A royal seal of approval for #dogsinyellow?

Well, perhaps not officially… but this is something I am incredibly proud of.

Sometimes the biggest steps forward aren't the ones you originally set out to take.

Last year, I approached The Crown Estate with an idea. I wanted to explore the possibility of holding a #dogsinyellow awareness walk at Windsor Great Park, bringing people together and helping spread a simple but incredibly important message:

A dog wearing yellow needs space

After conversations with the team, we agreed that Windsor Great Park wasn't quite the right location for the type of walk I had in mind. I later approached the National Trust and our #dogsinyellow awareness walk found its home at the beautiful Cliveden.

But my conversations with The Crown Estate didn't end there.

One conversation sparked another idea

Through our discussions about dogs wearing yellow and why public understanding is so important, my original approach gave The Crown Estate the idea of creating something that could potentially reach visitors in a different way.

They decided to produce a blog explaining the different jackets people may see dogs wearing at Windsor Great Park and what they mean.

I was delighted to be asked to work with them on it, providing wording and photographs and helping to explain the meaning behind yellow.

The result is The Crown Estate's Understanding Dog Jackets article, which now sits on the Windsor Great Park website.

And there, alongside information about assistance dogs, guide dogs and other working dogs, is an important section dedicated to yellow harnesses and leads – dogs that need space.

Why does this mean so much to me?

When I started My Anxious Dog, yellow became Bella's voice.

Bella couldn't tell the person approaching us that she was frightened. She couldn't explain that she needed them not to come closer or allow their dog to rush towards her.

Yellow could. But putting yellow on Bella was only ever one half of the solution. The person coming towards us needed to understand what it meant.

That has become the driving force behind everything I do.

I don't simply want more nervous, or fearful dogs to wear yellow. I want the wider public to recognise it. I want someone walking through a park to see a flash of yellow in the distance and understand:

That dog needs space. I'll give them a little more room.

No judgement. No assumptions. Just understanding.

Awareness that lasts beyond a single day

This is why this particular collaboration means so much.

An awareness walk is wonderful. It starts conversations, brings people together and gives us an opportunity to educate. But a permanent article has the ability to keep doing that long after an event has finished. Someone planning a visit to Windsor Great Park might read the article today, next month or next year. They may then encounter a dog wearing yellow on their walk and, because of what they've read, make a different choice.

They might call their own dog back. They might shorten their lead. They might wait for a moment at a gate. They might simply give that dog a little more space.

It seems such a small action, but to the person at the other end of that yellow lead, it can mean everything.

A rather royal moment for #dogsinyellow

I'm incredibly grateful to The Crown Estate for listening to my original approach and, rather than allowing the conversation to end when we decided the walk wasn't right for Windsor Great Park, recognising another opportunity to help.

I'm also very proud to have worked with them, providing the wording and photographs that helped bring the yellow message into their wider article about understanding dog jackets.

So, can I claim a Royal Seal of Approval for dogs in yellow?

Perhaps not officially! But seeing The Crown Estate explaining to its visitors what yellow means certainly feels like a rather special moment for #dogsinyellow.

And it reminds me why I keep doing what I do. For years, I have asked one simple question, What if everybody knew?

What if everybody knew that when they see a dog wearing yellow, that dog needs space?

I work tirelessly to make that happen.

Through conversations, collaborations, awareness events, education and sometimes simply knocking on doors and asking organisations to listen, I will continue doing everything I can to make yellow universally understood.

Every organisation that shares the message helps us reach more people. 

Every person who learns what yellow means makes the world a little easier for a dog who finds it overwhelming.

And every dog who is given that extra bit of space because somebody understood their yellow reminds me why this matters.

What if everybody knew? It's not just a question anymore. It's what I'm working towards.