Please everyone do a happy dance for Diesel and his dedicated owners.
Diesel was going to be a long slog.
His previous history left him with no dog social skills, and an accident left him in potential pain constantly.
Also to add to the complexity he has dietary issues and trying to find a reward at all has been a huge trail and error.
Aged cheddar is the winner, but it has to be aged. He's got fine tastes 🤣
Even a toy wouldn't cut it as he was so alert to play with his owners.
But his owners haven't given up. In fact they have worked tirelessly to help him understand dogs and not feel the need to react.
This is a major breakthrough 🙌
These are two dogs he'd not met before of mine, in a park full of dogs and people. Both of which he finds tough.
And he's walking like a pro!
He's choosing not to react, and actually is being calm.
Six months ago I couldn't be within 100ft of him with another dog, but with patience and foundation, and a lot of work from his dedicated owners we are making progress.
He's absolutely in love with Kincaid my youngest pup, and has now worked with Spooky, Nessa and Gin.
So up next is the big boys and working closer to public dogs.
His reactivity is born out of the unknown. He doesn't know how to be a dog, but he's going to learn how to be one with my help.
I'm so proud of his owners hard work!
I've got a little space before Christmas to start you on your journey to happy walks, a happy home and so much less stress.
I use my own dogs for part of the training as needed, and provide support throughout our journey.
Drop me a message to get started
#dogtraining #dogtrainer #setupforsuccess #behaviourist #itstartsnow #germanshepherd #gsd #reactivity
Odessa has been working hard towards her goal of being able to ignore dogs, and handle the real world.
It's been a long journey so far, but she's smashing her goals each time I see her.
We've moved from secure fields to open spaces where we can see dogs coming, as well as working around some of my other dogs.
Kincaid is being stooge dog for her the first time in this session, and she's smashed it.
Odessa kept calm and was able to do normal behaviour around Kincaid.
It's a huge step for her to be in an unfamiliar place with dogs around, and a dog she's never met up close.
Well done Odessa and her dedicated owner.
Kincaid is wearing her @whippasnappapet buff to keep the bugs at bay.
So we've been working with this pair for a little while.
The progress has been slow to start, but now we're snowballing in the right direction.
This looks like two dogs ignoring each other.
What this really is, is a nervous dog choosing to be calm, connected and focused around one of biggest fears.
A huge dog.
Odessa finds it tough to be near dogs, she finds it hard to trust people, but yesterday she stepped out of comfort zone and trusted her owner completely to keep her safe.
This is the result of her owner's hard work prior to seeing me, and using the trained stooge dogs to help her feel comfortable.
She's built fantastic foundations, and now we're building a solid castle on them.
I'm so proud of this team, and know they'll get to the point where any reactions will only be valid reactions, not those thrown out of fear or worry at a situation that might happen.
So excited to see their progress.
It's why I use real dogs in my behavioural rehabilitation (and an excuse to have more dogs 🤣) because dogs learn best from dogs.
It's tough being a mum.
You try your best to do your best by your kiddo daily.
Then to add even more stress on top you cannot neglect your dog(s).
As a mum, dog owner and business owner I have to juggle my time daily.
I'm not going to lie since becoming a mum, it's been tough.
I don't have just normal dogs, I have problem dogs as well who require my time in different ways.
I spread my time between them, but it's not equal.
My biggest issue with it all is anxiety, I get anxiety walking my son with the dogs. Until recently I avoided it at all costs unless I had someone with me. I would walk the dogs without Charlie or make sure he was safe with someone else.
Why? You would think a behaviourist and bad ass mum would be able to do it?
I couldn't. I have so much anxiety that there would be a dog fight, or a dog would run off, or Charlie would get hurt, or *insert drama here*.
I no longer had access to secure fields to run the dogs on locally, so I have to brave places there may be public. And places where I can also let Charlie have fun not just walk..
It would go round and round my head. I felt guilty for the dogs and anxiety for my son.
I have a lot of mental resilience, and experience. I know things are unlikely to go wrong, I know it was all in my head.
But it still made it tough.
Not many people are as mental as me to have 8 plus dogs depending on the week, and have reactive dogs by choice.
But I know mum's out there have the same anxiety I do.
That something will go wrong when you're out with the dogs, or that you just don't get enough hours in a day to do things seperate, you especially can't afford a dog professional to help you with your dogs issues.
It's really tough juggling it all as a mum.
But it's even tougher to do it alone.
It's why I'm offering zoom consults, at a time which suits you. So that it doesn't matter if your kids are home and demanding a snack, or you can't get the mental power to leave the house with everyone.
