A Dog's Best Friend
Dr. Sophie Liu and Her Passion for the Canine-Human Connection
“The number one thing I want to tell people is that your dog is always trying its best — given its genetic background, given what happened in the three weeks to three months [of its early life], given the training you did or did not do, given its own personality. Have faith in your dog!” — Dr. Sophie Liu
“No, Ivy!”
Dr. Sophie Liu pleads as her 60-pound doberman snarls and lunges at neighbors and their pets on their quiet Oakland street, disrupting the peace. Heads turn in disapproval toward Dr. Liu, who looks down with shame and frustration.
She adores Ivy, and her passion for dogs runs deep — she’s dreamed of becoming a veterinarian since she was a kid. Yet, she’s starting to see that her approach to training might be fundamentally flawed.
As Ivy finally calms down, a shift occurs in Dr. Liu. This moment draws a line in the sand, igniting her pursuit of a new way of connecting with dogs. It steers her from a general love for canines to a more specific sub-passion for fostering the bond between dogs and humans.
Today, Dr. Liu is known for her work as a veterinarian, scientific published author, dog behaviorist, and co-founder of the Doberman Diversity Project. But that day, dealing with her challenging new puppy, she didn’t know anything about innovative behavior training methods — she just knew something needed to change.
In her quest for a better approach, Dr. Liu discovered ‘Control Unleashed’ by Leslie McDevitt, a pivotal moment that redefined her understanding of dog training. McDevitt's methods — focused on addressing emotional needs through patience and partnership rather than coercion — resonated with Dr. Liu. Successful behavior change was not just about obedience, she realized — it was about creating a trusting, communicative bond between dogs and their human companions, acknowledging the individuality and emotional complexity of each canine.
Dr. Liu's work with Ivy, influenced by these insights, transformed their relationship. Recognizing that Ivy's reactions stemmed from her nature and past experiences, Dr. Liu employed techniques to help her relax and feel secure, establishing a two-way system of communication — a system she has helped countless of other dog-human pairs implement, fostering healthier, more understanding relationships for everyone involved.
“It’s all about creating exceptional clarity, building value in the human-dog relationship, and teaching resilience,” Dr. Liu says about her approach to behavioral change. It’s a partnership that demands effort from both sides to transform their relationship.
“I think dogs are amazing, amazing creatures,” she adds. “They’re so intelligent and so complex… and that’s what I really love about them.”
I can’t help but agree with her. Like most people, I’m drawn to their affection and loyalty. The joy of being greeted by wagging tails, invitations for belly rubs, and exuberant kisses after five hours — or even five minutes — away is hard to beat. But I also adore their stubborn, mischievous sides and the fact that they each have such distinct looks and personalities (again… like humans). Which is why I was so excited to interview her for On Fire.
Her insights struck a chord, deepening my interest in what drives our bond with dogs and sparking curiosity about her own journey.
Dr. Liu’s passion for dogs showed up when she was a child — like so many passions do. She always loved animals but says her interest was “80-90% dogs.”
“If you’ve ever had a reactive dog, they just clue into other dogs and start staring,” she says. “I was like that as a kid. I would just clue in on a dog and stare at it because I just love them. I love everything about them.”
Dr. Liu got her first dog — a fluffy, flat faced Pekingese she named Lucky — when she was seven. She begged and begged for a dog and, finally, her parents gave in.
“That’s when the obsession — the addiction — started,” she says, her eyes sparkling.
Dr. Liu didn’t know anything about dog behavior back then, and when she got Lucky, he was “extremely unsocialized.” He had bad resource guarding, hated getting his nails trimmed, and couldn’t leave the house or go for a car ride without getting anxious and vomiting. But despite all these behavior problems, Dr. Liu still adored him. After all, he was only twenty pounds. No matter how bad his behavior was, it was never that big of a deal.
(Fun fact: Dr. Liu says that the socialization period in dogs is about three weeks to three months. So if you really want to make an impact in the dog’s understanding of what is normal and what is not, you need to do all of the exposure during this time. Otherwise, you’re at the mercy of whatever happened to them from three weeks to three months. After that, their fear becomes their dominating driver.)
At 17, Dr. Liu got Ivy, the doberman that changed her life. She had always wanted a doberman — she just loved the majestic look of them. And so, when one became available, she couldn’t believe her luck.
Dr. Liu and Ivy bonded immediately. There was only one problem: Ivy showed extreme aggression toward other dogs. Ivy would lash out at other dogs for no reason other than just seemingly just existing.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, you’re trying to kill other dogs. So, we should fix that,’” she says, recalling Ivy’s challenging early years.
Though Dr. Liu says that having Ivy was often anxiety-provoking and “not a great experience 25 percent of the time,” she adored her from the start. And so, as she set out on a journey to help change Ivy’s behavior and make their co-habilitation more of a peaceful one, she also wanted to help other dogs and their people do the same.
Everything began with Ivy, whose behavioral challenges sparked Dr. Liu's deep dive into the world of dog behavior and training. The success she found with behavior modification techniques from “Control Unleashed” was a turning point, fueling her desire to learn more. This led her to seek out Dr. Sophia Yin, a renowned veterinarian and animal behaviorist, who would become a pivotal mentor. Under Dr. Yin’s guidance, Dr. Liu deepened her knowledge of the science behind positive behavior change and also steered her towards a career in veterinary medicine and behavioral science.
A key click for Liu during this time? Realizing that humans and dogs evolved together. The idea is that as humans went from hunters and gatherers to building agriculture and civilization, we created a lot of trash in the process. Dogs started to transform into the domesticated dogs we know today because they started to eat that trash. Essentially, they self-domesticated.
We both get something essential out of the partnership — humans get protectors and workers, and dogs get fed. It’s an interspecies win-win.
“I think this unique relationship carried them through,” she says. “So now we use dogs to hunt. We use them to sniff for endangered species. We use them to sniff for narcotics and bombs. We use them to guide wildlife, to help with visually impaired people, and as the hearing for people who have hearing loss or who are deaf.”
We also love them. Dearly.
Dr Liu says that effective behavior modification all starts with clear markers — i.e. a clicker or verbal “yes.” Once the dog understands these markers, then you can strategically use them to capture and shape your desired behaviors. For example, one behavior she suggests all dogs and their owners work on is the concept of Notice and Disengage, which helps dogs notice a trigger (such as another dog) and disengage from it. It’s all based on working with the dog and being aware of what they might find overly stimulating or scary while layering in environmental challenges.
Dr. Liu says this approach differs completely from traditional ways of seeing behavior and obedience. “Traditionally — and still currently unfortunately — some people believed that a well-behaved dog is a dog who is obedient,” Dr. Liu says. “I completely disagree. A well-behaved dog is a product of genetics, neonatal care, early enrichment, and lifelong reinforcement of emotional regulation.”
Dr. Liu’s passion for dogs — and the people who love them — has only deepened since her experience with Ivy, who lived a long and happy life before passing away in 2019. She says that one of the misconceptions about behavior veterinarians like herself is that they only like dogs — and not their human companions. Dr. Liu says that although it can be challenging, she tries to believe in the golden nugget in everyone. She knows that pet owners just want what’s best for their dogs.
“We’re here for the people,” she says, speaking as a spokesperson for all behavior-focused veterinarians. “And yes, we’re here for the dogs. But really it’s the human-animal bond. It’s us as a cohesive society.”
She loves making co-habilitation a better experience for dogs and humans. She is ecstatic when the people she works with come back to her and tell her the methods worked.
“I really do feel for people who love their pets and are struggling with them,” she says. “I think the greatest satisfaction is improving that bond.” Having experienced Ivy's transformation, she understands its life-changing impact for all involved.
Dr. Liu says that how our dogs behave does reflect on the humans in their life. Yet, she reassures dog owners that undesired behaviors aren't always a reflection of their actions.
“You can’t control everything,” she says. Some of dog behavior comes down to external factors we can’t control like genetics, early socialization, training history, and personality. It’s important to have realistic expectations, she says. I should not, for example, expect my beagle, Rocket, to ever stop trying to eat every crumb off the sidewalk or to get into the garbage. It’s an unrealistic expectation for a dog originally bred for hunting with a one-track mind about food.
“The number one thing I want to tell people is that your dog is always trying its best,” she says. “So please don't believe that they're stubborn or dominant or whatever. Nine times out of ten, your dog is trying its absolute best — given its genetic background, given what happened in the three weeks to three months [of its early life], given the training you did or did not do, given its own personality.”
“Please,” she adds, “have faith in your dog!”
Takeaways
Here is one big thing I learned this week about passion, one exercise you can do to stoke your own inner fire, and one aspect of Dr. Liu’s intense enthusiasm that rubbed off on me — and that I now want to learn more about, too!
View Challenges as Passion Opportunities
Dr. Liu's initial struggle with Ivy's unexpected aggression wasn't just a hurdle — it was the turning point that redirected her from conventional dog training to the forefront of behavioral science. Her obstacle became the groundwork for her passion. So next time you come across a challenge, consider them closely. Often, it’s our greatest challenges that unearth our deepest passions. Look for the hidden opportunities within your obstacles.
One Exercise: The Engage-Disengage Game
Dr. Liu says that one of the most fundamental skills for well-trained dogs is the concept of noticing and disengaging from stimuli. Dog owners can start this on low distraction walks to help their dogs become less fearful, anxious, or frustrated around a specific trigger (such as another dog). She recommends using a clicker and treats to help reinforce positive behavior (such as looking away from the stimulus) and doing three to five repetitions in a row to begin with. See the full instructions for the exercise here.
One Curiosity: Clicker Training
Though my fifteen-year-old beagle may be set in her ways, my conversation with Dr. Liu got me thinking: could we work together to improve our co-habilitation even in her post-puppy years? That led me to clicker training (reinforced with treats), which led me to buying my first dog clicker that just arrived in the mail today. Here is a simple clicker training protocol Dr. Liu sent me to try.
Very interesting interview Krista. I grew up with an amazing dog (a Schnauzer). I love dogs dearly as well - they teach us unconditional love. I have been a dogsitter for a while and saw with my own eyes how each dog has his own personality.
I love to learn about how dogs and humans evolved together, it actually makes a lot of sense.
Love your images btw!! I'm subscribing, intriguing concept :)