Is it desensitising or is it over-exposure? Ellie, her siblings and other Tibetan Terriers were picked up from a breeder in a dreadful state of neglect, with matted fur and no socialisation. They had no exposure to life outside the shed where they were kept. Lucky Ellie was re-homed to my clients three Read more…
I have just met another Henry – a Miniature Schnauzer age two. He is quite unusual to look at, being brown and with a poodle-like curly coat. Cute! Henry was barking behind a door when I arrived. Let out after I had sat down, he came charging up to me, barking Read more…
Lack of early habituation to people and life in general has a lot to answer for in a great number of the cases I go to. This is neither sufficiently early habituation and socialisation, nor sufficiently comprehensive habituation. Early habituation or socialisation? We tend to say ‘socialisation’ when we mean Read more…
Cassie is a puzzle. Everything about Cassie’s behaviour points to her having spent the first year of her life in a crate or very small space, deprived of stimuli. This is an educated guess only. When she was rescued three years ago (she’s now four) her posture was hunched. On Read more…
Bentley barks. The little dog’s main fears and consequent barking is either directly, or indirectly, associated with his fear of people. Bentley is an adorable and much-loved Coton de Tulear. In researching the breed, the first site I looked at said that they hate being on their own and that Read more…
The lady was, to quote her email, at ‘such a low ebb’ as she described what was happening with her two recently adopted puppy farm dogs. Considering the mental condition of the dogs she has taken on, she has already worked miracles. However, without support, she can’t herself see the progress that Read more…
I have just been to two five-month-old siblings. Before the family picked them up about four weeks ago, despite being brother and sister each puppy had had a very different life. They are Canaans, a rare and ancient breed. Lapidos is confident and friendly, Leah is afraid of everything – of people Read more…
Beautiful Indie is another Shepherd-type dog that is reactive to people – particularly people coming to his house. He was abandoned as a puppy of three months old on the streets of Romania and spent the next three months in kennels – crucial months in his development. The reason he Read more…
A couple of weeks ago I went to Nico, another Cocker Spaniel with fairly similar fear issues towards people, lack of early socialisation in the early weeks certainly being a large part of the cause of his wariness of all sorts of things. Nico’s problem was far greater because he Read more…
Boss, an American Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross is now two years old. Despite getting him at the tender age of five weeks old, Boss was very well socialised as a pup. They lived in London and took him out to pubs with friends and running in Regents Park. Read more…