourself) to stay within the window of tolerance.   Play serves as a co-regulating tool because the process of interacting with others during play creates a shared emotional experience that influences both individuals' nervous systems, helping them to regulate emotions, manage stress,...

  Canine Core Method   A positive approach to Drive-Training: We channel your dog’s natural drives into constructive behaviors without suppressing energy We use the primal instincts built into the canine mind to engage, play, and build relationships based on trust Emotional and physical wellness through attention to the WHOLE dog: His nervous system, physical health, mental health, etc. (see Polyvagal Theory by Stephen Porges) Movement-Based Training: Behavior is movement and a dog’s movement is dictated by his drive, therefore, if we engage their drive, we can modify their behavior Relationship-Based Training: The owner is the answer to any stress the...

  Guests for this podcast are brother and sister, Campbell and Nerida, who grew up immersed in the world of dogs at their family’s boarding kennels, where their mum bred and showed champion Borzoi and kept Staffies. After finishing school, Campbell wasn’t sure what direction to take, so he traveled the world before settling into a decade-long career in finance. Realising this was not a fulfilling career, he reignited his passion for dogs and decided to make it his life’s work. Campbell joined a mentorship program, and obsessively studied canine behavior, securing a job as a behavior trainer at Melbourne’s...