Behaviour Improvement
The most common area we are asked to help improve is a dog's behaviour around other dogs. Our qualified behaviourists apply an holistic approach. We supply you with a range of tools and techniques to help deal with your dog's behaviour, some methods to help reduce your dog's stress (and your's) and use a number of our passive "stooge" dogs to build your dog's tolerance. It can take a lot of hard work, patience and understanding but when you see your dog walking comfortably alongside other dogs it is worth all the effort. Please read Scampi's story below to get an idea of the ways we can help.
People Reactivity: We offer a specialised programme for dogs that are reactive towards people, please go to People Reactive Dogs for further information.
For information about our small group behaviour work go to Reactive Dog Groups.
We specialise in working with rescue dogs.
Other behaviours we can help with:-
Over-boisterous dogs that are difficult to control
Excessive attention seeking
Nervousness or fearful behaviour
Persistent barking
Separation anxiety
Submissive urination or house-marking
Nervousness of traffic or travel sickness
Destructive behaviour
Guarding behaviour
Mounting
Chasing
Please contact us to discuss your dog's individual needs.
Scampi’s Story
by Sue Hooton
We adopted Scampi (a Collie x German Shepherd) from a rescue centre when she was about 18 months old. She had been in kennels since she was 5 months old and did not understand the real world. Initially she chewed furniture and ate everything in the house (fruit teabags, Mars bars, soap) and we spent a lot of time calming her down when she was in the house. She started sleeping in a crate, which made her feel safe and we closed the curtains to shut out the stimulation of people (& dogs) walking past. Our main problem at home was that she was very protective and we struggled to open the door to friends, let alone welcome them into the house, without Scampi appearing aggressive and she didn’t like men.
We also struggled with her behaviour when we met other dogs and cats as she reacted badly, lunging out and sometimes pulling off her headcollar, which reduces anyone’s confidence in staying in control. We managed to reduce her “trigger” distance and her recovery rate last summer with 1 to 1 sessions but the trainer lived on the Suffolk/Essex border and the travel stretched us both so a friend recommended Elaine.
Elaine’s training built on what we had achieved and made me aware how my body language affected Scampi. She brought in other dogs to socialise her and also used agility equipment, which Scampi took to like a duck to water. My confidence increased greatly and after a few months, Elaine recommended me to a colleague training to be a Tellington Touch practitioner who needed case studies. Scampi loved Linda’s visits and “melted” when she used the different TTouches on her. Over a period of a few weeks, Scampi became calmer generally but particularly with visitors & out on walks. Linda taught me some TTouch so I could continue this with Scampi and lent me a doggie T-shirt. This produces the effect of being hugged and it calmed Scampi considerably. If people see us out of walks, they think it’s a coat but we know different.
Over 6 months, Scampi’s behaviour has improved to such an extent that we went for a walk with 3 dogs a few weeks ago and more recently we joined one of Elaine’s social dog walks – something I didn’t dare hope to be able to do when we started last November. Although we started the walk out front to minimise the stress, by the end Scampi was part of the pack and walking calmly with other dogs!
Addendum by our Behaviour Practitioner Elaine: Despite what you may see on popular dog behaviour TV programmes, improving a dog’s behaviour in this way often takes months rather than days or weeks. When I first met Scampi she showed an extreme reaction if another dog came into her view, no matter how far away. She became very stressed which manifested in her lunging and barking fiercely at the other dog.
We adopted an holistic approach, provided Sue with a number of tools and techniques to help deal with Scampi’s behaviour around other dogs, used several of our “stooge” dogs to slowly build Scampi’s tolerance and applied some Tellington Touch techniques to reduce Scampi’s stress. We also changed Scampi's diet. It can take a lot of hard work, patience, understanding and committed teamwork.
My thanks to Kirsten Cutler who assisted me, stooge dogs Lottie, Daisy, Dylan and Merlot and to Linda Cooper who applied her TTouch expertise.
Please go to Events page to see picture of Scampi surrounded by other dogs at the end of one of our group dog walks.