Aggression

Dogs that show aggression could be doing so because of either - over excitement, dominance, protection of self or pack, anxiety, a bad experience, poor socialisation or because they have accidentally or intentionally been trained to do so.

When dealing with aggression it is important to find out the exact cause of the aggression, when it started and the target of the aggression for example other dogs or animals, a specific person or type of person or a particular object, it is also important to find out if there are any circumstances or places in which your dog will not show aggression as you might expect. 

Once we have discovered the cause, we will then start working on that.  In the case of a dominant dog we will work on making sure your dog sees you as the pack leader, if he is aggressive out of fear we will work on re-socialising the dog so that he no longer finds a situation fearful. 

In most cases the cause of aggression is a combination of reasons and all will need to be tackled in order to completely stop the aggression.

In many cases a muzzle will be used when training an aggressive dog, although training is always done in a very controlled and calm way so as not to cause the dog to feel the need to bite, treats are very rarely used when training a dog that shows aggression as they often only excite a dog and this alone can cause a dog to behave badly, other forms of reward will be used which will entirely depend on the dog and the situation - harsh methods are never used.

It is interesting to note that it will often take the dogs owner longer to fully trust the dog again than it will to actually train the dog and change his behaviour.

Occasionally, follow-up sessions are required but surprisingly, for most dogs only one session is needed, most dogs that show aggression are under a huge amount of stress and will relax and change their behaviour very quickly once training begins.

Hyperactivity

Hyperactivity is often the cause of a lack of exercise, dominance, over stimulation, too much attention and at the wrong time, a lack of problem solving activities, diet, anxiety or a combination of two or more.

A hyperactive dog does not think things through like a calm dog would and so it often leads to other behaviour problems such as general disobedience, jumping up, aggression, poor recall, pulling on the lead and destructive behaviours.

The first thing to do is to find what has caused the dog to become hyperactive in the first place and address that, we will also talk about diet as this can be a major cause of hyperactivity.  Once we have calmed your dog we will then work on any other problems that have occurred as a result.

Treats and toys are very rarely used as rewards with hyperactive dogs because they often cause the dog to become excited again - undoing all your good work, instead calm and quiet praise and your attention are more productive and are often just as rewarding to your dog. 

Very occasionally are follow up sessions needed as once the problem has been discovered the fix is usually fairly simple - although time consuming, and often requiring a fair amount of patience!

Problems on the walk

The walk is a major source of frustration for many people and their dogs; manic behaviour towards the lead, pulling on the lead, poor recall, barking and aggression towards other dogs or people, and a lack of focus.  These are all common problems and are often caused by over excitement, dominance and/or anxiety.

As with most other problems, discovering the cause is the key and this will become easy once we get the dog out for a walk.

Treats are rarely used for this type of training because I believe by training your dog to walk to heel, calmly you are teaching good manners, not a trick that you may or may not ask your dog to perform for a reward.  My dogs instinctively walk to heel whenever their leads are on because I expect them to, not because I have a treat.

Unlike a training class, your dog will be trained wherever you normally walk him so he will learn to do it with his normal distractions, usually I will let you start so we can find out what the problem is then I will take over so you can see how I do it, then as he improves I will pass him over to you and talk you through the training so that you are clear about what you are doing too.

In some cases follow up sessions are recommended - especially if there are many different problems.

Basic Training

Problems will basic training can be the result of hyperactivity, dominance or inconsistent training.  In either case we will address the source of the problem before we start to retrain the dog, in the case of hyperactivity, often the dog knows more than you think and just getting them to calm down is enough.

Whether you need more than one session will completely depend on what you hope to achieve and what you can do on your own.  For most people one session is enough to get them on the right track again, enabling them to continue training on their own after the session.  Other people like to have many follow ups so they can be reassured they are doing it correctly or because they want to teach many things to their dog.

Anxiety

Living with an anxious dog can be very stressful for you and the dog, anxiety can be caused by almost anything including other dogs, dominance, a previous bad experience, moving house, a noise, the weather or a specific object.

Every anxious dog is different in the way in which they cope, some become hyperactive, some become aggressive, some become very nervous and some self harm to name just a few possible ways to cope. 

We will start by finding out what has caused the anxiety and deal with that - often this will mean re-socialising the dog and exposing them to their fear at a really low level, maintaining control at all times and then gradually increasing the intensity until they are able to cope at a normal level - this can be a very time consuming process.  As well as addressing the anxiety, we will also deal with any other problems that have come about as a result of the anxiety.

In most cases only one session is needed as any remaining work can be done over the phone or e-mail, but it is not uncommon for anxious dogs to need follow up sessions

House Training

This may be one of the most stressful problems for people to live with and house training problems can be caused by a huge amount of factors; age, health and diet all need to be taken into consideration and any dog that has suddenly lost their house training must be seen by a vet before any kind of training can begin.  Problems can also be caused by inconsistent training, hyperactivity, dominance and anxiety.  It is also very common for rescue dogs to need some house training.

Whatever the cause, it is often easier to start again from scratch whilst at the same time addressing the underlying problem.  Dogs are very clean animals by nature and are usually quick to catch on.

There are various different ways in which you can house train a dog and in some circumstances I may recommend a crate but this will not suit all dogs and families. 

Verbal praise and attention are almost always the best rewards for housetraining success, but sometimes a game or a food treat are used - it just depends on the dog.

So far, no customer has ever needed a second session for housetraining problems.

Destructive Behaviour

Destructive dogs are very stressful to live with, as most destructive behaviour happens while you are away, when you arrive home you almost dread opening the door to what could be on the other side.

Destructive behaviour can come from a wide range of things, such as boredom, anxiety and hyperactivity.  Pups will also chew as a way to relieve pain in their mouth when they are teething, with pups you will not be able to stop them chewing but you must discourage it so that it doesn't become a habit and you should encourage your pup to chew appropriate objects instead of the furniture.

For adult dogs, we will find out what is causing the destructive behaviour and address that first, then we can work on breaking the habit.

Occasionally, this type of problem may need follow up sessions but it really depends on what has caused it.

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