Does your dog bark and lunge at other dogs in the street, or start fights at the park?
Maybe they are on high alert as soon as they leave the house, looking for another dog to shout at?
Or perhaps they fling themselves to the floor, and stare at other dogs as soon as they spot them? Refusing to move. Then go ballistic as soon as the other dog gets near?
Regardless of their specific behaviour are you fed up of being limited in what you do together? Or apologising for, and explaining their behaviour?
Through our work together, there are many steps we can take to help your dog start to develop more appropriate social behaviour. Many 'over reactive' or the more 'nasty' seeming behaviours stem from uncertainty or fear, although the odd dog can sometimes get a high from conflict . Regardless of the cause, there are things that can be put in place to help reduce these 'antisocial' behaviours, help your dog feel safer, and in many cases begin working toward teaching or rebuilding your dog's social skills.
Working with 'over reactive' behaviour is very different from what you often see on the TV. Long-lasting changes come from going at the dog's pace, and most sessions will be non-eventful. 'Boring' is the key to success! But it is possible to reduce, and resolve, saying goodbye to feeling frustrated and embarrassed by your dog.
''Jenny has helped me with my reactive dog. I attended her group for reactive dogs and so much progress was made. She made time for you to understand your dog and helped and gave advice in lots of other areas too. Jenny is so calm and patient even my relative dog loved her! We will be making use of Feral Hearts dog training and solutions again.
Highly recommend''
- Sam Frost
''Jen is so patient and reassuring and is a real calming influence around my reactive girl. She showed us how to work together to make better choices, reduce stress and build confidence. The class was small and lots of space and no pressure. Highly recommend for anyone with a sensitive dog needing extra support and understanding.''
- Catherine Humphreys
REACTIVITY SUPPORT... how it works!
Kickstarter session
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We get to know one another. I can observe your dog and have a chance to understand the problems.
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We identify triggers and the motivation behind the problem behaviours.
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Actionable management can be put in place, and we can get started with some practical training.
Where from here? During progression sessions...
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We will work on desensitisation, exposing your dog to triggers in a controlled and gradual way. We will Use counterconditioning to change your dog's response to the triggers as we go, swapping fear, anxiety, or anger for more neutral or even positive emotions.
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We will also explore teaching alternative behaviours, such as showing them they have an option to move away rather than feel the need to defend themselves or become aggressive. We can also work on loose lead walking, heel, focusing on you and more!
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promoting engagement with you, and a positive mental state is a priority - we want our dog to want to be with us, so we will utilise games to promote and encourage this. Adding in games can help keep the dog in a more optimistic state of mind, aiding the reactivity reduction process.
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Building confidence through positive training, clear communication, play and exploration. Consistency with training will make things predictable for your dog, and the changes in behavioural habits will begin to become more ingrained.
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We can then work on Proofing the behavior by working around different triggers, for various duration and distances.
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Time to generalise... we will work to make sure your dog can cope, and thrive in a variety of contexts.
Now the work should be paying off!
I contacted Jenny after Bear was viscously attacked by an off lead dog while we were out walking. The incident left me extremely anxious about getting out with Bear for walks. We also, needed to work on Bears recall when other dogs were about. Jenny has totally changed out lives. She not only helped me recognise and read other dogs behaviours but also helped me to learn about Bears natural instincts and how to work with them. Bear is well socialised and extremely friendly with other dogs but sadly that has got him into a good few sticky situations with dogs who do not like the attention. Helping Bear and I to work around those situations with distraction and positive reinforcement has totally changed our outings. I now have the ‘tools’ to work with and I look forward to our daily adventures with the enthusiasm that I had totally lost. Bear is absolutely thriving on this new approach… Thank you Jenny, you are an angel xxx
- Corrina Korrubel (Breathe Bracelets)
Contact Jenny: 07505000709