Canine Reactive

05/01/2025

So sad to wake up to the news of the passing of one of the leading professionals in my industry, who helped change and shape the way we train dogs, pioneering the way to positive training and behaviour modification approaches.

Karen Pryor did amazing work and leaves behind a legacy which many will still find support in even though she is no longer with us.

Thank you Karen for everything you have done. 🩷

31/12/2024

In preparation for tomorrow - HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

What a year it has been. My first year implementing the amazing Dynamic Dog assessment into my behaviour work, and it has helped many dogs whose behaviour was screaming out signs of discomfort. For those dogs to get the support they need and then for owners to see positive changes in their behaviour has been a game changer for what I do and offer.

No journey is the same for any dog, and the prognosis for each varies. However I have to say that I have been blessed with AMAZING owners who take on bored what I have advised, and work really hard to help support their dogs. You are all awesome.

I welcome 2025 with open arms. Having already got new clients booked in for consultation for January 2025 I would say things are off to a great start.

I would like to thank everybody for their continued support. Those who have worked with me, are currently working with me, or if you have been supporting the Canine Reactive Support Hub by being a member, then Thank You!

Gemma
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18/12/2024

I am clocking off tomorrow to over indulge in hot chocolate, baileys, and binge watch Christmas films. :)

Before I do I would just like to take a moment to wish all of my current and past clients a very happy Christmas.

I would also like to mention and send Christmas wishes to my amazing stooges, without these guys being prepared to stand in a filed for an hour helping other reactive dogs build their confidence and establish more appropriate behaviours in a safe and positive way, I would not be able to do what I do. Shout outs go to Susan & Bertie, Heather Richardson & Sadie, Wendy Gardner, and Sue Howard.

I would also like to give a shout out to Alec and Val Stacey who without their kind rental of their field I would not be able to offer such an amazing service.

You will see some posts over the next few days, please note these are prescheduled, and it does not mean im back in the office. :)

Happy Christmas everyone.

Right, where's that Baileys?

Gemma
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03/12/2024

Love this post on our support hub from a client I am currently working with.

The Canine Reactive - Support Hub is a safe space where owners get to share wonderful break through moments like this as well as those moments that are challenging and often stressful.

The hub is filled with caring and supportive owners of reactive dogs. The hub also has some very useful informative posts and videos to help you and your dog.

If you are not already a member check it out!

To help keep the community as special and safe as it is you must agree to the group rule and answer the questions when applying.

Can't wait to see you there. ☺️

03/12/2024

Ok, So the next few weeks are crazy busy thanks to crazy weather meaning many of the sessions booked for previous weeks have had to be re-arranged. I still plan to clock off for Christmas on the 19th of December 2024. However, you can still plan ahead (I would highly advise this) for the new year and book your discovery call with me in January 2025.

Please note that nay email enquiries or Facebook messages will be picked up in the new year when I return on the 6th of January.

For those of you who are already woking with me, please note I will be turning off my notifications for this period.

I will be posting closer to Christmas to send you all a special Christmas message, but for now please take note of the dates.

Gemma
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25/11/2024

What an eventful week last week was for Canine Reactive, and so many others. Strat of the weeks saw changes in the diary to field sessions due to the minus degree temperatures, ice and snow. Then this weekend has caused devastation across the Forest of Dean including Whitecroft where I run my puppy classes, causes the grounds and potentially the inside of the hall to be flooded, (I'm awaiting details).

In brighter news though, just before the flood hit I was able to have my last session with the gorgeous pups which graduated from puppy class on Friday.

I hope the days to come are much calmer and less disruptive.

06/11/2024

Shout out to my newest followers! Excited to have you onboard! Maggie Regan, Loran Price

01/11/2024

For the pets and owners who find fireworks season distressing, try our radio sanctuary: Classic FM’s Pet Classics. 🐾

On Saturday 2 and Tuesday 5 November from 5-9pm, join us for soothing classical music and practical tips from RSPCA (England & Wales).

Just tell your smart speaker to “play Classic FM” or listen on . 🎶

29/10/2024

Canine Reactive provides supportive Behaviour Therapy for Reactive dogs. As a fully qualified Behaviourist and trainer, I am also a Dynamic Dog Practitioner. This means no stone gets left unturned when I try to help you explore why your dog behaves the way they do. It also means I work very differently to your traditional behaviourist and trainer. As such, there is a certain protocol and approach to how I do things.

Modern technology is great, and the vast ways in which we are able to contact with each other and converse instantly through various platforms can be useful. However, nothing is more time consuming than playing the messaging game of ping pong. Back and forth messages, time consuming and very impersonal.

For you to be able to understand how I work and for me to gather information I need to conclude wether or not I can help you, we need to do that old fashioned thing of getting on the phone. But here's the best part, you don't even have to dial as I do that for you.

All you need to do is spend two minutes picking your time and day that you want me to call you. Simple.

The call lasts twenty minutes and there is no obligation to sign on.

Please use this link to book your call. https://calendly.com/canine-reactive/discovery-call

Booking a discovery call means you get all the information you need at once, I can give you my undivided attention, rather than trying to answer your questions while driving between clients using interrupted bluetooth signals, and you won't have to wait staggered times between me answering each question you have, as I am there with you in that moment to go through everything. No waiting your end for a reply to a question.

Thanks so much!

Gemma
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28/10/2024

Polite reminder: office hours are 9am-5pm Mon - Fri CLOSED Sat & Sun. I am to respond as soon as possible, but defiantly within 48 hours. Please bear in mind that my work schedule varies from day to day, and as such so will my response time.

Messages, emails, Whatsapp etc sent before 9am or after 5pm will not be looked at until the following day. If sent on the Weeknd I will not look at them until Monday.

Please note that as much as I LOVE my job I am also a full time mum of two and have a very busy schedule aside from Canine
Reactive.

Where possible I ask new clients potentially looking to work with me, that they use this link to book a discovery call to save the ping pong of messages. I will invite you to do this anyway, so to save time and repetition please just book the call.
https://calendly.com/canine-reactive/discovery-call

Current clients, please refrain from contacting me either side of office hours. As much as support is part of your packages, I also need some down time, my work phone is also my personal phone (this will be changing soon), so it can be stressful when I get notifications late in the evening or on weekends when I am supposed to be with my family.

EVERYONE: Please do not PM me on my personal messenger. I have a business page which you can message me there. Or like I say book a discovery call if enquiring about my services, or use one of the many other ways of contacting me.

Thank you so much for your understanding.❤

Gemma
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25/10/2024

My amazing mentor, and founder of the truly amazing Dynamic Dog assessments has posted this fab summery of the effects of pain meds on our dogs.

Many of the clients I have worked with have already gone to the vet to rule out pain as a cause of their dogs behaviour, and just as Gemma Harvey has mentioned 50% of them come back as having made no change in behaviour on the pain trial, so it is then dismissed and purely put down to behaviour.

As a qualified behaviourist and Dynamic Dog practitioner I am fully aware of, and can see when this is not the case.

I am sharing this because I would like everyone to be mindful of this information if they suspect their dog may be in discomfort, but may be finding it hard to prove it, or get any further with the vet than a ten minute consult.

You know your dog inside out, and if you have a constant nagging in your gut that is saying you think your dogs behaviour may be due to discomfort, then I would confidently take a guess and say that your right.

How you get to rule this out and go further with your vet than a pain trial or basic physical exam, is with a Dynamic Dog assessment.

If you would like to talk to me further about this and how it can help your dog, book a free call with me to discuss the process.

https://calendly.com/canine-reactive/discovery-call

What you need to know about pain relief trials!

As a bare minimum for my clients I often request a pain relief trial (analgesic trial), especially if the dog is “sensitive” at the vets and cannot be examined properly.

50% of the time we see results - hooray!

The other 50% of the time, we don’t and the Vet rules out pain and puts the issues down to just being behavioural.

As we all know from my little rant a few weeks back:

“Pain cannot and should not be ruled out” its impossible for one species to say with 100% certainty that another species isn’t in pain … truth is we just don’t know because pain is subjective.

That 50% of the time where the vet says its not pain but just behavioural needs rethinking and more questions asked.

If pain relief is given, and no changes occur, does it really mean the dog is not in pain?

It’s not that simple.

There are many different types of pain that a living being can experience;

Visceral - Visceral pain is pain that originates from the internal organs and blood vessels, such as the heart, lungs, or pancreas. It can feel deep, squeezing, or colicky, and is often difficult to pinpoint.

Somatic - Somatic pain is pain that affects other bodily tissues like muscles, skin, and bones.

Neuropathic - Neuropathic pain is nerve pain - spinal cord, peripheral nerves etc.

When a being experiences pain, they can experience one or a combination of the above types.

Consider this…

- Quite often Metacam, for example, is a vets first port of call which targets Somatic pain and inflammation - what happens if the dog is experiencing a different type or combination of pain? Is the dog on the right dosage, does it need to be and can it be increased?

- Quite often the course of the pain meds is only given for 10 days largely due to licensing of the drug - but is this enough time to get on top of CHRONIC long term pain (Sarah Heath recommends 6 - 8 weeks)?

You smashers know I like to put a human spin on things, and I quite often use my own experiences to get my point across so it will be of no surprise when I tell you I threw my back out yesterday morning. I'm in agony. No position is comfortable, standing, sitting or lying. I'm waspy as hell.

I am taking Paracetamol and Ibuprofen regularly and NOTHING is touching the discomfort I am experiencing!

The difference between me and a dog is that I can tell you that the pain meds aren’t working and I am still in pain.

So where does that leave our dogs?

18/10/2024

Puppy class! I look forward to welcoming you to week one this evening at 7pm at Whitecroft memorial hall. Please check your emails for info regarding tonight's class . 🐾☺️

10/10/2024

Meet kayza- today she didn't want to do training, so instead she sneakily took my shoe and decided to use it as a head rest to go to sleep on whilst me and her owner were catching up on things. 🩷🩷🐾

29/09/2024

Well BT and EE I think you need to rethink your adverts, claiming to be the best broadband around now that you have joined together. What F***ING joke!!!! One week at the beginning of month without phone or broadband. Didn't tell me when the engineer was coming out, only by chance I caught them working on the pole at end of street on my way out to work. Two weeks later and the broadband and phone has gone again, and don't even gete started on the seven hour phones calls, being on hold for hours on end, falsely being sold something that was supposed to help but didn't. Oh yeh and the EE Sims that were supposed to change number over in two hours ended up taking a week and various phone calls to sort. F***!!!!!!!!!!!!😡🤬😡🤬😡🤬😡🤬😡🤬 So, yet again. Apologise everyone if I am slow responding to emails etc, i have data on my phone but the 4g signal isn't always great so bear with me.

24/09/2024

New date for a new lot of puppy classes.

Starting on the 18th of October 2024 at Whitecroft Memorial Hall. The course runs for six weeks and is held on Friday evenings 7-8pm. This course is for puppies aged 12-22 weeks.

The course will teach your pup the following essentials.
🐾 Name recognition
🐾 Grooming
🐾 Handling
🐾 Drop
🐾 Leave
🐾 Settle
🐾 Foundation lead skills
🐾 Foundation focus skills
🐾 Calm greeting to other dogs
🐾 Calm greetings to other people

All training is done using force-free positive methods, based around setting your puppy up so he can naturally offer what we want and get rewarded.

You will be under the watchful eye of a fully qualified trainer and behaviourist, meaning you have the opertunity to get both behaviour and training support for anything relating to puppy development.

Each week owners also receive informative handouts on various topics relating to training, behaviour, care and surviving puppyhood.

BONUS: Unlike other puppy classes you will get access to me in between classes via WhatsApp to ask any questions you have for extra support.

The course is £85 payment and booking is done over the phone.

ONLY SIX SPACES AVAILABLE.

Please contact Gemma on 07508765210 to book.

05/09/2024

Hate technology with a passion.
Long story short, no internet since Wednesday, was supposed to be fixed today, but now it won't be fixed until the 12th!!!! I have data on my phone but because it 4g it very hit and miss as to whether it works.

Have been on the phone to BT for hours. Tried setting up new equipment, and a special booster device to allow us to connect to internet even though main line down, but guess what? That doesn't work either.

So, if you are a client or friend and have been trying to email or WhatsApp me i apologise for the delay in response. I also may not get it to start with.

Work regarding dynamic dog reports unfortunately will be pushed back due me not being able to access what I need on my main computer, I do not have a laptop which I can take somewhere else to connect to WiFi to do the work, so you will really have to bear with me everyone.

Many thanks
Gemma.

14/08/2024

PUPPY CLASS
Starting this Friday. 7-8pm at Whitecroft Memorial Hall for six weeks.
Get your pup off to a great start. using force-free positive training. we teach:
Sit
Down
Lose lead
Leave
Drop
Settle
Grooming
Handling
Calm approaches dogs
Calm approaches people

AND MORE!

Support is available for owners in between classes via phone or email should they need it, plus supportive handouts are given each week.

For pups aged 12-20 weeks.

£85 for the six weeks. Payment on booking over the phone.

Contact Gemma on 07508765210.

13/08/2024

Still spaces available! Please contact me on 07508765210 to book.