by Sasha Riess | 03.02.26. | Behaviour
There is no breed manual. There is only the dog.
Dog behavior does not depend on breed, but on the environment in which the dog lives, the relationship built with humans, and the way the dog is shaped through experience. Many people search for instructions for specific breeds. The truth is simple: there is no manual for a breed. There is only the dog.
Why Breed Does Not Define Individual Dog Behavior
Just as a human is not defined by origin but by the environment in which they grow, the same applies to dogs.
Dog behavior depends on:
-
The family in which the dog lives.
-
The level of safety and stability.
-
The way communication happens.
-
Consistency and human presence.
Doberman, Belgian Shepherd, German Shepherd, Poodle, or Maltese all share the same basic canine language.
Every Dog Has Its Own Language and Relationship With the World
Every dog walks on four legs, eats and drinks in the same way, and communicates through body language, energy, and reactions. The difference is not in breed, but in:
This does not change the essence of dog behavior, only its expression.
A dog is a mirror of the system in which it lives.
There Is No Manual for the German Shepherd, Doberman, or Poodle
A common mistake owners make is searching for a manual for Dobermans, a special approach for German Shepherds, or different communication for small dogs.
The relationship between human and dog shapes behavior. Environment shapes behavior, not breed. The truth is simple: there is no breed manual. There is a behavior manual.
Basic principles are the same for all dogs:
-
Clear boundaries.
-
Calm presence.
-
Understanding of signals.
-
Consistency.
Dog Behavior as a Reflection of the Environment
A dog is a mirror of the system in which it lives. Its behavior is a result of what we give, what we withhold, and what we do (or do not do). As with humans, dog behavior is not corrected by a breed label, but by changing the relationship and the environment.
One Dog, One Language
When you take a dog, regardless of breed, you take a being with its own experience, its own way of perceiving the world, and a universal canine language. Understanding dog behavior does not begin with breed, but with observation, listening, and relationship.
This understanding of a dog’s emotional and physical state is at the heart of everything we do. At Integrative and Holistic Grooming Education, we teach people how to apply these principles of stability and care in their everyday lives with their dogs, helping create calm, healthy, and happy results.
by Sasha Riess | 03.02.26. | Behaviour
When a female dog is in heat, the first question owners ask is how to calm the hormones. However, it is important to say the truth immediately. Hormones do not calm down. They do their job. Just like in humans.
Hormones Do Not Calm Down: They Have Their Role
The heat period in a female dog in heat is a natural biological process. It is not a disorder, a problem, or a state that needs to be switched off.
Hormones in this period:
Just as a woman goes through phases of her cycle that cannot be turned off, a female dog goes through her own hormonal rhythm.
Why Trying to Calm Hormones Leads in the Wrong Direction
When we search for ways to calm the hormones, we are actually trying to control a natural process or avoid our own discomfort. But the dog is not asking for her hormones to be shut down. The dog is asking for a stable environment.
Practical Steps to Help a Female Dog in Heat
What helps is not working on hormones. What helps is working on:
-
Structure.
-
Routine.
-
Consistency.
The biggest role in this period is our discipline. Not the discipline of the dog. The discipline of the human.
Routine and Clarity Instead of Attempts at Control
When a female dog in heat feels clear rules, it reduces stress. Predictability brings safety, and a calm human stabilizes the dog. A dog reacts to your behavior, tone, tension, and presence. Not to explanations.
A female dog in heat is not asking you to calm her, but for you to be calm.
A Manual as a Tool for the Human, Not for the Dog
If you do not have a clear behavioral system, heat will simply bring it to the surface. That is why these moments are not a time for experiments, but for consistent behavior according to rules that already exist.
A manual is not meant to fix the dog or stop hormones. It is meant to:
-
Stabilize the relationship.
-
Give you a behavioral framework.
-
Help the dog rely on your safety.
Hormones Pass, The Relationship Remains
Heat has a beginning and an end. Hormones will withdraw on their own. What remains is how you behaved, how stable you were, and whether you were a support or an additional source of stress.
A female dog in heat is not asking you to calm her. She is asking you to be calm.
This understanding of a dog’s emotional and physical state is at the heart of everything we do. At Integrative and Holistic Grooming Education, we teach people how to apply these principles of stability and care in their everyday lives with their dogs, helping create calm, healthy, and happy results.
by Sasha Riess | 03.02.26. | Behaviour
Dogs love us as we are. Precisely because of this, the relationship with a dog is one of the deepest relationships a human can develop. This is not coincidence nor romanticization. It is pure dynamics of survival and belonging.
For a dog to survive alongside humans, it had to learn to accept humans as they are. And humans come into the world imperfect with anger, fears, frustrations, and patterns passed through generations. Dogs do not try to change this. They recognize it and they stay.
Unconditional Acceptance As The Foundation Of The Relationship With A Dog
Dogs do not love us for who we could be. They love us for who we are now.
This „I love you as you are“ is not a romantic idea. It is a mechanism of survival. A dog must accept our emotional matrix because otherwise it cannot survive in the world we shape. In this dynamic we often get stuck. Instead of changing patterns, we repeat them. In the same way our parents spoke to us, we now speak to others, and even to dogs. Social networks show this clearly. The same tone. The same aggression. The same patterns.
Safety precedes change. A dog accepts us as we are so that we can grow.
Dogs As A Safe Base: A View Through Affective Attachment Theory
Attachment theory clearly shows one important truth: People change only when they feel loved and accepted. Not under pressure. Not from fear. Not from guilt.
Change requires a safe base. Someone who accepts us even if we never change. Dogs intuitively know this. They become that safe harbor from which we can grow. Our dogs understand what we often fail to see—that change means leaving old patterns. And that is extremely difficult. Sometimes almost impossible. That is why they surrender to the idea that happiness can exist here and now. With us as we are.
When Unconditional Love Becomes A Trap
Still, this relationship with a dog also carries a risk. Dogs cannot carry the role of our safe base forever. They cannot be the only support. Their role is not to save us, but to show us what safety feels like.
A dog can be a bridge, but not the final destination. A bridge until we anchor into our own inner security. There lies the true value of the relationship with a dog. Not in idealization, but in understanding limits.
by Sasha Riess | 03.02.26. | Behaviour
Dogs are deeply connected to humans so much that we sometimes forget they are not ordinary animals in a scientific sense. Although zoology studies species across the planet from insects to large mammals, dogs are almost never a central topic of zoological research. The reason is not simple, but it reveals much about how dogs came to be, how they function, and why their world cannot be understood without the concept of the human.
Why Dogs Are Not a Subject of Zoology
Zoology deals with animals in their natural form as they would exist without human influence. That is exactly where the issue with dogs begins. A dog is not a species shaped by nature but a species shaped by humans. Through thousands of years of selection, people created hundreds of breeds with characteristics that would never be sustainable in nature: short muzzles, extremely short legs, very large bodies, unusual proportions, and physiology that depends on constant human care.
Because of this, many biologists and zoologists view dogs and zoology as two separate worlds. Many scientists describe dogs as degenerated forms of a species, not in an emotional sense but in a biological one. They are shaped in a way that would not allow them to survive without humans.
How Selection Changes the View of Zoology
Selection turned the wolf into an animal that now has more than four hundred varieties, from the Chihuahua to the shepherd. Zoology cannot study dogs as one animal, because there is no single dog. There is a whole spectrum of shapes and behaviors created by human desires, needs, and aesthetics.
Many breeds have physical traits that would never be possible or sustainable in nature:
-
Dogs with short leg syndromes would struggle to survive even a few days in the wild.
-
Brachycephalic breeds have breathing difficulties that would be fatal in nature.
-
Extremely small dogs would become prey for the first larger predator.
-
Very large dogs require too much energy for an ecosystem without constant food availability.
All of this makes dogs and zoology an unnatural pairing for classical science. That is why they are more often studied through ethology, genetics, veterinary science, behavioral psychology, or anthropology.
A dog is not a natural animal, but a being shaped alongside humans.
What This Means for Dog Owners
For owners this insight carries an important message. A dog does not function as a natural animal, but as a being that relies on humans for stability, structure, and guidance. Its physiology, development, and need for safety cannot be interpreted through the lens of wilderness.
A dog does not seek a natural environment but a stable human. It does not develop through packs but through affective bonding with its owner. It does not choose its path alone but learns it by watching our behavior.
Understanding that dogs are not a subject of zoology only confirms what every owner feels. A dog is a being that was not created in nature but in relationship with humans. And that is why its world is understood through humans, not through science alone.
by Sasha Riess | 02.02.26. | Behaviour
Boundaries are not for dogs. They are for us.
When we talk about boundaries with dogs, most people immediately think of prohibitions, commands, and rules that must be imposed on the dog. But the truth is quite the opposite. A dog does not suffer because of boundaries. A dog suffers because of the absence of boundaries. And the absence of boundaries does not come from the dog, but from the human who does not know how to set them.
A dog does not think in categories of “allowed” and “forbidden” like humans do. A dog functions through structure, consistency, and clear behavioral patterns. When that structure is missing, the dog is left without support. Then problems appear that people mistakenly call disobedience, stubbornness, or a “difficult character.”
Why Is It Hard for Us to Say No to a Dog
The problem with boundaries with dogs is often the same problem we have in relationships with people. We do not know how to say no because we fear conflict, rejection, or guilt. We say yes to everything. To compromises that drain us. To relationships that suffocate us. To habits that harm us.
The dog simply exposes that pattern.
Just as a parent who cannot say no to a child asking for sweets later pays the price through health issues, a dog owner gives in “out of love” and later faces anxiety, aggression, or loss of control in the dog.
Boundaries Are Not Punishment
Setting boundaries does not mean harshness, force, or domination. On the contrary. Boundaries are safety. They tell the dog, “I know what I am doing. You can rely on me.”
A dog with clear boundaries with dogs does not need to constantly test limits. He does not need to take responsibility that is not his. He does not need to make decisions instead of the human. That is where the dog’s inner peace begins.
A dog does not seek boundaries — the human avoids them.
When Boundaries Are Missing, the Dog Pays the Price
Without boundaries, the dog steps into roles that do not belong to him. He becomes overprotective, insecure, anxious, or reactive. People then say the dog is “problematic,” when in reality he has been left without structure.
That is why boundaries are not a tool to control the dog. They are a mirror of our relationship with our own life. The dog does not seek perfection. He seeks consistency.
The Dog Is Not the Problem. The Problem Appears Before the Dog.
The dog does not need to learn where boundaries are. The human needs to learn how to set them. When we know where we stand, the dog no longer needs to test, push, or take control. Then the relationship becomes stable, calm, and healthy for both sides.
by Sasha Riess | 01.02.26. | Behaviour
The relationship between a dog and a baby is one of the purest and most innocent relationships that exist. A dog does not intend to harm a child, and a baby has no awareness of causing harm. Problems arise only when adults fail to take responsibility and set clear boundaries.
A Relationship Disturbed Only by Humans
Small children, babies, and dogs share one important trait: complete innocence. Their relationship cannot be “wrong” by itself. A dog never plans to hurt a child. Difficulties appear when a parent or caretaker does not react, does not set boundaries, and does not recognize their own emotional state.
Parenthood, especially in the first months, carries enormous emotional and physical pressure. Lack of sleep, hormonal changes, stress, and inner tension become part of daily life. The dog and baby dynamic is affected by this because the dog senses everything. He does not understand words, but he understands energy.
How a Dog Experiences the Arrival of a Baby
In the dog’s perception, the baby is not “a child” but a change that has created instability in his human. The dog may then try to “protect” the parent because instinctively he feels that something has shifted. This is not aggression; it is an attempt to control a situation he does not understand.
That is why it is essential that adults:
-
Do not project their own stress onto the dog.
-
Do not leave the dog and baby unsupervised.
-
Do not expect the dog to “understand” human life phases.
Clear boundaries create a safe and peaceful environment for both the dog and the baby.
Boundaries Are Protection for Both Baby and Dog
A dog and a baby must have clear boundaries. How close the dog may come, when he must withdraw, and where his own space is. The same applies to the child. A dog is not a toy, a pillow, or a tool to calm a baby.
Boundaries are not punishment. They are safety.
Why Responsibility Always Remains with Adults
A dog cannot be emotionally mature. A baby cannot know boundaries. Adults must. When a parent takes responsibility, the relationship between dog and baby becomes stable, calm, and safe. Not because the dog is “good,” but because he is guided.
