Case Histories

It takes time to reverse you and your dog’s roles

Every dog I have seen at a consultation (and many, many more I see every day) believes they have the role of the leader. By taking away the burden of that role, we can reach the root cause of why our dogs do what they do. Then, when they can relax and relieve the stress they are under, you can begin to see a change.

Whilst improvement is very noticeable within the first two weeks, it takes time for a dog to put its life in your hands after it has had to be your leader. By using the correct signals everyday and being consistent, your roles will change because your dog will begin to trust your leadership, just as we would need time to trust a new manager or one who has changed.

Here are some recent case histories:

Case after case

There are many more cases I see every day, covering a whole range of behaviours from separation anxiety to door licking, licking the hair from their bodies, tail chasers and many more………..

(These cases are true and correct but the names of the dogs have been changed to protect my client’s confidentiality)

This is not just happening to me and the owners I have seen, Dog Listeners the world over are working with dogs and their owners time after time, and some dogs many years of alternative methods being unsuccessful.

We all keep in touch on a daily basis so that if we have a particular situation we have not come across before someone, somewhere in the world has and can pass on vital information so we can give you the best advise we can.

It is important that you receive backup for as long as you need it, as you and your dog’s lives change. You may decide to take on another dog, or move house, have children or new neighbours arrive with a dog or dogs or cats. These all have an effect on our dogs, which is why we offer back up, either by telephone, email or by arranging a further visit.

Does this sound too good to be true? Try it!

Contact me for more details.

Feeling better is a good start to a new life!

Case History: Shona, Jake & Coco

shone-jake-cocoLife with Shona, the ex-working foxhound had started so well, but after just two weeks we were at the doctor’s surgery having Mick’s badly bitten hand bandaged up. We had no idea what to do next, and the obvious option was too awful to contemplate.

We’d collected Shona from Wood Green to fill a massive hole left by the passing of our St Bernard, Missy. Shona was quiet, confused, very wary of men and a stranger to everything the house presented to her. Having been a working dog before being rescued by Wood Green, it was no surprise that the carpet, television, fridge and all other appliances unnerved her, but she was also terrified by the sound of gunfire, which turned her into a restless jelly. As we live in the country, this was a real problem. After a few days she started to settle in, and two weeks after she’d joined us she concluded from our behaviour that my husband, Mick, was lower than her in the pecking order and she had to take control.

It started when Mick gave Shona a fuss while she was in her bed. She growled at him, then bolted upstairs to me, barking.

This got worse when Mick entered the bedroom and he had to move out of the way to allow me to take her downstairs. That was the start of an increasing spiral of nipping and aggression towards Mick, and it got to the point when […]

Case History: Jack

A two year old Jack Russell bought as a puppy.

jackThis amazing little Jack Russell was being very aggressive to his owners, he was nervous of passing cars when he was on a lead, barked frantically when anyone came into the door and jumped up at them and was possessive of his owners. The children’s friends were very wary of Jack when they came to play.

He had bitten the owner’s daughter and had no recall. Two hours into the consultation, he was quiet, relaxed, didn’t run up the stairs in front of the children and had completely chilled out. Two weeks later when I drew up in the car he was lying on the front doorstep and didn’t even get up or bark. He quietly walked in the house after me, the owners thanked him and he went to lie down, he had even stopped pestering their cat. The children all love him now and I saw the owners walking Jack down a very busy main road just a few months after my first visit and the dog was walking happily beside his owner showing no sign of whizzing around or barking.

Case History: Lucy

lucyIs an 11 year old rescue Border Collie who had been left on her own for hours even days sometimes.

Her new owners rescued her when she was nine. She barked when her new owners lighted candles, or switched on lights she was very nervous and barked when people walked past the house, she was nervous of walking over a certain part of the floor, charged ahead of people going up or down stairways, was very ‘clingy’ with her owners in the house and constantly followed the owners around the house. She would round up the kittens and eat from their litter trays.

She is now much calmer and quieter, doesn’t chase up and down the stairs, bark at candles is much more playful and much less nervous of her surroundings. She is less agitated when people call at their home, it will take time but Lucy and her caring new owners are making good progress with her.

Case History: Black Jack

blackjackA three year old, rescue Patterdale Terrier cross and had attacked and injured a sheep. For a Patterdale cross this was quiet a feat! The sheep had been badly bitten around his face. He was also possessive of his food, hounded the owners other cats, raced out of the door first and his owners could not walk Black Jack on a lead or even get one on him without a frantic chase around their hallway. He was very aggressive towards other dogs and would follow his owners around. In kennels, he was also aggressive, snapping at the food bowl to the point that kennel staff had given his owners a warning that they could not take him if this behaviour continued.

In just one week we walked Black Jack down the road and back again, he had stopped chasing cats, running around the house like a bullet at odd times, was eating all his food instead of leaving it, stopped following his owners around and sat quietly by the door for his lead to be put on. His owners walked through the door first and he had stopped barking at people passing by. They now feel confident enough to have bought a new puppy into their pack after a year.

Case History: Monty

montyThis stunning Border Collie was bought as a puppy from a farm and is now 5 years old, pulled excessively on his lead when his owners took him out. He could let himself out of the back door and was marking the door with his claws and barked to excess in the garden at people passing by. In fact he was very nervous out on walks, travelling in the car, was possessive of his lady owner, and jumped all over visitors. His owner had to put a child gate between him and visitors that so he could not jump up at them, he is also nervous of fireworks and loud bangs, barked at the post people and was possessive of his bed. After my initial visit Monty took about 1 hour to calm down and start to relax.

Three weeks later, he was much calmer when I first came into the house taking just five minutes to settle down. We took Monty in the car, which is when I discovered his dislike of journeys and his nervousness outside. Three months on and Monty’s owners say he is 100% better on the lead, when people arrive, have removed their stair gate, oh! and he doesn’t jump up at the backdoor anymore to get out. (He had learnt to open the handle) The problem I was called in to solve.

Case History: Dizzy

dizzyAn eight year old Chihuahua who was very aggressive towards his owners. He barked frantically at visitors, snapped at visiting grandchildren was very wary of babies. His excessive barking had caused his owners to think along the lines of having to put this dog to sleep as they had reached the end of their tether and had tried everything they could think of to improve his behaviour. They could not even take him out on a lead and were having to walk him very early in the morning or very late at night when no-one else was about. He would bark at a plastic bag lying in the road!

He wouldn’t even let them sit next to each other on their couch. But this amazing little character and his caring owners turned Dizzy’s negative behaviour totally around in three weeks. Two months on and he now walk’s quietly on a lead, he loves it when children come to play and is respectful of their space. All his aggression towards them as a couple has disappeared. He will still alert them when people arrive, but settles quietly after just a few seconds and his excessive barking has stopped. He doesn’t even bark in the garden anymore and annoy the neighbours. A totally chilled little fellow and everyone loves him now.