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Bark To Basics, Manchester (2025)

13/12/2024

Meet Doris !

Doris is a German Wirehaired Pointer who came in to make a start on some nervous behaviour she had developed around traffic & approaching people. Doris would panic when walking ner traffic & would try to avoid dogs & people on walks, if a person in particular tried to approach her she would bark in an effort to have the person keep their distance. We got to work !

We began by teaching Doris a heel, leash pressure and communication & working on her handler engagement. Some more aviodant nervous dogs can prefer to put themselves out infront of their handler in an effort to get past triggers as soon as possible, the issue here is that nervous dogs also tend to be hypervigilant & this affects their handler engagement. Teaching your nervous dog a heel really helps ground them and hand feeding out on your walk really helps change their perception of what the walk is all about. Instead of the walk being where scary things are, the walk becomes more a positive experience through handler engagement and being able to earn high value rewards.

Because I specialise in Reactive Behaviour, I'm used to being barked at - it's a clear signal that this dog doesn't want me in their space right now and the best thing you can do in that scenario is listen to the dog. The issue that many owners face - especially non gaurding breed owners - would be people not respecting the dogs boundaries and persisting on trying to "make friends". This doesn't do dogs like Doris any favour. All it does is teach them yes you're right to be concerned, people will ignore your boundaries and press you to say hello. We covered a little bit of advocacy for these scenarios. Doris was pretty mild in terms of barking & settled in no time once she understood that she can approach me when she's comfortable, which was around 10 minutes in if that. From there we focused on structured decompression so we can better manage stress levels, this is a game changer for all reactive dogs & especially beneficial for those who's root cause of the behaviour is a genetic predisposition to nerve.

Next we worked on her behaviour around traffic. This was one of the main issues she came in to work on. On narrower paths she had previously tried to jump over walls to get away from the road, she would pull, panic and generally feel overwhelmed. We decided to work at a distance and work at her pace, gradually going closer while keeping an eye on her body language. What I love about Doris is how communicative & trusting she is. We worked at a distance while maintaining a heel & rewarding for a neutral response. The goal here was to acclimatise Doris to the noise of a busy road without actually putting her on it. We then began walking her up and down a wide path by traffic & she smashed it. She was so much more relaxed and focused, maintaining a heel and keen to earn one of her rewards. We did this in several short increments allowing for decompression periods between each where she could practice natural behaviours that promote dopamine release.

Doris did brilliantly in her first session, we can't wait to further her confidence around traffic & strangers after the homework period is complete.
Well done good girl 🐕✅️

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10/12/2024

Meet Mika !

Mika is a gorgeous German shepherd who came in today to make a start on her Reactive Behaviour towards dogs. Mika would pull strongly on the leash, fixate at a large distance and couldnt engage with her handler, she was all over the show on the lead & was very vocal when she could see a dog ranging from whining & working herself up into a barking frenzy. All of this was making her really difficult to take for a walk - we got to work!

We made a start by swapping out Mikas back clip harness for the slip, from there we taught Mika & her owner leash pressure and communication. We spoke about how constant pressure on equipment such as a harness and lead combo, can cause additional frustration for dogs struggling with reactive behaviour. Mika settled into leash skills in no time and at all and showed us she did miles better in the heel position! Most dogs struggling with nerve driven reactivity really benefit from being in the heel position vs being out infront, as this makes it far easier for them to engage with us over scanning for triggers constantly.

From there we focused on building a neutral response towards passing dogs & classically conditioning in the response we did want to see, which at this stage was no lunging, no barking - just simply passing & earning a reward for every tight decision she made. She smashed it ! We had her passing individual dogs and groups of dogs in no time at all. As always, after the assesment period we opt to go at the individual dogs pace & despite starting Mika off in a quieter area this afternoon we got really far in just 2 hours. This is largely down to Mikas owner being proactive & making a start on this behaviour while she's young. I can't stress this enough - prevention is always better than a cure !

Lastly we discussed Mikas prey drive & food drive, both of which are excellent - we spoke about how we can exercise these drives in a constructive way that will allow her to add more value onto her handler aswell as providing a much needed outlet for both. I'm really impressed with both Mika & her owner, she has bags of potential & we can't wait to help her reach it. Mika now has some homework to crack on with until we see her next.

Well done pretty girl 👏

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14/11/2024

Meet Pepper !

Pepper is a Golden Retriever x Siberian Husky & is an Assistance Dog In Training.
Did you know, we are the only Private Dog Training service in Manchester to offer Assistance Dog Training for disabilities that ADUK do not yet cover ? We cover it all, from choosing the right puppy to Public Acsess Testing & Task Training. Despite specialising in Reactive Behaviour, Assistance Dog Training has always been a love of ours having trained our very first Assistance Dog 9 years ago & we understand just how daunting it can be for some owners, our experience in this area allows us to offer not only professional training but the much needed support many require when embarking on their Assistance dog training journey.
Pepper is just 15 months old & has began some task training in the home, but not yet began working with her handler out of the home - we got to work !

For Peppers LVL 1 Public Acsess Test we gained permission for our client to train in a local shopping centre with us. We saw she has a brilliant temprament for this line of work straight away. Assistance dogs have to be considered "bomb proof" so they can do their job properly without becoming distracted by novel sights, sounds, textures, dogs/people etc so we ensured further exposure to a range of distractions took place in session to fully assess her interest & engagement. She did brilliantly with this & once exposed became uninterested easily while remaining confident & she was far more interested in her handler to earn some high value rewards ✅️

We spoke about specific tasks we can train in from here to help mitigate her handlers disability. Tasks range from person to person, so we are always ready to adapt and build a set of behaviours that work for the handler. We have some ideas of what to work on after her homework period, which is largely geared towards further environmental exposure, working in new ADIT friendly environments, novel sights, sounds, smells & distractions aswell as focusing on her leash skills and engagement building to set her up for LVL 2 of our AD program.

By session end, we had her confidently walking through crowds in a nice heel while pepper consistently offered engagement to her handler & kept checking in. This is great to see for her age in a high fail rate job, and while there is still a fair bit of work left to get through we are really impressed with Pepper and her willingness to work & please at just 15 months old - She has been maintained to a great standard from day dot & it's only onwards & upwards from here - well done good girl 🧂🦮

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12/11/2024

Meet Riddick !

Riddick is a handsome Pharaoh Hound x Peruvian Inca Orchid who came in for a Half Day Session to get started on his Reactive Behaviour. During Riddicks assesment, we saw he was all over the show on the lead aswell as fixating on dogs at a distance, hypervigilant & would try to pull ahead ontop of his Reactivity towards dogs. We spoke about how Riddicks Reactions towards dogs seemed unpredictable on the surface - the form of Reactive Behaviour Riddick has been struggling with is nerve driven Barrier Frustration. This form of reactive behaviour commonly presents as inconsistent reactivity towards one trigger in particular & can cause symptomatic reactions to novel stimuli - we got to work !

We made a start by swapping out Riddicks front clip harness for the slip, this is the safer option for a reactive dog as front clip harnesses can cause long term joint damage and that risk increases further if you have an excitable / reactive dog. We began teaching leash communication & pressure, Riddick picked this up in no time at all - from there we began to work him around dogs at his pace. Riddick took to working around passing dogs beautifully & quickly clicked on that successfully passing a dog earned him a tasty high value reward. He has a great food drive which is always a plus when working with nerve & we put it to good use.

As the day went on it got busier & we had the opportunity to work Riddick around a range of environments & dogs and he took it all in his stride. We heavily focused on structured decompression & discussed how his breeds, being primitive sighthounds, are geared for Adrenaline release and will have bags of preydrive - this is what makes them great at their jobs ! The goal of structured decompression is to work down the adrenaline/cortisol cycle which some breeds more than others can be a little more prone to, this is largely down to their orginal breed purpose & genetic predisposition. We also covered an outlet for all that drive - we spoke about how unused drive can cause 101 issues and amp up behaviours like nerve & reactivity - timed sports like lure coursing are a great, safe way to allow your dog to exercise their natural behaviours, alternatively flirt poles are another great outlet that you can provide at home.

Riddick made huge strides in his session ! We are so impressed with him and the progress he's made already & I can't wait to see how he does after his homework period - well done long boy 🐕

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07/11/2024

Meet Kobe !

Kobe is a gorgeous German Shepherd who came in for a Half Day Session to tackle his Reactive Behaviour towards dogs.

During Kobe's assessment, we saw he had very little engagement. We also saw that Kobe was pretty hypervigilant & fixating on dogs at quite a distance. Due to his size, when he did inevitably react on walks with his owners, the lunging made him really difficult for his owners to control - We knew from a phone call with his owners a few weeks prior he had managed to pull one of his owners over, and has previously been fitted with a prong collar by his previous trainers in an effort to control his pulling on the lead and lunging.

We made a start by refitting Kobes prong to the correct position, like the slip, if it isn't in the right position the tool cant be used appropriately - we also ended up removing one of the links as it was just too big for him and kept slipping down. We are open to tool use here for the cases that require them - we are big belivers that limiting what tools you will use, only limits which individuals you can help - and while we opted to work Kobe on his prong our end goal is get Kobe off the prong in a matter of weeks, which after working with him I don't think we will have any issue at all with achieving !

The previous method that has been used has allowed Kobe to fixate and inevitably react when a dog passes *and then be corrected once a reaction had been built up & practiced*
This is pointless & builds up an unnecessary amount of stress.
Everytime this occurred one of two things have been solidified for Kobe - either he gets removed from the trigger, or the trigger gets removed from Kobe - We began putting the foundations in for Kobes new method, which focuses on interrupting fixation so he doesn't become stressed enough to react, alongside building positive associations with passing dogs, engagement & handler advocacy- he took to the above beautifully. In a matter of minutes we had him passing dogs without an issue, in a relaxed heel, in a non sterile environment ✅️

From there we practiced some much needed decompression. We covered how natural behaviours are a must for dogs, but providing abit of structure behind them & using them as outlets does reactive dogs a world of good. The difference in Kobe before and after decompression work was clear, not only in his tolerance towards passing dogs while maintaining a heel, but his attitude towards food on walks had improved too. We had previously talked about past instances where Kobe would sometimes spit treats out, especially if they were used as a distraction or a short while after he had reacted but hadn't yet decompressed - we covered how this is largely down to the adrenaline and cortisol cycle as both are natural appetite killers and once in fight or flight mode its normal to reject food. Our method doesn't allow for dogs to become flooded with adrenaline & cortisol, and instead heavily focuses on food. Food releases dopamine - the feel good hormone - and massively helps mitigate cortisol

We continued our session simulating a normal dog walk passing a great range of different dogs & Kobe smashed it ! even when we had a little dog react at a comfortable distance he kept his cool, didn't react and earned a tasty high value reward. He has really impressed me and was so much more relaxed by session end. It's only onwards and upwards from here - We'll be seeing Kobe again in 4 weeks time once his homework period has been completed & we just can't wait to see his progress 🙌

Until next time big man 🐕

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24/10/2024

Meet the Planet Paws Team !

We ran a Behaviour & Body Language Talk & Lure Based Training Practical over at Planet Paws this week with 23 dogs ! What's great about these educational Talks & Practicals is that they allow Daycare, Pet sitting & kennel services to learn the more nuanced body language, behaviour & subtle communication skills that dogs use to not only communicate with one another but with us, too !

We did a portion on decompression to help sooth very excitable dogs, we also covered a ton on the 'conversations' we saw before us in session. This ranged from demand barking for treats, advocating for dogs space once its been communicated that is what they want in that moment, conflict driven behaviours & how to mitigate this situation if it ever arises, arousal, fixation, dog on dog dominance and how fluid the canine hierarchy is, nerve driven behaviours and how to provide self soothing activities, trigger stacking, the adrenaline & cortisol cycle and of course how to safely split dogs up a fight to protect both dogs and staff if this was to ever occur - it's *always* better to be prepared than not ✅️

During our Training Practical we focused on Lure Based Training with rewards where we focused on some easy & fun, real life skills like luring a heel. This is a great one to learn simply because it can help the owners shape a heel if they're struggling to teach one - if your dog enjoys being in the heel position they'll be more likely to want to be there !
We also taught the trick 'spin' through hand luring which the dogs enjoyed, and later we combined the two by having our chosen dogs walking in the heel position and spinning in motion. While we've largely focused on the must have life skill sets fun tricks like this do serve a purpose- training does more metal enrichment than sniffing and running around combined and hand luring tricks improves engagement & handler value !

Massive props to this great team for wanting to learn the above skill sets & they all picked everything up brilliantly! Not all Daycares are up to date on body language & behaviour, so we have a big appreciation for those that are & those that want to learn so they can do best by the dogs in their care 🙌
Well done everyone🐕

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22/10/2024

Meet Callie !

Callie is a gorgeous German Shepherd x Border Collie who came in for her first session recently. Cal has been struggling with some pretty intense nerve driven reactivity on walks towards people, dogs, traffic, bikes - pretty much anything and everything that passed her would cause her to lunge towards the trigger with a lot of defensive barking, she was also pulling a ton on the lead in-between triggers and was generally all over the show. This was making walks really stressful for Callie & her owners - we got to work !

We made a start by working on some exposure to triggers alongside leash communication to interrupt trigger stacking and showed her how to engage with her handler for some tasty high value rewards once she successfully passed a trigger that would have previously set her off. This really helped Callie understand triggers can exsist without being a threat. We worked at Callie's pace and she did amazingly well, we saw the main issue was her nerve driven responses towards dogs in particular. We spoke about how trigger stacking stressors works and that a high drive dog that is struggling with nerve can begin to experience what we like to refer to as "overspill" - This is when there is one predominant issue at play that stresses the individual out so much so that they begin reacting to almost everything in an effort to defend their space and to avoid additional stress & unfortunately they soon learn barking & lunging results in one of two outcomes, either they're removed from the stressor or the stressor removes themselves! After a short period of repitions around triggers, we saw a huge change in Callies Reactivity towards passing people, bikes, Joggers, kids and scooters. The only remaining stressor to tackle - dogs.

We did some more work around passing dogs while focusing on leash skills, engagement and communication and she did wonderfully. Once she understood she had something to "work" for, as well as showing her we would advocate for her, Callies threshold around dogs really improved ! We understand working with nerve in particular can often feel like a loosing battle for owners with dogs who are struggling in this area but it's important to remember there *is* a genuine benefit to nerve: Nervous dogs tend to have higher handler value and they thrive taking direction from their person. Relationship is the number one thing when dog training and Callies relationship with her handler was 10/10 - she was really keen to learn, earn and to engage. By the end of session she was so much more relaxed & could calmly pass triggers in the heel position & offering engagement in return for something tasty. It's onwards and upwards from here for this lovely girl, we can't wait to see how she gets on after the homework period - Well done Callie 👏

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15/10/2024

Meet pheonix !

This handsome boy is a Hungarian Vizla who came in to make a start on his leash skills on walks. Pheonix had developed a habit of pulling on the lead, we also saw he was struggling with abit of over arousal and a little nerve & apprehension when passing dogs on walks which would cause him to fixate, pull and do a fair bit of whining! We got to work

We made a start on teaching both Pheonix & his handler Leash communication. Focusing on this basic skill set, sets both ends of the lead up for sucsess. We swapped the head collar out for the slip and began shaping a heel by marking the wanted response in the correct position during repitions. Pheonix took to this in no time at all and we soon moved him into a busier area where we focused on engagement building and handler value around distractions, Pheonix already has a great relationship with his owner so we didn't need to do too much in this area which always speeds any training process along - relationship always comes first !

From there we continued proofing in the heel & engagement whilst working around dogs. Pheonix has a history of struggling to be neutral around dogs and one of his owners training goals is to be able to take him to a pub or café with him feeling relaxed in the presence of another dog at a comfortable distance. After a few repitions and teaching Pheonix structured decompression, as well as how to interrupt trigger stacking, he smashed it and did brilliantly around several passing dogs in no time at all 🙌 we want to work on this now for the next few weeks before starting his training in dog friendly pubs & cafes.

Pheonix did brilliantly in his first session and was so much more relaxed, engaged and content by session end. We can't wait to see his progress after the training period - well done Ginge! 🐕

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02/10/2024

Meet Loki !

Loki is a gorgeous German Shepherd who came in for a Half Day Session to tackle his Reactive Behaviour towards dogs. Loki's owners were understandably at the end of their rope with Lokis Reactivity on walks - he would lunge, spin around, bark and panic quite a bit making him pretty difficult to control. This made walks really stressful for both Loki and his owners, we got work !

After Lokis assesment we made a start on teaching Loki leash communication and pressure while maintaining a heel to earn tasty high value rewards. We adapted our standard routine to suit Loki & began this portion of his training in a quiet area and moved into busier areas at his pace. He did brilliantly with this portion of his training, from there we moved onto structured decompression which took him a few reps to master as he's been used to being hyper vigilant in the past but we got him there ! Teaching reactive dogs to decompress and relax on walks is one of the simpler skill sets you can teach that reaps a really positive change in our reactive clients across the board & Loki really enjoyed being able to practice natural behaviours that promote relaxation.

In the second half of Loki's session he was now ready to work in a busier paced environment around more triggers & he smashed it ! We had him passing multiple dogs at a time in a heel for two and a half hours without a reaction. Some dogs at this stage may be up to working around one of our demonstration dogs for prolonged exposure but Loki isn't quite there yet, we're all about adapting to the individual dog here so we opted to simulate a normal dog walk rather than risking him becoming flooded. He did wonderfully! We do need to further Lokis engagement to aid in his training, we've reccomended a hand feeding regime that promotes not only handler value but it will also change Lokis perception of a walk ✅️ the difference from start to end was clear.

I'm so proud of this lovely lad, he put his all into session and his owners said it was the calmest walk they've ever had with him ! 👏 Loki now has some homework to focus on until he's ready to see us again, well done Loki ! 🐕

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19/09/2024

Meet Summer, Ragnar, Maya & Chunk !

We had this gorgeous group of Rottweilers in this week for a Half Day Session so we could make a start on their Reactive Behaviour towards dogs on walks. During their individual assements we saw that the boys in particular were struggling - Ragnar was experiencing some nerve driven reactivity causing some thrashing on the lead, barking, stopping and fixating - Chunk was struggling with some over arousal and needed to build on his threshold, he would also do alot of jumping/trashing, stopping and fixating - Summer was struggling with some barrier frustration and luckily Maya didn't have a clue what was going on. She had previously reacted when Ragnar Reacted but there was no venom or nerve in it whatsoever, once the high value rewards came out she was oblivious to triggers without any encouragement
- we got to work !

We began with Ragnar & Maya as a pair. This pairing worked great for Ragnar as Maya is a pretty relaxed, highly food motivated girl who proved to be a great influence with Ragnar. We began in a quiet area and worked on leash skills, maintaining a heel and leash communication before gradually working our way into busier environments at Ragnars pace, all the while rewarding engagement and successfully passing triggers with some tasty high value rewards to keep things nice and simple for Ragnar. We spoke about hand feeding and how this is going to be the best way for this pack to further their engagement on walks. Once we got the foundations down we had Ragnar take the lead and he smashed it! We had him walking past multiple dogs, in a nice heel without a reaction in no time at all, by the end of session he was much more relaxed and had caught on to the fact passing dogs calmly = something really tasty! - Maya was also good as gold in session and only cared about earning her rewards for heel maintaince and engagement, which I love to see 👏

We then moved onto Summer & Chunk. This pairing was a little more complex as they both had individual behaviours at play, Summer is an older, more confident girl and can clearly communicate her need for space on a walk to passing dogs without reacting *until* she trigger stacks or spots a dog with offensive body language/ behaviour, then she would attempt to lunge and bark - this could easily set Chunk off, as could Chunks reactions when over stimulated. We worked on leash skills and communication with this pairing and focused a little bit more on structured decompression with Chunk. This is something we do with all reactivity cases but when working with over arousal, they really do benefit from having more opportunities to decompress and be redirected onto something more positive. While we worked on this we also proofed in how to interrupt trigger stacking and taught both owners how to spot the body language and behaviour that was causing a problem for Summer - We did a few hours work around dogs and they both did really wonderfully ! Summer was much more relaxed by the end of session, Chunks threshold had really improved but does need just little more work - we spoke about how both Chunk and Ragnar will benefit from some one to one work going forward.

All 4 did brilliantly in session and made a ton of progress each, we can't wait to see how they improve after the homework period 🙌

Well done 🐕🐕🐕🐕
Due to lighting and working the dogs in pairs, this photo of both duos has been masterfully edited together by Chloé Fuller of ITVs Stephs Packed Lunch & Owner of the

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17/09/2024

Meet Winston !

Winston is a Beautiful Bernese mountain dog who came in to work on his overly excitable behaviour towards dogs aswell as his leash skills. He was pulling out on the leash, jumping up, fixating on dogs at a distance, pulling from side to side, bouncing and generally just being overly aroused and abit frustrated that he couldn't say hello to everyone and everything! - despite his lovely, friendly temprament, he's a big boy so this was quickly becoming a problem and making walks not as enjoyable as they could be for both Winston and his owner. When we think of the term reactive our mind tends to jump to offensive or defensive dogs who are kicking off and barking, and while this is the case for many, reactivity just means reacting at all ! This commonly includes happy, over excited dogs - we got to work!

We made a start on teaching Winston a nice heel with the help of some tasty high value rewards.We spoke about how the lack of leash pressure would help Winston understand the heel position is a really positive place to be compared to being out infront and trying to engage with every single dog. The goal here was to improve Winstons handler value, so he could offer engagement to his handler around dogs and maintain indifference rather than fixating and becoming over excited. Winston settled with this in no time at all and we soon had him heeling and engaged past dogs.

We then moved onto structured decompression and allowing opportunities for Winston to practice natural behaviours that aid in self soothing - He took to this brilliantly. Sadly Winston suffers with Hip Dysplasia so we opted to adapt his session with rest periods in-between repitions that allowed for exposure to passing dogs so even while resting up he could still earn a tasty high value reward.

Winston did amazingly well in his first session and we can't wait to see how he further improves after the homework period
Well done big lad !

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Bark To Basics

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