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Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm

The Dotty Behaviourist

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Cheltenham
The Dotty Behaviourist

1-2-1 dog training & behaviour consultations in Cheltenham and surrounding areas. BSc (Hons) & MRes

23/12/2024

Meet Finn the Finnish Lapphund! This gorgeous boy needed our help for dog reactivity. After taking a detailed history and assessing his behaviour, it was clear that he is social but gets frustrated easily when on lead. We implemented our reactivity programme and he did fantastically. Now to get his report and programmes written up before our next practical session, but first, Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! Lots of love, Alicia and Dottie x

20/12/2024

Breakthrough alert 🚨

Grom and her owner have been working really hard this week on creating a more positive association to her muzzle and building duration of Grom popping her face in the muzzle when presented to her so we can get the straps done up without her panicking. Today we got it on with straps done up and Grom was happily taking treats!

We opted for a .muzzle.movement muzzle as Grom will be wearing it for dog introductions on walks eventually so we wanted to make sure she had a great fit with ample pant room! Now we will be working on building the duration of having the muzzle done up and also practicing in novel environments!

Does your dog need to wear a muzzle and you're not sure where to start, get in touch and we will be able to help with muzzle training!

17/12/2024

A few weeks ago we met this handsome boy, Juice! Juice is very anxious out on a walk with lots of different triggers. While he has made some progress it was clear that his anxiety was still significantly impacting his day to day life. After any pain was ruled out we decided the next best option for Juice was to try SSRI medication with guidance from his vet. We will be back with Juice in the new year to check on how his medication has settled in and reviewing the next steps of his training programmes. We look forward to seeing Juice and his owners again soon!

06/12/2024

When Niko met Dottie 😍

Dot was our little helper on today's session with Niko for some socialisation and recall. Being only 15 months and 95kg, Niko can be intimidating for a lot of dogs so doesn't get to interact with many despite being a friendly boy. They had a great time playing and Niko did so well for his first time off lead 🥰

05/12/2024

We met this gorgeous little lady Fudge the other week for some help with recall training! Being a spaniel she loves to flush out pheasants and seemingly forgets she has ears 🙉 In addition to recall training we're also going to give her a job. By teaching her how to search and making it a more cooperative game we can channel her breed traits into something productive that benefits her and her owner. We look forward to working with her and her owners over the coming weeks!

24/11/2024

Yesterday we met the gorgeous Nyah and her owners for their initial consult. Nyah is a intelligent girl who lacked socialisation in her early months so is very anxious outside on walks as a result. Yesterday we had an in-depth chat about her history and her current behaviours. We look forward to working with her and her owners over the coming months.

18/11/2024

We caught up with Niko and his owner last week to check in on their progress and continue to work on Niko's behaviour around dogs. Most other dogs find Niko intimidating due to his giant size and being a puppy he can be a little over zealous when greeting other dogs. He did so well at disengaging from dogs and a distance and greeted two dogs really nicely! Well done Niko!

15/11/2024

A very happy 4th birthday to the handsome Chester 🥳 We had a great session this afternoon working on loose lead walking and dog reactivity. Chester is a sociable boy but struggles to regulate his emotions so becomes very frustrated around other dogs while on lead. He did so well today! We look forward to seeing now he progresses over the coming weeks!

13/11/2024

Happy hump day with the glorious Gunner 🧡

We had a great walk followed by some muzzle training. We are starting from scratch with muzzle training as Gunner has had some negative experiences with it. He needs a muzzle for veterinary handling as he is a very anxious boy in the vets!

08/11/2024

Today we met the gorgeous Chester and his owners. This big loveable boy needs some help with loose lead walking and frustration around dogs! He missed out on some socialisation due to lockdown so now gets overwhelmed around other dogs which results in some reactivity. Today we assessed his behaviour and will be writing up his plans shortly. We look forward to working with him and his owners over the coming weeks!

Are you based in Gloucestershire and need help with any problem behaviours? Why not drop us a message and we will be more than happy to help!

31/10/2024

We had a fantastic session with Grom and her owner yesterday. Grom is a rescue with very limited history, she is very reactive towards dogs and is hypervigilant and very strong on walks. We worked on loose lead walking and reactivity, she smashed her session and we're well on the way to building her and her owners confidence again! Great work guys 👏🏻

25/10/2024

Great first session with Niko and his owner this morning for their initial consultation. This gorgeous boy is still only a baby at 15 months old and needs some help with greeting other dogs, strength on lead and loose lead walking. We had a great session and look forward to working with him and his owners over the coming weeks!

22/10/2024

A glorious update to brighten your Tuesday. We received this update from Luna's owner to say that they did it! They managed to successfully introduce Luna to another family members dog, Amber, with the view of being able to visit family more often.

Now, this photo may not seem like much to the majority of you but when we first met Luna, she was very reactive and frustrated around other dogs. To the point where she was becoming difficult to manage due to her strength when lunging, barking and spinning. After months of hard work, not only is Luna now a joy to walk and calm around other dogs, she is able to settle down in the presence of Amber (which is a huge deal for Luna and her owner!)

These results were achieved by following positive reinforcement based methods, empathy and time! There are no quick fixes when it comes to behaviour modification, dog training should always be a marathon, not a sprint! Very well done to Luna and Sue! 👏🏻

18/10/2024

Feeling very autumnal on our walk today 🍂🍄

Dot absolutely loves rooting around in the leaves and chasing the squirrels (unsuccessfully!). With spooky season well and truly upon us, we thought we would share some helpful tips to help your dogs throughout this period 👻

Head over to www.thedottybehaviourist.co.uk to learn what we're all about and how we could help you and your dog!

13/10/2024

We met the gorgeous Luna this weekend! Her owners got in contact for help with settling Luna into their home, basic obedience and social behaviour around dogs. Luna is an 8 month old, rescue American bulldog X so we booked her into our puppy package to make sure we get plenty of practical sessions in! We look forward to working with her and her owners over the coming weeks 🥰

11/10/2024

The bucket game 🪣

Luna and her owner are smashing their bucket game training to help with Luna's general and veterinary handling.This method is used to help build trust with cooperative handling without having to use formal restraint. Luna struggles with veterinary handling, while she's not aggressive, she shows her worry by jumping and thrashing around making veterinary exams tricky to say the least!

She's still got a long way to go but she's doing incredibly well, thanks to her owners hard work! We also continued our work with being calm around dogs in the home with Dottie's help 🖤

08/10/2024

We caught up with the fabulous Luna and her owner!

We've begun working on Luna being calm around other dogs in the home with the view of being able to introduce a family member's dog to the home for visits. It's been around 6 weeks since we last saw Luna while her owner works through some plans. We've seen significant improvement in Luna's behaviour around dogs and handling thanks to all their hard work!

01/10/2024

We caught up with the gorgeous little Remi on the weekend for her practical 1-2-1 session!

Remi is very reactive in her local area and struggles to regulate her emotions. With written plans all sent we got started implementing her training for reactivity. She did really well considering there were lots of unexpected triggers. We look forward to seeing her and her owners again in a few weeks!

Address

Cheltenham

Opening Hours

Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+447895963682

Website

http://www.thedottybehaviourist.co.uk/

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Videos

Chester smashing his loose lead and reactivity training last week! Previously his owner would have been dragged across this field and if he saw another dog in the distance he would lunge and bark in frustration. Fast forward a few sessions and he's doing amazingly! He's still a work in progress but he's come on leaps and bounds from when we first met him! Well done Chester and his owners 🙌🏻 #thedottybehaviourist #positivereinforcement #dogreactivity #forcefreetraining #beasnackleadernotapackleader #looseleadwalking

Great session with Grom this morning working on desensitising her to the muzzle. We're working on muzzle training so we can safely introduce her to dogs and for veterinary handling. Grom is a rescue so we have little history for her. She gets very frustrated around other dogs which presents itself as lunging, barking and growling. We plan on muzzle training her so we can safely introduce her to other dogs eventually and to keep her safe if an off lead dog were to approach her on a walk. Keep up the great work guys! #thedottybehaviourist #gsd #positivereinforcement #muzzletraining #themuzzlemovement #shaping #dogreactivity #dogtraining #dogbehaviour #behaviourmodification