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Bark To Basics, Manchester (2025)

18/09/2025

Meet Pearl !

Pearl is a French Bulldog who came in to work on her Reactive Behaviour towards, well, everything! Dogs, people, cars, prey - if Pearl saw anything she would become intensely fixated, pull heavily on the leash & react by lunging, spinning around on the lead & barking. This was making walks really stressful for both Pearl & for her owner, shes a big girl for a French Bulldog & she wasn't shy about using her full strength ! We got to work -

When Pearl came in she was on a flexi lead attached to the back of her harness and fabric crip lead attached to the front of her harness, this is a really common set up we see here, owners typically do this to try and limit the lunging and spinning. We explained how this set up can cause additional frustration via constant pressure & tension, it also gives us the illusion of more control but really, all it does is mean you have two leads to untangle after each reaction. We spoke about how a slack leash can help dogs like Pearl not feel like they're trapped when triggers are passing- if our dogs feel trapped there's only one other option left - reacting ! We moved her onto the slip & taught her owner leash pressure & communication to not only build a heel to put a stop to the pulling out ahead, but to help Pearl understand she doesnt have to advocate for her space as we will do this for her. We worked in the heel position for a short while and Pearl caught on beautifully.

Pearl is experiencing barrier frustration & couldn't tolerate people stopping to speak to her owner, understandably, the more striking the dog the more they experience people stopping and wanting to interact with them We saw this occur twice in our session - the first time Pearl reacted but the second time she had already learned that people aren't a big deal and that there are more positive things she can earn in these scenarios. Her Reactivity is largely focused on dogs but when walks are this stressful it can cause stress to "spill over" & it ends up affecting triggers that we know the individual is actually okay with ! Pearls actually great with humans but she's understandably easily overwhelmed when in a heightened state, so people stopping to talk to her owner about her ended up being told off - after a little work we quickly saw an immediate change in her behaviour towards people, bikes, joggers - she was only bothered about the root cause - dogs ! This always takes a ton of weight off of my clients, on the surface the behaviour seems far worse than it really is - it's rare for me to work with a dog I can actually stroke, and im glad to say i wore my bite proofs for nothing - so it definitely could've been worse! 😂

From there we taught Pearl's owner body language and behaviour ID so she can better understand how Pearl is feeling and when she needs to decompress. With dogs like Pearl who are prone to both over arousal and nerve, little and often controlled exposure is key to getting through unwanted conditioned emotional responses such as reactivity. Pearl did wonderfully in her first session with us and was able to let several dogs pass her without a reaction whilst we worked her at a comfortable distance - this still needs more work but consistency is key for long term change.
Like many of my clients, Pearl's owner had been focusing on hiding triggers from Pearl, but all this does is make the trigger seem like it has appeared out of nowhere, creating even more uncertainty for Pearl - I empathise with this tactic, but to change the behaviour we need to expose dogs to the trigger to teach them yes there is a dog but it's okay ! Pearl did wonderfully with nuetral dogs and was able to engage for rewards, she also did wonderfully whilst working around a well behaved large dog & was calm enough to understand this dog wasn't a problem, and that her owner had something better to engage with.

Pearl really impressed me during her first session, she seeks reassurance from her owner, showing an already brilliant bond 🙌️ Pearls owner now has a few weeks worth of homework to practice until we see her again - I can't wait to see their progress !
Well done pretty girl 🐕✅️

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17/09/2025

Meet Gideon & Samson !

Gideon & Samson are a pair of working line Border Collie brothers who came in for a Half Day Session recently to resolve a few problems on walks - both boys were seemingly reactive at random, they also pulled excessively when on the lead and were absolutely obsessed with fetch. Gideon struggled with more nerve based behaviours - he was obsessive when it came to play, reactive and pulled on the lead - while Samson was experiencing a lack of handler engagement, but he could calmly and clearly read dogs better than Gideon due to not being as stressed as his brother although he was more assertive and less tolerant of other dogs communicating interest - this dynamic is really common when dealing with Litter Mate Syndrome. Their owners had tried a few trainers in the past but things just weren't working for the boys or their owners, who just wanted both of the boys to be relaxed, calm, happy and more manageable - we got to work !

We made a start with Gideon, the lovely black & white boy. Both of the boys came in on a clip leash attached to a harness and a head collar - We opted to ditch the figure of eight head collar and the leash on the harness, we spoke about how both tools can cause additonal frustration due to the consistent pressure. Gideon in particular struggled when on these tools as one allows for pulling and one doesn't, making things abit confusing for him - the consistent pressure can make a nervous dog feel trapped and then their only option is to react, once the option of flight & conflict aviodance is taken away the only other option left was to react to create space. When nervous dogs react we either remove them from the scary situation or the trigger removes itself/ is removed by the owner- it works ! An intelligent breed like this will click onto this cycle and adopt it. We got to work on leash skills and communication and Gideon was instantly far more comfortable. Both boys had previously struggled to take treats on walks but we had them both relaxed enough to take treats in no time. This is due to us making a start on breaking the adrenaline & cortisol cycle that causes food refusal. We did similar with Samson who also settled beautifully and much quicker than Gideon due to not being as fraught.

We spoke about how the cycle of demand barking to play, and it resulting in being allowed off leash & their favourite game of fetch was exacerbating the adrenaline cycle and making it reallt hard for both dogs to ever decompress. Its really common when we get working line dogs in pet households that owners think they need to constantly stimulate their dogs, but this just leads to dogs that struggle to have an "off switch". Instead we've provided a structured outlet for all of that natural desire to herd and chase, while changing their perception of what their daily walks are all about. Both boys are learning to engage with their owner now rather than fanatically looking for a stick or a ball. Gideon in particular had become obsessive with this, and while there's nothing wrong with fetch for most dogs we don't want it to become such a powerful obsession that it results in constantly whining, barking & an inability to relax. Adrenaline affects impulse control and can exacerbate reactivity - so we've gone through some constructive self soothing activities for the boys that will help promote dopamine production - the feel good hormone - which in turn will help build that off switch.

Gideon has a little barrier frustration going on, but Samson surprised us all as the bigger of the two boys and doesn't really have many issues as expected on leash - he offers engagement freely, he has a great food drive and to top it off he can pass dogs with offensive/dominant body language & behaviour without being bothered where as Gideons nerve was higher, meaning his impulse control and ability to read dogs wasn't as great but he showed us he can do it today and he could receive reinforcers so while this still need a little work he did beautifully.

We did 5 hours total and both of the boys smashed it, we're now going to begin working on the symptomatic behaviours present within the home to double down on the structure required for a peaceful, multidog household and the management needed for adult littermate syndrome dogs. Both of the boys have really lucked out and landed themselves a driven & receptive, responsible owner who has tried and tested a few different methods before coming in and this to me just speaks volumes - the drive to keep trying is something every reactive dog owner should follow suit in and I absolutely love to see that 🙌

The boys now have some homework to crack on with until i see them next time - we'll done Gideon & Samson ! 🐕✅️

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06/09/2025

Meet Trixie !

Trixie is a rescue and a cross of Presa Canario, Staffordshire Bull Terrier & Boxer - Trixie came in for a Half Day Session to make a start on changing her Reactive behaviour around dogs. She would lunge, pull, bark & get on her back legs - once she started it was hard for her to calm down or engage. Trixie had already been to another trainer but the method was just abit too harsh for her, another reccomended she should be on medication which definitely wasn't required for this lovely girl - we got to work !

Trixie is great with people & abit nervous and apprehensive of other dogs, in session we learned she had previously attended a daycare & once spayed it seemed like she changed, she suddenly wasn't great with dogs anymore. We spoke about why this happened, I understand these big changes are really jarring for owners and can make some feel like they've done something wrong, luckily it's not that simple ! Around the time Trixie was spayed she entered her second fear period, these are critical development periods that help dogs transition from a puppy to an adolescent dog - abit like us when we enter adolescence, its a time when anxiety can be at an all time high as the body & brain prepares itself to become more self sufficient & independent. For dogs this looks like a dog who was once dog social, as in friendly with every dog - becoming a dog who is dog selective, where they are only friendly with compatible dogs - This is completely normal. The main problem is that these development periods can affect daycare dogs differently by changing their perception of dogs you pass on your walks, they don't understand that a dog with potentially offensive body language isn't going to run over to them as dogs do in daycare environments, for Individuals who are predisposed to abit of nerve and anxiety, this can quickly lead to reactivity seemingly out of the blue.

We got to work on building handler engagement with trixie & working on building a heel while teaching leash pressure and communication which she took to in no time at all - She was really eager to work for her food - as we always do, we spoke about hand feeding and how this is so beneficial for a dog like Trixie during her training. If it's not worth doing most dogs won't bother doing it, which is why clear reinforcers for wanted behaviours are so important. We began working trixie around passing dogs and she did beautifully, she was so much more relaxed & could calmly communicate with both us and passing dogs.

Trixie smashed the first portion of the session, after the break period Trixie was ready to go back to "work". Most dogs aren't ready at this stage to work on their reactivity in a cafe or pub setting, we spoke about why this is a little harder for nervous, fearful and anxious dogs. When dogs react, the adrenaline & cortisol that's released stays in their system for up to 72hours - adrenaline tells us to keep moving, so being sat around dogs while feeling trapped on the lead can add even more adrenaline & cortisol into the mix & a reaction would be inevitable for some! We adapt to the individual dog here and Trixie was ready to give this a go thanks to structured decompression and her food drive outweighing her anxiety ! She sat across from several dogs without a problem and knew she had something positive to engage with instead. Trix once again blew me away with how eager she was to adapt to her new training, she made an exceptional amount of progress in one session and will be a relaxed pub dog in no time !

I bumped into Trixie & her owner a few weeks ago and she has progressed beautifully, her owners have done brilliantly with their homework 👏
well done good girl !

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24/08/2025

Meet Hugo !

Hugo is a handsome Douge De Bourdoux who came in to work on his reactive behaviour on walks. Hugo was really struggling with what seemed like out of the blue reactivity directed towards dogs and occasionally towards people, on the surface it didn't make any sense to his owners as to why it was only some dogs that caused a reaction, and not all, aswell as the odd random reaction towards approaching people. After Hugo gave me a good telling off😂 we began his in session assessment and saw some intense pulling on the lead, barking, a fair bit of lunging and some more subtle nerve & arousal driven behaviours that reinforced the reactivity - We got to work !

During Hugos assessment we went over some of his history that we had discussed over the phone, Hugo is 18 months old now and entering his final development stage. These critical development periods are commonly referred to as "fear periods" and unfortunately these are prime periods for negative changes in behaviour. Ontop of this, Hugo is an ex daycare goer - about 80% of my client base alone have attended daycare in the past. While daycare environments can work for some dogs they're rarely beneficial for non companion breeds and a huge factor in developing a form of reactive behaviour called Barrier Frustration - i must stress that this kind of group environment is not natural or normal for dogs. Barrier Frustration commonly occurs on leash, it affects impulse control and can make reactions seem like they're occuring randomly - the reason the reactivity appears randomly is due to trigger stacking stressors until the individual is so overwhelmed the only thing they can do with all of that adrenaline and cortisol is to react ! Typically towards black dogs, or dogs with offensive/dominant body language & behaviour. Group environments can and do change your dogs perception of what a real threat is, they don't understand that a random, offensive dog on the street isn't going to invite themselves over and be rude or potentially dangerous. Most dogs won't behave this way when in a group setting as it's unsafe, if two dogs fight then 10,20 30 40 other dogs may get involved - fights can devolve quickly. So instead, they opt for conflict aviodance, trigger stack & essentially hold onto this stress until its time to pass strange dogs one on one.

We made a start by getting him onto a larger slip for better pressure distribution, Hugo was already being walked on a slip lead but we just wanted to tweak how it was being used a little to help Hugo understand leash pressure and communication alongside proofing in a heel. How this tool is used makes a world of difference as unlike a standard clip leash its not a restriction tool, its a communication tool. This immediately put a stop to his strong pulling ahead. His owners had been trying the stop & turn around method with him prior to this and that can work for some dogs but it just wasn't working out for this big boy ! He settled into a heel & offered engagement beautifully - from there we began working Hugo around dogs. Now that we knew Hugo was experiencing barrier frustration, we knew there would be a few particular triggers he would struggle with more so than others - knowing this alone makes training so much easier for both owner and dog! We had Hugo passing multiple dogs in no time, while maintaining a heel and calm, nuetral behaviour. The difference in him from the sessions start was like night & day, he did amazing in his first session 👏 he was absolutely shattered by the end bless him, thinking takes alot of energy !

Hugo still has a little way to go yet but I love how proactive his owners have been by getting him into specialist training & behaviour modification now whilst he's young rather than waiting for this to develop with age & become habitualised 🙌 both of his owners did great In session and now everyone has some homework to crack on with until we see him again next time, well done big lad !

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24/08/2025

Meet Bodhi !

We came to work with Bodhi in a house call session recently after a resource gaurding incident that involved him gaurding his own 💩. Resource gaurding can occur for 101 reasons, it's most commonly caused by nerve & insecurity - upon meeting Bodhi it was clear to see he's a social, stable & friendly young German shepherd, so we got to work on figuring out WHY this behaviour occurred and what we can do to make sure it doesn't occur again -

We made a start by discussing what coprophagia is, the act of eating f***s - this typically develops in puppyhood during the weaning phase, this occurs because the puppy poo is rich with either nutrient rich milk from the dam or is nutrient rich due to puppy food or both combined. It can also develop in dogs who have been kept in poor, unclean conditions but luckily this wasn't the case with this lovely boy. Bodhi is a foodie and this habit of wanting to eat his own f***s has been steadily managed by simply cleaning up after him immediately - the incident occurred when another family member went to clean up after him and he gave a warning. The warning was unfortunately ignored which caused Bodhi to double down - if warnings aren't listened to then it can easily escalate - We ran Bodhi's assessment and to my surprise there was 0 indication to a genetic predisposition to resource gaurding, nerve or aggression, he was happy to meet a total stranger and didnt bat an eye when i left food down or went to pick it up - so we opted to look at other avenues that could have caused Bodhi to trigger stack stress leading up to the gaurding behaviour.

We did a short walk with Bodhi - he was pretty neutral until he spotted a spaniel across the road. Bodhi stiffened up, fixated but was easy to lead away - from that point onwards he was nose to the ground and couldn't offer engagement until back at his property. We spoke about how trigger stacking stressors during the critical development periods can cause seemingly random, unwanted behaviours at this age. Bodhi is experiencing what's commonly referred to as a "fear period" there are periods of massive cognitive reorganisation and change, that help dogs become independent & capable adults. During these periods, adrenaline and cortisol can be easily heightened, fixation and insecurity can increase towards certain triggers - when adrenaline and cortisol are released it can stay in the system for 72 hours, meaning any additional stressor that occurs in that time can lead to unwanted behaviours. The key here is not allowing these unwanted behaviours to become habitualised.

To help limit trigger stacking stressors during this development period we've opted to begin hand feed all meals but one small portion in the morning that we will be adding pineapple to, pineapple once digested is really unpleasant for dogs and this can help ward them off from being interested in eating their own f***s. Hand feeding is going to take place on walks to help proof upon engagement to stop trigger stacking, we've also set him up with some homework that is focused solely on structured decompression to help Bodhi regulate himself during this critical development period. We've ensured that the family member who experienced the resource gaurding will be the main person to feed him the highest value food in the home to help Bodhi understand hands give, not take.

Bodhi is a really lovely dog, it's rare for me to do a house call where there isn't a severe problem occuring but the big thing here was how proactive his owners have been to ensure this never happens again. Bring proactive saves owners a ton of stress and money and most importantly it can keep your dog on the straight and narrow 🐕✅️ I love to see it !
Bodhi now has some homework to crack on with for the next few weeks, we can't wait to see his progress ! We'll done big boy 👏

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23/08/2025

Meet Sasha !

Sasha is a beautiful Boxer who came in to work in to work on her Reactive Behaviour towards dogs today alongside her strong pulling on the lead & occasional jumping up at people to say hello when out on a walk. Sasha would pull excessively, had little engagement with her owners, she was hypervigilant & would fixate on dogs at a distance. When she reacted, she would constantly bounce & lunge while barking, she's a strong young girl so this made her really hard to control & difficult to enjoy a walk with - we got to work !

We made a start by taking off her head collar & harness combo, double clip leads and harnesses/headcollars are commonly used with strong pullers but they can cause injuries to dogs that are prone to lunging, we introduced the slip lead & did a few repitions away from triggers to help Sasha build a solid heel without distraction - she settled into this really quickly- the lack of consistent pressure on the lead gave her nothing to pull against while we showed Sasha that the heel position is the most valuable place to be by utilising some high value rewards in return for handler engagement. We knew Sasha had already been to a trainer to learn how to heel but it just hadn't quite worked for her, but to my suprise she was a dream to teach and caught on really quickly!

From there, we began working Sasha around dogs - thanks to the new structure we introduced for this lovely girl, she settled quickly and walked past several dogs without fixation or a reaction. This isn't perfected as of yet as this was Sashas first session with us, but the difference was night & day and it was clear to see that Sasha felt calmer, happier, and more engaged as had something positive to work for and reinforce the right decisions. Sasha had previously struggled taking food when outside of the home due to stress & arousal - food refusal is a really common symptomatic behaviour caused by adrenaline & cortisol release. When dogs are in fight or flight it's a normal response to refuse food as a dog would ideally need to be light to fight or run away. We spoke about how hand feeding meals will help improve her food drive, although she had no problem taking some high value food in session once we introduced structured decompression.
Sasha passed loads of dogs in session yesterday and she smashed it, she did absolutely beautifully and was so much more relaxed. She also passed loads of people and didn't feel the need to jump up to say hello now her owners were more valuable and interesting - Her owners said this was the most enjoyable walk they had been able to have with Sasha in a long time, and now the future holds many more !

Sasha now has some homework to practice until we see her next time to refine these skill sets - well done pretty girl 👏🐕

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12/08/2025

Meet Bleu !

Bleu is an XL bully x American Bulldog that we did a House Call with yesterday evening. We came over to work with Bleu due to his reactive behaviour when his lead was put on and to help him get back on walks with his family. When the lead was clipped on he would thrash his entire body around and back up, jump up, twist himself up on the lead and end up body slamming into anything or anyone near him - due to his size it was understandably really difficult for his owners to be able to control him. The initial panic caused him to bang himself into the washing machine, the radiator- whatever was in the way - in an effort to remove the lead. He would also redirect onto both the door and onto the lead. On top of all of this, he had a major problem with going through doorways and would react even worse when his owners attempted to take him through the front door for a walk - we got to work !

We made a start by getting him off of the harness and onto the slip. A dog of this size flailing around could easily injure himself by accident - Bleu would become even more riled up when he heard the harness click on and off, so we decided we will tackle this issue at a later date so as to not overwhelm him, as he already had a ton to learn today. We opted for the slip so we could safely keep Bleu from hurting himself as he would end up bashing into all sorts when he did thrash - this dog could easily be hired out as a demolition expert 😂The slip is silent, and didn't cause him any stress whatsoever when we put it on or took it off. He did still have a conditioned emotional response to thrash, panic & redirect when on any leash which sadly developed due to a very negative experience at the vets when he was just 6 months old, he was dragged by his collar by a nurse and ever since he has struggled with leads & redirection. After some initial attempts to redirect, come up the lead & thrash, Bleu realised there was a better option if he didn't do this and that he could engage with something more positive instead which really calmed him down and enabled him to think clearly. We continued to classically condition him to the lead while counter conditioning nerve driven responses - He settled with this beautifully ! We did a few reps to make sure he was comfortable and ready before we moved onto the next challenge - getting him through the front doorway and the big one, getting him outside on a walk !

We quickly realised Bleu panicked more when he felt abit penned into the narrow doorway if he entered with another person so instead, we began letting him go first. This took a few repitions for him to understand, and he would occasionally plant himself in the doorway - but we took it at his pace and let him take his time. It would do no good to force him through and once he realised he wasnt trapped he got over the first hurdle - he was immediately calmer, tail wagging, tounge lolling and taking rewards for a job well done outside in the front garden for the first time in a long while ! 👏 we let him have a little decompression break each time and did steady repitions of going through the entry way - he did wonderfully and quickly realised its nowhere near as scary as he thought ! From there, we got him on his first walk for a long time. This is a really common problem that many of my clients experience, when your dog is this panicked, very large and reactive & experiencing redirection, it's reasonable to not want to cause your dog additional stress by trying to make them go through the door or out on a walk - there are no judgments here, our only goal is to make sure Bleu is happy and able to live a normal life again. Because it's been a while since hes been out, we've opted to stick to short street walks for now while we focus on acclimatising him to everyday distractions & environmentals while building handler engagement & a nice heel. He did really well with this straight off the bat and wasn't really interested in anything beyond his owners and earning something tasty.

Lastly, we discussed some natural outlets for this big boy. One of the issues Bleu's owners were facing alongside the redirection & reaction to the lead, was that Bleu would also rip all the family's clothing off of the washing line ! We spoke about how he will need a suitable outlet for the natural desire to grab, pull, tug & shake - while the XL bully wasnt bred for any form of work, the foundational breeds used for the breed are predominantly working dogs & of course, the american bulldog was developed for work - this means some XL bullies and American bulldogs can come with all kinds of varying drives, most of them enjoy what bull breeds where developed for - giving something a good grab, pull & shake. Bleu loves this game, so we've opted to erect a spring pole to provide a suitable outlet while we counter condition him to the clothing on the washing line. We tried to have a look at this in practice yesterday, but he was so tired from training and learning new skills he just wanted to lay down for a belly rub 😂 he enjoys a good game of tug with his dad & a wall mounted spring pole will be sturdy enough to provide hours of fun for him. It's also an amazing way to exercise dogs, which will be beneficial for him until we increase his walks in a few weeks time. We've also set him up with some structured decompression to practice to help him better regulate his nervous system each day going forward in his training - as you can see, prior to session he had been trying to self sooth by licking his front legs causing some discolouration. Licking is a self soothing behaviour for dogs, so we've ensured to provide a better alternative outlet for this that will focus on giving him a big hit of dopamine before bed & in turn, setting him up for sucsess for the following days training with his family.

Bleu's owners were so thrilled to see him out of the house and relaxed for the first time in a long time, his dad said it was a miracle !
I absolutely love working cases like this, the difference it makes to everyone - but most importantly, for Bleu - will be life changing 🙌
He now has some homework to crack on with until I see him next time, it's onwards and upwards from here now. Well done big lad !!

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