The wonderful Marilyn Mele hosted another free online conference for caregivers of sensitive dogs in November 2025.
As usual, there were amazing speakers, along with plenty of advice and affirmation.
One of the speakers, Sarah Jones, has been working to raise awareness around giving anxious dogs space:
https://myanxiousdog.co.uk/pages/about-us
In the UK, a dog in yellow — whether that’s a yellow lead, harness, ribbon, or similar — is intended to signal that the dog needs space.
https://yellowdoguk.co.uk/about-us/
This can be for a number of reasons. Some dogs may be recovering from surgery, some may be elderly, and some may be anxious, of course.
I was already aware that yellow indicates a need for space — we have a lot of yellow gear! — but it was really interesting to hear more about how people are trying to build awareness.
Space helps us so much.
It allows us to work on desensitisation and counter-conditioning without George going over threshold, ultimately helping him feel safer.
It prevents George’s cortisol levels from remaining constantly high, which has negative health effects and makes it impossible for him to learn.
It also allows George to do “normal” dog things, like sniffing and exploring.
I am incredibly appreciative of all the people who give us space, put their dog on a lead, and let us move out of the way.
It really does make a world of difference to George — and to me.
So I’m all for increasing awareness as much as possible.
I don’t think there’s an official awareness campaign in my country (yet), but we do have a lot of yellow gear — a jacket, harness, and lead, t-shirts for me — and it does seem to help.
Even at a distance, people can see that something is different… although that might also be because I’m staring at them to see where they’re going to go 😆
So here’s to the yellow dogs — and to the people who give space and make their world feel safer.