Walking by the roads Dexter simply feels too unsafe so he’s on high alert, panting and pulling. Twice a day he pulls desperately to the nearby field where they can let him off lead. Once free, he’s a different dog. He charges about, happy, and will once more listen to them.
Can using a shaker can or dominance methods actually make fighting between dogs worse? Frenchies Mac and Mabel fight. The lady has unfortunately been following outdated and harmful advice. A shaker can was in each room of the house. This always seems so sad to me. Someone who loves her dogs Read more
Does your dog seem uneasy or fearful moving through certain areas of your home? Poor Boris looked uneasy all the time. His family, unable to read his subtle signals just hadn’t realised how his uneasiness went a lot further than the problem I was there for – his fear of going near Read more
Why would a normally friendly dog bite when someone comes near something she can eat? Telyn, the Sprolly, is a friendly and polite dog. She is a lucky dog also – living in a lovely family with three teenage girls who all play an active part in her life. However, Read more
Alfie is frightened of his own poo.
He won’t toilet, pee or poo, in the garden either. Absolutely not. He can hold on for an incredibly long time and sometimes has to do so because he’s frightened of rain as well.
Why would a five-month-old German Shepherd already be barking fearfully at people and children? Dave was picked up from the person who bred him at ten weeks old. It’s obvious that before this he had met few people and probably no dogs other than those he had lived with. Another red Read more
Why would a friendly little dog bark nonstop at people both at home and out on walks? Hector, the little wire haired miniature dachshund, is absolutely adorable. His young lady has made every effort to do the very best for him from the start, but at about seven months old he Read more
It’s hard picking up the pieces when a conscientious and well-meaning dog owner has been following old-fashioned, dominance-based advice. Advice using punishment and intimidation through ignorance. They believe what someone who sets himself up as an authority says is the way to do things.
It’s also extremely upsetting for the owner when their eyes are opened. Fortunately, things can only get better now.
Could everyday corrections and ‘time-outs’ be making Banjo more anxious and reactive? What exactly is punishment? This is not the place to get all technical with semantics and the definitions of punishment. It’s enough to say here that it’s anything the dog doesn’t like, done by us, in order to stop Read more
If the dog is scared of something, the old way could well be to make him face it. If he growls and particularly if he bites, the old view is that this should be punished.