Sophie is a 7-year-old Springer Spaniel.
She is stressed and hyperactive for much of the time, panting, pacing and crying.
This can continue for hours and she only really settles within the confines and restrictions of her crate. It can be very tiring for her family.
Springer Sophie and ‘training’.
Sophie is also friendly and gentle. She’s adorable but for some reason troubled. Possibly some of it is genetic as apparently she was even worse when she was younger. They have had help from two or three trainers over the years. Instead of improving she is now getting worse.
She is no longer is taken on walks. The Springer Spaniel has started literally screaming and lunging whenever she sees one of the many cats in the neighbourhood or another dog. Her pulling on lead is a strain,
All that ‘training’, along with having tried most gadgets they can get such as head halters, various leads and harnesses, has not stopped Sophie pulling.
This is because she still wants to pull!
I would be willing to guarantee, if they put in the time and effort to do it my way, that she will eventually be walking nicely. Walking willingly beside them on a loose lead, not wanting to pull. I have many many successful cases to prove this.
Time and patience
Time and patience are the two operative words – along with knowing the technique. Sophie now is taken out so seldom that the outside world is simply a sensory overload of smells, action, s
ounds and potential danger.
Calm walks don’t start at the door. They start with a calm dog at home who has impulse control before encountering all the added stimulation of the outside world. At home is where it starts.
Sophie’s stress levels need to be reduced dramatically and she needs to learn to focus on her owners and what they are asking of her. To achieve this, they will need to earn her trust by how they themselves behave with her.
Sophie is a clever dog but a frustrated dog, with no outlet for her energy or her brains. This will now change (I hope).
