Welcome to my weird and wonderful world.

Where I happily spend far too much time thinking and talking about dogs and dog behaviour—and yes, talking to dogs too.

Meet the Family

Hi, I’m Kathleen.

I am the entity behind Head & Heart. Here is my story:

I’ve always been an animal freak. For a long time, I thought my path was wildlife conservation. I studied critically endangered frogs, worked in turtle conservation, researched aquatic insect ecology, and worked with everything from porcupines to sloths, skunks, and monkeys. I loved that work, but I feel it can only go so far if people still struggle to expand their circle of compassion and understanding to include animals.

At the same time, I found myself increasingly drawn to one particular species—not because it was exotic or rare, but because it was right there in front of me. All the time. The dog became my favourite animal, and before I knew it, I had established my own SPCA certified training business, worked with over 150 aggression and reactivity cases, and am now a PhD student in dog behaviour and training methodology at UBC.

My core obsession is this:

How can we better understand dog behaviour, and how can we best communicate this information to the people who love them in order to create meaningful, lasting behavioural change?

I also hold a Master’s degree in conservation biology and a Bachelor’s degree in animal biology, so apologies in advance—you may get the occasional strange sprinkling of invertebrate biology or frog facts while working with me.