Reactivity
Ash
I first met Ash and his owner when I was out for a walk with my own dog down by the river. Ash was nervous of the dogs around him, barking and growling if they came too close. We got chatting and it turned out that Ash had been attacked by a dog at this location just a day before. He was bitten, quite badly, and pinned down by a much larger dog.
Ash’s owner decided that he wanted some support to help Ash recover and regain his confidence around big dogs again. He also wanted to tighten up Ash’s recall and his lead walking.
We worked together to build Ash’s confidence back up and to teach him to disengage from dogs when he sees them, over the course of a couple of months.
Ash’s owner was brilliant with him and Ash already had a huge repertoire of commands he knew. We worked on some additional, fun tricks with him and incorporated new commands which would help him to focus on his owner and build a more solid recall.
Ash is now back to his former self – but with improved lead-manners and recall. Well done, Ash!
Poppy & Patch
Poppy and Patch are springbats (springers x basset hounds). Poppy is Patch’s mum; she had just the one litter and they decided to keep Patch. Their owners got in contact with me because they were struggling with a few of their dogs’ behaviours.
Poppy has a very short temper with Patch; she did not like sharing her space with him and was not happy if he was receiving attention from her humans. She also had a skin condition, with small patches of dry skin and lost fur, which the vets were unable to help with.
Patch’s behaviours were more of a problem outside of the house. He was reactive to other dogs, bringing far too much excitement, which resulted in pulling on the lead, lunging and barking, all of which resulted in walks becoming very stressful.
Both Patch & Poppy were big barkers at home, barking at their owners but also continually barking at guests and being unable to settle.
To begin, we spoke about the importance of ignoring unwanted behaviours and giving the dogs something else to do, rather than barking. We looked at how enrichment can be used to promote calmness and reduce stress. Once we’d put these things in place, just a few weeks later, the demand barking was almost non-existent, Poppy had relaxed into Patch’s company and her fur had grown back.
Next, we began looking at Patch’s over-excitement on walks. We introduced basic command work to teach him that listening to his owners is valuable, with a focus on commands that teach impulse control. We also focused on engagement activities and loose lead walking techniques. Together, we also looked at how Patch’s owners can manage the environment on walks to prevent him from becoming over-stimulated.
Now, Patch’s owners can enjoy walking their dogs again and are no longer living in a barking-mad household. Both of the dogs are calmer and more confident in themselves.
Well done to Poppy & Patch!
Apollo
Apollo’s owners came to me because they were struggling to manage the standard poodle’s behaviour at home and on walks. Apollo was reactive, mainly towards dogs but also towards some people. His reactivity came out in the form of barking, lunging and growling and he would pull on the lead continually, making walks very difficult and stressful for him and his owners. He would also bark whenever a person or dog walked past at home, which meant the family were living in darkness with the curtains shut at all times.
We looked at strategies to build Apollo’s confidence as well as how to promote calmness at home. We spoke about how to respond to Apollo’s barking behaviours at home and how to set him up for success. We also looked at the equipment being used for Apollo’s walks and how different pieces could support him before teaching Apollo to focus on us and the value of walking to a heel. Additionally, we spoke about how to manage walks for Apollo to predict his triggers and prevent him from feeling like he needs to react.
Now, Apollo is like a different dog. He walks beautifully to heel on a loose lead, no longer barks at home, is calm when visitors arrive and is able to see multiple people, cats and dogs on walks without becoming over-stimulated.
A massive well done to this beautiful boy!
Squitchley
This French Basset Hound is cute – and he knows it! But his behaviours were making life at home difficult for his owners. Squitchley would bite his owners hands, feet, clothes (whatever he could get hold of!); steal and destroy high value items (including a designer handbag!) and become aggressive if his owners attempted to take it away; mount people’s legs, backs, arms; pull on the lead, bite the lead and would not recall to his owners. There was a lot for us to work on!
First port of call for us was to look at the routine that Squitchley had as it was clear that he was over-stimulated. We looked at implementing a routine where Squitchley had ample opportunity to sleep, relax and have quiet, calm time. We also spoke about how enrichment could be used to increase Squitchley’s calmness.
Next, we looked at introducing some impulse control exercises and well as basic obedience so that Squitchley could control his urges and listen to his owners, rather than tuning them out completely. This massively reduced his biting behaviour whilst increasing his ability to listen out on walks.
We spoke about how we needed to manage our behaviour to set Squitchley up for success and discussed how to best tackle his resource guarding. This was tricky for his owners as the items that Squitch was prone to stealing were so high value to us – glasses, tv remotes and even a steak knife!
Squitchley’s owners were 100% dedicated to his training and he is now a different dog. He is calm at home, no longer bites for attention, rarely feels the need to steal items and is able to listen to his owner and behave beautifully on his walks.
This training journey took us three months from start to finish, with 6 sessions in total – his story really is a testament to the power of positive training. A very big well done to Squitchley!
Teddy
Reactivity and barking training for Teddy. This little Maltipoo began training with me at 9 months old, as his owners could no longer manage his reactions to other dogs on walks. Whilst on lead, he would bark himself into a frenzy whenever he caught sight of another dog and he was beginning to show the same reaction to other people that he spotted on walks too. Teddy would also bark almost continually at the television, setting himself off whenever an animal came on screen.
Together, we worked to increase Teddy’s confidence in himself so that he wasn’t unsure when approaching other dogs and felt able to handle the situation calmly, rather than by barking. We looked at enrichment in the home and basic training/obedience that his owners could do with him. We also worked on management strategies for his owners to that they felt able to handle any unexpected dogs on their walks, so that Teddy didn’t feel the need to take matters into his own paws.
Now, the majority of Teddy’s walks are calm and bark free, he’s calm in the home and his owners no longer feel stressed when it’s time for a walk.
Well done, Teddy!
Ariel
Ariel’s owner came to me for training as Ariel was incredibly anxious, especially around people coming to the home. She would bark non-stop when people were round and would frequently toilet inside due to her nervousness. Ariel also lacked a lot of confidence on her walks and was fearful of people and dogs.
Together, we worked on enrichment and training activities in the home that would build Ariel’s confidence in herself as well as reducing her stress levels so she had more capacity to cope with her triggers. We also implemented strategies to allow her owners to manage guests in the home, giving Ariel a fun and productive task to do when people came round inside of barking at them.
Ariel has made great progress in her calmness at home and, whilst training for barking behaviours associated with the doorbell are still ongoing, she is now able to cope with people coming in and out of the home and is happier and more confident in herself day-to-day (she even let me tickle her chin for moment at our last session – a world away from barking whenever I spoke/moved the first time we met!).
Well done to Ariel and her super supportive owners!
Fliss
Training for Fliss, an 18 month chihuahua mix exhibiting fear aggression. Fliss is a little dog with a big personality and an adorable silly side to her but, unfortunately, she didn’t let many people see this due to her reactivity.
Fliss’ owners came to me as she was very fearful of people, dogs and children. Their walks together were stressful for Fliss (and her owners) as she would bark and lunge at her triggers and pull on the lead. Fliss was also very on edge in the home, keeping an ear out for anything that might suggest a non-family member was coming into her space. She also licked her owners excessively in an attempt to self-soothe.
Initially, we worked together to bring Fliss’ stress levels down in the home so that she had more capacity to cope with stress as well as to increase Fliss’ confidence in herself, through independent work on her own as well as through basic obedience. We also looked at strategies that her owners could use to make Fliss comfortable with guests coming into the home. All of this laid the foundations for Fliss being calmer in herself and a reduction in her fearful behaviours.
Next, we looked at the equipment being used on Fliss’ walks and made changes so that she was more comfortable. We also practised some lead-walking activities to encourage Fliss’ attention to be on her owners, rather than potentially scary things in the environment.
As with all reactivity cases, there is no ‘quick fix’ and training takes time and patience. Fliss is very lucky to have such attentive owners who have put 100% into her training programme and as a result of their hard work, just 6 weeks and 3 training sessions later, Fliss is already a calmer and less anxious pooch. Fliss’ training is ongoing and now her family have the tools and knowledge to help her, they are confident that she is well on the way to living her happiest life. Well done, Flissy!
Bella & Buddy
Training for Bella & Buddy. These two are a pair of brother & sister Pomeranians, who came to me when they were one year old. Their owner had recently adopted them from another home and was struggling to manage their barking behaviour – they may be small but their barking certainly packed a punch!
We worked together to find the root of their barking behaviour, which was caused by a lack of confidence and insecurity. We used a mix of enrichment and learning to build the pair’s confidence as well as teaching their owner strategies to manage the environment when a trigger was nearby – be it the doorbell, dogs on a walk or guests coming to the home.
In just two sessions, we were able to almost completely stop their barking behaviours both at home and on walks, making them more confident and happy little dogs.
