Episode #161- The Difference Between Safety and Security

Your Dog Can Be Safe Without Feeling Safe (And Vice Versa)

April 6, 2026

TLDL (Too Long, Didn’t Listen):

1️⃣ Safety and security are not the same thing — being safe and feeling safe are two different experiences that require different responses.

2️⃣ Security isn’t logical — the body responds based on history and nervous system state, not rational assessment, in animals and humans alike.

3️⃣ Think diagnostically, not definitively — use safety and security as categories to trial, evaluate, and refine your approach rather than boxes you have to get exactly right.

Episode Overview:

Have you ever watched your dog happily bolt toward a car, completely unbothered, while another dog trembles in a loving, calm home? Both dogs are caught in the gap between being safe and feeling safe, and it turns out that gap matters enormously. In this episode, Emily and Ellen unpack the critical distinction between safety (objective protection from harm) and security (the felt sense of being protected), and explain why mixing them up is one of the most common reasons behavior plans stall.

Whether you’re a pet parent exhausted by a dog who barks at the neighbor for the 742nd time, or a behavior professional struggling to get traction on a difficult case, this episode gives you a concrete framework for digging in, figuring out what’s going on, and what to do about it.

Links & Resources from the Episode

🧾 For full episode transcripts: Arial l OpenDyslexic
#109 – Assessing Risk for the Safety Enrichment Category
#138 – What Horror Films Teach Us About Behavior
📚 Are Needs Being Met Checklist & Enrichment Plan Walkthrough
- Download the checklist from Canine Enrichment for the Real World and companion guide to identifying whether you’re dealing with a safety or security issue when creating an enrichment plan.

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Meet the Hosts

Allie Bender, CDBC, CPDT-KA, SBA

Allie Bender is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, Certified Professional Dog Trainer- Knowledge Assessed, and a Shelter Behavior Affiliate. She has been in the animal welfare industry since 2006 and professionally training since 2012. She is the founder and co-owner of Pet Harmony, co-author of Canine Enrichment for the Real World, and a national speaker.

While in the animal sheltering industry, Allie realized that her passion lied in helping pets with maladaptive behaviors. Specifically, she wanted to help prevent animals with rehabilitatable problems from being euthanized. She loves working with dogs and cats displaying stranger danger, resource guarding, and leash reactivity. Her favorite thing about working with pets and their people is seeing relationships grow and seeing harmonious households develop.

EMIly strong

Emily Strong is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and Shelter Behavior Affiliate. She has been in the animal welfare industry since 1990 and has been a behavior consultant since 2008. She is the co-owner of Pet Harmony, co-author of Canine Enrichment for the Real World, and a national speaker.

Emily started working with animals at a young age and struggled with the notion that you have to hurt, scare, or intimidate animals to help them. When she discovered the behavior sciences and learned that it wasn’t necessary to do so– that we can care for emotional, mental, and physical health simultaneously– she plunged headfirst into animal behavior. Emily loves helping current and prospective behavior professionals and working with pet parents through our in-depth services. She enjoys working with all species.

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Episode #161- The Difference Between Safety and Security

Your Dog Can Be Safe Without Feeling Safe (And Vice Versa)

April 6, 2026

TLDL (Too Long, Didn’t Listen):

Episode Overview: