When I ask my clients what they most want for their reactive dog, they say one thing. They want their dog to ignore stuff. Some of my clients have dog-reactive dogs. Their dogs bark and lunge at any dog they see. Some of them even struggle with dogs they can smell or hear. Others are…
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There are many things we can do if our dog is barking and lunging out on walks. Perhaps they are barking at other dogs. Sometimes they may bark at strangers, particularly those who make our dogs feel afraid. Some dogs struggle with moving machines too, like cars or bikes. In the past three posts, we…
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As you develop new skills to help your barking, lunging dog, there’s one inevitable truth we all need to go to terms with. If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we already have. In other words, we need to take a break from the daily barkfest. If our dog isn’t…
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Are you tired of feeling like a tugboat on your walks with your dog whenever they see another dog in the distance? Does your furry friend bark, lunge, or pull on the lead, leaving you feeling frustrated and embarrassed? The good news is that you’re not alone. Many pet dog owners struggle with these behaviours…
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Dealing with a dog who barks and lunges on leash can be a daunting challenge for any owner. If you’ve tried just toughing it out, you know that simply exposing them to the things that bother them won’t solve the problem. And hoping they’ll magically become comfortable with the world around them is a pipe…
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Today, we pick up from the last post which explored why some dogs are more resilient and others are less robust. Essentially, resilience comes down to three things: temperament, early development and the timing of the traumatic event. Why is it, though, that my dog remembers the vet’s office even though nothing really terrible happened,…
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Learning is fundamental in why our dogs bark and lunge. After all, our dogs weren’t born reactive! It helps us enormously to understand the different ways that dogs learn these behaviours. This understanding can help us enormously with both prevention and resolution. We need to understand how our dogs learn. When we know this, we…
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Our first questions often relate to solutions when our dogs bark and lunge out on walks. Can reactive behaviour be cured? Will our dogs get used to other dogs they see? How do we best train a dog who is barking at others? Understanding why our dog is reactive is probably low on our list…
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Working with dogs post-lockdown has reaffirmed the vital importance of early experience in how your dogs respond to the world later in life. Many reactive dogs, particularly those who are fearful or anxious, are affected by the early formation of their understanding of the world. We are never in a position to turn back the…
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Some reactive dogs really struggle in new environments. Knowing you have a dog who is obsessed by novelty can help you choose training strategies that will really work. You may have notice that they find it a challenge to control their investigative impulses, but that is not the only sign. Here, you’ll find information to…
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