Why does Kaya react so strongly to the neighbour’s fence-barking dog – and how can changing how she feels about it improve everything else? The neighbours next door leave their fence-barking dog out in the garden. When he knows Kaya is out, he flies at their boundary fence. This understandably Read more
But it’s a tricky case of finding a compromise between two approaches – what the gentleman himself calls ‘carrot and stick’. The man is the stick and the lady the carrot
Five-and-a-half-month-old Harry leash wrestles; he tugs and bites it. It’s in one set of circumstances only. At the end of his walk, when they they get to the entrance of the park, Harry goes into some sort of frenzy. Flying about nipping, he attacks the lead and tugs at it as he swings about, growling.
How can they mix training classes with changing Ben’s reactivity to other dogs?
It’s proven that the way to help a dog with reactivity to other dogs is to work with sufficient distance between them that the dog feels safe and relaxed.
Is a dog really trained to come back if he only returns when he feels like it? ‘Well-trained’ isn’t always enough. The three dogs, 7 month old Rottie pup Kaiser, Jack Russell Buddy, 7 and Jack a Chihuahua Jack Russell mix aged 8 have been taught some impressive training tricks Read more
Could giving your dog more choice actually reduce fear, barking and reactivity? Giving a fearful dog choice Joey, the four-year-old Collie Labrador mix, came over from Ireland at a year old. Isn’t he gorgeous. Over the past three years his family has done great things with him. A lot of the general day Read more
They are now upping their socialisation of Digby and acclimatisation to things. Things such as traffic, noises, people of all sorts and ages, other dogs, the car and so on – within the restrictions of being unable to put him down until his injections are finished. He seems a stable and fearless pup.
Sometimes there can be a bit of conflict, in my opinion, between what is learnt in formal training classes and the sort of behaviour that is needed for real life. My views may not be popular with everyone.
Then, last summer, he was sent away for dog training for three whole weeks, to boot camp. They advocated a choke chain and old-fashioned training methods. All was OK while he was there – he had no choice – but when he came home and his lady walked him, there was no improvement at all – in fact, if anything, he was worse.
Does your dog only seem to behave when you’re constantly giving commands? The decision was that Billie shouldn’t jump up at people anymore. Up until now jumping up has been very rewarding in terms of attention. The 6-month-old terrier cross is looked at, spoken to in terms of reprimands or Read more