Success Stories 

 George

I was contacted recently by a lady called Tracey who was very concerned about her westie George.

George was terrified when walked near heavy traffic, he would get very anxious and would shake and bark uncontrollably. Tracey had tried many things to reasure him but none had made any difference in fact she thought he was getting worse and so contacted me.

When I went along to the consultation it emerged that George was also quite anxious around the house always on the lookout for people passing by or a cat in the garden. He would also kill the post and newspapers when they came through the door. Tracey was also having trouble walking George even away from the traffic as he would pull her down the road.

I explained to Tracy that the problems she was having were because George believed he was the pack leader and was unable to cope with the role. George was doing his best to protect her from what he saw as danger when someone passed by the house or the post came. He was trying to take control when they were out on a walk, and his fear of traffic was because he felt unable to protect her in this situation.

I showed Tracey how to take control of the four important areas to convince George that she was the leader. I also showed her ways in which she could improve his lead walking. I advised her to work with George in the house and garden for a couple of weeks to give him time to relax before venturing out again. 

I rang back 2 weeks later to check on  the progress Tracey and George had made. Tracy said that she was very pleased with George's progress he was much more relaxed around the house and they were actually getting their post in one piece. They had only tried a couple of quiet walks so far but George was definately pulling less. Hopefully they will be ready to tackle traffic again before long.

Libby

Libby's owner Sam, contacted me because she was also having problems when out on a walk. Libby was aggressive to other dogs that she met along the way. Sam was concerned that as Libby was quite a large dog (a labrador cross) that she could potentially hurt another dog, so she had stopped letting Libby off the lead for a run if there were any other dogs around. 

When I arrived at the consultation it quickly became clear that Libby was a very stressed dog. The house was situated on a footpath which was very well used as a shortcut into the town. Libby felt it was her job to protect her family from all the people passing the house and would spend much of her time in the window barking at the passers by. 

I then asked Sam to get Libby's lead out so that I could see what happened on a walk Libby took one look at the lead and ran behind the settee and hid. 

I explained to Sam that Libby saw herself in the role of leader which meant that she felt responsble for her family's safety. Libby was therefore trying to protect her family from all the people who walked past the house as she believed them to be a threat and also from the dogs she met when out on her walk. She was unable to cope with the job and this was why she was so stressed and reluctant to go out on a walk. 

I showed Sam how to take charge of the four important areas to convince Libby that she was not the pack leader so that she could relax and enjoy her walks again. I also showed her how to take charge of the situation if they met a dog when out on a walk. I advised that they work at home for the first couple of weeks to enable Libby to relax before venturing out again.

I called Sam to check on progress after 2 weeks, she said that Libby was much more relaxed and she was no longer barking at the passers by. They had only just started walking again but their first walk had been a pleasure rather than the stressful event it used to be.