What is a Family Dog Mediator?

A family dog mediator is a dog professional who has specialized training and education in the L.E.G.S. Model of Integrated Canine Science as developed by internationally recognized applied ethologist and certified dog behaviour consultant Kim Brophey.

It approaches dog behaviour from an applied ethological viewpoint, allowing us to understand why dogs are motivated to do what they do and how they interact with their world in order to adapt, survive and thrive. With applied ethology, we can begin to see how life in captivity under human management influences dog behaviour. To get a much better picture of the family dog in their everyday life, we use the L.E.G.S. Model as an assessment tool.

What Does L.E.G.S. Stand For?

L.E.G.S. stands for learning, environment, genetics and self. These four elements matter, and one isn't more important than the other. They all interact together to shape who your dog is today. Let's break down each element even further.

Learning (L): Every single day, your dog learns about their world through their experiences; they are even influenced by the experiences of their ancestors. They learn what things are pleasant, unpleasant, safe or unsafe. With each experience, your dog begins to predict what will happen next based on what has happened before, and they develop predictable patterns by which to view the world. This will then influence how your dog decides to react and navigate their world.

Environment (E): The environment includes every single thing that your dog encounters and engages with during its daily life. It even includes your dog's ancestors' experiences with their own environment, too! As your dog experiences the environment, she often asks herself questions, which have a direct bearing on how she will operate in the world around her. She is asking questions like, "Am I safe?", "What does that thing mean to me?" "What am I supposed to do about that thing?" and "Is that thing over there my friend or will it hurt me?"

Genetics (G): This refers to your dog's DNA. It is necessary to note that just because your dog is a specific breed, this doesn't mean your dog is guaranteed to have all of those traits that breed typically has! Believe it or not, gun dogs have been relinquished to shelters because they didn't like hunting all that much! However, we still should look at a dog's breed when assessing behaviour as it could be a piece of the puzzle and should not be ignored.

Self (S): Your dog's age, sex, reproductive health, diet and nutrition, physical and internal well-being as well as their temperament and personality make up your dog's individual self.

As mentioned before, all four elements play a role in who your dog is today. This is why a certified family dog mediator will complete a L.E.G.S. assessment to better understand your dog for who they actually are!

What Do Family Dog Mediators Do?

We do everything in our professional capacity to understand the needs of everyone involved, including the family members and their family dog. We want to make sure that the human parents feel heard and seen while also intervening on behalf of their dog. All parties involved equally matter.

To do this, we assess the dog's L.E.G.S. during our initial consultation as well as ask the human owners about their thoughts, feelings and concerns. Remember, we want to make sure that the training plan we come up with is mutually beneficial to both the dog and their owners!

Family dog mediators are also transparent and honest. We help clients to set realistic goals and expectations for themselves and their dogs as we implement solutions that are purposeful, creative, worthwhile and based on improving animal welfare.

This means that we focus on coaching dog parents on how to manage their living spaces to help the dog feel safe and calm and how to optimize their dog's everyday opportunities to flourish and be fulfilled and build resilience.

We also spend time on showing you how your dog is talking to you and what it is they are thinking and potentially feeling. Knowing how your dog speaks to you can help you to avoid unnecessary conflict. It also teaches your dog that they can trust you because you will be able to respect their boundaries and actually communicate with each other in a meaningful way.

At the end of the day, we want to provide dog parents with accurate information on how to live a happy, fulfilling, wonderful life with their dogs.

About the Author

Kate Hendriks is a certified dog trainer and certified family dog mediator. She offers private, in-home dog training services in London, Ontario for formal obedience, reactivity, predatory chasing and other complex behavioural concerns. To book a FREE 30-minute phone consultation, you can contact Kate here.