Client Stories

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!

Potch

Separation anxiety was an issue for Potch and his worries around being left alone were coming out in barking behaviours, which was not ideal for Potch or his neighbours!

Potch’s owner had recently moved home and this is when the behaviour presented itself; Potch had always been happy to be left at home before the move. We identified that it wasn’t being away from his owner that was making him anxious, but being left alone in general.

We spoke about enrichment to offer Potch to de-stress him and make sure he was as chilled out as possible and had more capacity to cope when he was left alone. We then looked at how to desensitise Potch to the exit cues of his owner so that these no longer made him worried before he was left alone. Finally, we looked at how start small on separations and work towards extended periods of time on his own.

Separation anxiety is never a quick fix and Potch still has a way to go before he will be happy to be left alone for 4 hours again. However, I am delighted to say that Potch has done amazingly well adjusting to his new enrichment-filled routine and is he now comfortable being left alone for short periods. With continued training, Potch’s owner will have their freedom back and Potch will have nothing to be worried about when he’s home alone.

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!

Bean

Training for Bean the Boston Terrier. Bean was six months old when her owners came to me looking for help with her recall.

Bean was over-excited around other dogs and was unable to disengage when she saw them. If she was off the lead, she would not listen to calls to come back and she would be gone! Whilst her love of other dogs was sweet, her owners recognised that it jeopardised Bean’s safety; a solid recall is absolutely essential. What if Bean ran over to a reactive, on-lead dog? What if she ran across a road?

Recall training looks different for every dog as they each have their own reasons and motivations for not wanting to return to their owner, but for Bean, it was simply that other dogs were far too exciting.

We worked together on a mixture of training and management strategies with the end goal of making Bean’s owners the most exciting thing on her walks so that she would choose them over other dogs. We taught Bean new commands that her owners could throw in on their walks together to keep her focus and engagement on them. We also spoke about how to read the environment and Bean’s body language to prevent her from ‘locking on’ to other dogs and retain her attention.

As Bean is still young, her recall training will be ongoing but her owners now feel equipped to handle whatever their walks may throw Bean’s way.

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Teddy

Puppy training for Teddy. Teddy’s owners came to me three days after he came home, at just 8 weeks, and he was just the scrummiest little chonky boy. His owners were very keen to give Teddy the best start possible and wanted to hit the ground running with his training and make sure they understood puppy development.

Through a mix of online consultations and in person training, we spoke about all areas related to healthy puppy development. Exercise, sleep, routine, crate training, diet, toilet training: we covered it all together. We also spoke in particular length about the importance of socialisation and habituation and what this entails. In terms of his training, we hit the ground running with some basic obedience, impulse control and recall.

Fast forward 6 weeks and Teddy is now 14 weeks old and thriving. We had an additional session to revisit everything Teddy had learned so far and his owners are delighted with the progress he has made. Teddy has already learned to engage/disengage from other dogs/people and has the foundations of a very solid recall.

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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.