03/07/2025
Blue is a GRADUATE!! 🐾
Blue is a bit of a different case. He came to training with quite a bit of obedience having done a previous board and train and having worked with another trainer, he had tons of titles in various dog sports and events, and he has a VERY dedicated family. Despite all of this, Blue lacked confidence, impulse control, and the ability to relax.
His entire life prior to training had been spent filling gaps with MORE, MORE, MORE. He was constantly hiking or training or trialing or chewing chews or playing with toys and he was rarely doing nothing. There’s a quote that I love from my colleague Stephanie McCabe with Training Between the Ears that says, “Reactivity will not be solved by an inordinate amount of exercise or getting really good at obedience. Reactivity will be solved by changing the dog’s state of mind and creating feelings of wellbeing.” That is exactly the missing component that Blue needed!
Blue’s entire brain was focused on staying busy, acting defensively, and seeking conflict. He took movement around him as a threat and it resulted in reactive/aggressive outbursts toward people, children, dogs, small animals, bikes, cars, you name it. He could lay down on command, but his brain could not settle. THAT was our focus.
After 4 weeks together, Blue wasn’t just obedient, he was calm. He was relaxed around strangers and other dogs, not freaked out by car traffic, not ready to lunge because something got too close. He actively sought me out when he wasn’t sure how to handle something, he began greeting strangers in a curious, relaxed manner, and the tension in his brain and body finally began to ease. He even got a full professional groom (thank you Pawsitive Vibez !!), including nails, for the first time with no muzzle or issue!
At the end of training his family and I took an outing to prove to them one of the most difficult things for owners of reactive dogs: The dog’s old triggers are not the dog’s current triggers. The dog’s old triggers are now the human’s triggers. Thus began the final phase in training: relaxing human anxiety 😂
Blue and his family did incredibly well and I know they’ll continue to improve. Fantastic work, Blue and family! 💙
We are a dog training company specializing in anxiety, reactivity, and human education 🐶
