Dog Communication was established by Penel Malby and Laura McAuliffe in Surrey, UK, in 2008. Laura and Penel have helped 1000s of anxious and reactive dogs using their unique skill set and assisted by their team of teaching dogs. Penel retired in 2020 and moved to Norfolk, and Laura has continued to run Dog Communcation.
Laura is a full member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC), and an Animal Behaviour & Training Council (ABTC) registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist. She has a degree in behaviour, a PhD in stress responses and recently undertook a postgraduate course in behaviour at Newcastle University. Laura’s interests are in dog anxiety and reactivity but also in helping the owners of reactive dogs, as life with a reactive dog can be incredibly stressful!
Laura’s current dogs are Sylvi, a Timber dog; Lucky, a rescue Dalmatian and Twig, a Yorkshire terrier who she hand-reared from 6 days old as she was abandoned. Laura previously had two Lurcher siblings, Luka and Beama, and Elsa, a Northern Inuit- all of which worked at Dog Comm and helped 100s of dogs in their lifetimes. When she’s not working at Dog Comm, Laura also supports her local rescue, Epsom Canine rescue, and enjoys spending time with her children, dogs, and allotment.
Laura has written a book chapter in ‘Canine Behaviour in Mind‘, a new textbook on dog behaviour. She has also written various journal articles, including for Veterinary Practice, on ‘behavioural implications of hand-reared singletons’. She has also been a regular contributor for Dogs Monthly and Dogs Today on subjects such as grief in dogs, signs of stress, secondary fear and canine communication.
Laura is also a regular speaker at conferences and recently spoke at the APBC annual conference on ‘the emotional side of reactivity- both ends of the lead’ and the APBC veterinary conference on dog reactivity.
Laura has recently been joined by Sarah Wynn, a fully qualified ABTC animal trainer and a full member of the Professional Association of Canine Trainers (PACT). Sarah assists with reactivity classes and runs our puppy and scent classes, general training, and one-to-ones.
The Teaching Dogs
Besides this incredible canine team, we are also often joined by other guest teaching dogs at the weekend.
Sylvi
Sylvi is a Northern Inuit, she’s energetic and an absolute clown to live with. She’s great with dogs showing frustration around other dogs, and she has very clear communication. She also works as a stooge (non-reactive, calm) dog for dogs with onlead reactivity issues.
Lucky
Lucky is a male Dalmatian. Everyone loves Lucky, and Lucky loves everyone- human and canine alike. Lucky is very easygoing and loves to help anxious dogs build confidence around other dogs.
Twig
Twig is a female Yorkshire terrier. Twig was a hand-reared singleton raised by Sylvi, yet despite this, she loves all dogs (and she loves people even more!). Twig is fabulous at helping shy smaller dogs and also works as a stooge.
Ted
Ted is Sarah’s male French Bulldog. Ted has a huge character who does things at his own pace. Ted loves puppies, and he’s very helpful in One-to-ones too.