Meet Buddy. Buddy is a 50kg Rottweiler. Wait a minute, sorry, what I meant to say is Buddy thinks he is a 50kg Rottweiler!! After Buddy’s owners husband passed away Buddy went into full protection mode! Constantly barking, aggressive towards dogs and humans that became a big issue for an already grieving owner.

I explained to her the reasons why Buddy was behaving this way and showed her how to let Buddy know that he did not have to protect her 24/7.

It only took 2 sessions to sort as Buddy was more than happy to step down from his role as ‘chief protector’ and go back to being the happy go lucky dog that he really wanted to be.

Anxious Theo. You wouldn’t think a 45kg German Shepherd could be so scared of meeting other dogs and people! He gives very clear warnings to anyone thinking of approaching him to ‘stay away’.

However, deep down, he is a very loving dog and once he gets to know another dog or human on his terms you are his friend for life.

Theo is a work in progress as anxious aggressive dogs can be the most challenging and time consuming but with help from me, his owners and lots of positive reinforcement he gets better every day.

Aggressive Bossa. Bossa came to me at 15 months old and had been in kennels with a rescue group for about 3 months. His previous owners had surrendered him as they could not handle him as he grew into a very large German Shepherd. He had also shown aggression to people and dogs.

I quicky realised that his aggressiveness was based in some part around anxiety. He was hugely protective, as most GSD’s are, so had to be handled with confidence. I also realised he loved being around you and that he would do anything for a ball!!!

Having something to reward Bossa with was key and his rehab became easier, and it quickly became clear what his best outcome was. I am pleased to confirm that Bossa is now a serving Police Dog and using those protective instincts to helping society.

Not so horrible Henry. Henry is a typical Flat Coat Retriever that loves attention and loves all people! When Henry wags his tail, his whole body gets involved! So why did he need me?

Henry also has a high prey drive, pulled on the lead, was aggressive to some dogs and his recall was not great.

With Henry it was important we went back to basics and working with his entire family we have overcome most of Henry’s issues. Some members of his family are much more confident with Henry so I spend more time with those who are not so confident.

Confident Beano. Yes, Beano is Theo’s brother and just like human siblings they are completely different. Beano is good with people and, when properly introduced, good with other dogs.

Beano’s issues are his lead walking, prey drive and that he believes he can play with all dogs the same way as he plays with his brother!

As with Theo, Beano is a work in progress but has improved so much that I have now used him to help me educate and give confidence to other dog owners.

Herding Rico. Rico liked to round up young children on bikes and pulled constantly on the lead. He had shown some aggression towards other people but only in the form of barking.

Spent 3 sessions with Rico’s owners just showing them how to start a walk properly and how to behave with him when on and off the lead.

Once they had mastered this the other behaviours took care of themselves and I am pleased they no longer need my help.

Bill & Dexter Bill, an 8-year-old Maltese X, has developed some aggression towards other dogs due to growing anxiety. Unfortunately, Bill’s owner made the situation a little worse by, completely understandably, becoming more and more anxious when dexter was around other dogs. This further fuelled Bills anxiety and then, to make things even worse, Dexter decided that his Big Bro needed protecting so would get involved as well!

Working with the owners and their dog walker to show them the best way to deal with situations when they occur and how to anticipate the behaviour and react accordingly.

Couple of sessions in and thing are much improved. Dexter is less anxious as he his now being handled by a confident owner and dogwalker.

Shadow & Lady. Despite Shadow, a 1-year-old GSD, growing up with Lady, an 8 year old Spaniel, they have started to fight with each other and have to be separated.

The owners believed that Shadow was instigating the trouble and were obviously worried about the very big mis-match in size should the worse happen.

They may have been right initially about Shadow starting the issues but on close observation it is Lady who instigates the behaviour. Lady has become very anxious about Shadow so warns her away and then Shadow reacts.

I have worked closely with the owners on a strategy that should see them as best pals again. We have set them some small goals over the next couple of months and I am pleased to say that the first goal seems to be achieved with them out walking together.

I will keep you posted on their next goals!