t’s amazing what tiny pieces of cheese and a quiet voice can achieve!
It took a long while – most of the three hours that I was there discussing all the things necessary in a consultation. By the end Millie was sitting down in the corner beside my chair. I did it by simply not trying to tell her to do anything.
His jumping up is a bit crazy, his licking of people a bit manic, he barks at ‘everything’, he sometimes tail-chases when particularly frustrated and he is obsessed with balls.
Why would a friendly, affectionate dog become tense and defensive the moment food appears? I wonder what started Reggie’s guarding behaviour as it’s hard to see how it fits in with the rest of his personality. The 4-year-old English Bull Terrier is only guarding food related items. He doesn’t guard Read more
Why would a friendly young dog suddenly start growling and barking at people after reaching maturity? Another puzzle insofar as it’s impossible to work out just why miniature English Bull Terrier Vinnie’s behaviour changed so drastically three years ago. The growls and barks began upon his reaching maturity A couple Read more
Why does a dog suddenly put the brakes on and refuse to walk? This is English Bull Terrier Indie and he is now two years old. Ever since he was a puppy he would, throughout a walk, frequently put the anchors on. He refuses to walk. This starts a few Read more
Archie’s life, from the moment he wakes in the morning, revolves around balls. He obsesses on balls. He fixates on them
Like so many of the dogs I go to, his start in life was far from ideal. From the time he left his mother and litter mates at 8 weeks old and until he was four months old, he was shut in a room all alone for hours on end, before being returned to the breeder.
Because of the excessive pulling, screaming, flipping over and freaking out when they encounter other dogs, they have tried all sorts of gadgets of ‘force’ I would call them. Contraptions to make Ivor unable to lunge, to force him to ‘behave’.
These have included a prong collar (disapproved of in this country), and various types of lead including an elasticated slip lead and ‘no-pull’ harness.
Why does Lyra become so anxious and agitated when people come into the house? Over time I have realised certain patterns in dog behaviour difficulties. For instance, it is more unusual for a dog who walks casually and peacefully on a loose lead to be scared or aggressive towards dogs Read more
Using a psychological behavioural approach throughout the evening I showed him that jumping and grabbing me was not rewarding in any way.
Bit by bit we could see him actually choosing the desired behaviour for himself. At the end of a tiring evening, instead of being shut away in his crate to bark and cry as usual, or jumping at me whenever I moved, he was lying spark out in the middle of the floor. He even ignored us walking around him.