Percy's Panorama is an occasional long-form investigation into the topics that matter. This week, Percy examines why "anxiety" has become the most overused and least understood word in dog behaviour — and why the thing causing it might be closer to home than you think. I want to begin with a confession of mild frustration. The word anxiety has been doing an enormous amount of heavy lifting in the dog behaviour world, and nobody seems to have noticed that it is buckling under

🔬 PERCY'S PANORAMA 🔬 A Special Investigation by Percy WHY YOUR ADOLESCENT DOG IS NOT BROKEN — AND WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING INSIDE THEIR HEAD Let me address something immediately: I did not go through adolescence. I emerged from puppyhood essentially fully-formed — intellectually sophisticated, emotionally regulated, and already displaying the kind of behavioural elegance that others spend years attempting to achieve. I realise this may be difficult for some of you to acce

By Oliver Ringrose - Dog Smart Training & Behaviour I'm a systems engineer. For most of my working life, I've been obsessed with understanding how things work — and more specifically, why they work that way. I spent years building control systems: thousands of data points, sensors feeding back information, loops constantly reading error and applying correction. There's something deeply satisfying about watching all of that complexity settle into something stable and functiona

The CBD Question: What the Science Says, What It Doesn't, What Nobody Has Noticed, and What Everybody Getting This Wrong Should Know Percy here. You are about to read the most forensically researched piece of dog content you have encountered this year. I say this not to impress you — though I understand if you are impressed — but because I want you to know that what follows is the product of serious intellectual labour, and it deserves to be read with the appropriate level of

The Harmony Framework is the proprietary systems-based framework developed within Dog Smart Training & Behaviour Ltd. It approaches behaviour as the product of interacting regulatory systems — physical wellbeing, environment, agency, learning, social dynamics, and lifestyle — rather than as isolated problems to fix. By understanding how these systems influence one another, we can stabilise strain where it exists and build change in a way that protects recovery, adaptability,

The Harmony Framework is the proprietary systems-based framework developed within Dog Smart Training & Behaviour Ltd. It approaches behaviour as the product of interacting regulatory systems — physical wellbeing, environment, agency, learning, social dynamics, and lifestyle — rather than as isolated problems to fix. By understanding how these systems influence one another, we can stabilise strain where it exists and build change in a way that protects recovery, adaptability,

The Harmony Framework is the proprietary systems-based framework developed within Dog Smart Training & Behaviour Ltd. It approaches behaviour as the product of interacting regulatory systems — physical wellbeing, environment, agency, learning, social dynamics, and lifestyle — rather than as isolated problems to fix. By understanding how these systems influence one another, we can stabilise strain where it exists and build change in a way that protects recovery, adaptability,

The Harmony Framework is the proprietary systems-based framework developed within Dog Smart Training & Behaviour Ltd. It approaches behaviour as the product of interacting regulatory systems — physical wellbeing, environment, agency, learning, social dynamics, and lifestyle — rather than as isolated problems to fix. By understanding how these systems influence one another, we can stabilise strain where it exists and build change in a way that protects recovery, adaptability,

The Harmony Framework is the proprietary systems-based framework developed within Dog Smart Training & Behaviour Ltd. It approaches behaviour as the product of interacting regulatory systems — physical wellbeing, environment, agency, learning, social dynamics, and lifestyle — rather than as isolated problems to fix. By understanding how these systems influence one another, we can stabilise strain where it exists and build change in a way that protects recovery, adaptability,

The Harmony Framework is the proprietary systems-based framework developed within Dog Smart Training & Behaviour Ltd. It approaches behaviour as the product of interacting regulatory systems — physical wellbeing, environment, agency, learning, social dynamics, and lifestyle — rather than as isolated problems to fix. By understanding how these systems influence one another, we can stabilise strain where it exists and build change in a way that protects recovery, adaptabilit

The Harmony Framework is the proprietary systems-based framework developed within Dog Smart Training & Behaviour Ltd. It approaches behaviour as the product of interacting regulatory systems — physical wellbeing, environment, agency, learning, social dynamics, and lifestyle — rather than as isolated problems to fix. By understanding how these systems influence one another, we can stabilise strain where it exists and build change in a way that protects recovery, adaptability

The Harmony Framework is the proprietary systems-based framework developed within Dog Smart Training & Behaviour Ltd. It approaches behaviour as the product of interacting regulatory systems — physical wellbeing, environment, agency, learning, social dynamics, and lifestyle — rather than as isolated problems to fix. By understanding how these systems influence one another, we can stabilise strain where it exists and build change in a way that protects recovery, adaptability

R+, Anthropomorphism, and the Risk of Losing the Bigger Picture The positive reinforcement movement has started to chang the training world for the better. It has: Reduced reliance on force Reframed behaviour through learning science Centred welfare and emotional safety Challenged outdated dominance narratives That progress is real — and it matters. It also emerged in response to real harm. For decades, labels like “dominant,” “spiteful,” and “manipulative” were used to jus

Internal Shifts and Co-Regulation in Dog-Human Systems This is the fourth entry in our ongoing exploration of Perceptual Control Theory...

Introduction: Building on What Came Before This blog follows from our earlier explorations of Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) in dogs. In...

If you're new to Perceptual Control Theory (PCT), start with Your Dog’s Not Misbehaving—They’re Regulating Reality —a foundational blog...

Introduction: When Behaviour Isn’t What It Seems You're in the kitchen, mug in hand, trying to remember why you walked in there....

As the sun stretches into longer days, many of us are spending more time outdoors with our dogs. It’s a fantastic time of year — but...

In our first blog, “ Understanding Arousal, what it actually means for your dog ” we explored what arousal really means for dogs—how it...

“He’s just over-aroused.” If you’ve ever heard a trainer say that and found yourself nodding politely while secretly thinking, “Okay,...