Do you ever feel frustrated, worried or upset about your dog's behavior? Or is your dog often acting upset, frightened, anxious or showing signs of aggression around people or other dogs?
You are so not alone.
In my 20+ years of training, I've worked with hundreds of wonderful dog owners--many with loads of dog owning experience--who were caught off guard by behavior challenges they never had with any of their previous dogs. Fixing challenges like:
Over-Reactivity
Fear/shyness
Aggression
Anxiety
Hyper-arousal
can be, well, challenging, especially in adult dogs who have practiced those behaviors, sometimes for years. Maybe you have a newly rescued dog with a rough or unknown past who isn't settling in as you hoped. Maybe you got a new-to-you breed of dog and he or she doesn't have the temperament and behaviors you're used to seeing. Maybe your dog or puppy has had a traumatic event that threw them off-track. Or maybe they're just "special" and you don't know why. For whatever reason, you're struggling, and living with these challenges may be stressful, embarrassing and robbing you of the joy you wanted to share with your dog. If:
You dread take your dog on a walk because he barks and lunges at every dog he sees
You're afraid to have friends visit because your dog is overly rowdy or seems fearful
Your dog isn't getting along with someone in your household--human, canine or feline
Your dog is anxious or even aggressive when at the vet's or groomer's
You're worried or concerned about behaviors you see and want to know how to fix it
You should know--there are tried and tested behavior treatments that can substantially improve, reduce or eliminate most problem behaviors in most pet dogs. And that the sooner you start, the sooner you can make the changes that will help you and your dog.
How to get started.
The first step is to contact me to schedule an initial 1-hour behavior consultation. You'll bring your dog to the School for a behavior assessment and observation, I'll take a behavior history and we'll discuss your needs and goals for your dog. We'll also discuss different training plan options, expected time frames and how to manage your dog and your household to maximize success. If you like me and my approach, we schedule the next sessions to implement the needed training.
Future sessions will focus ongiving both you and your dog important skills. You'll learn how to better read your dog's body language so you can head off their unfortunate reactions sooner, more effective leash handling and walking skills, and actions to take to get you out of sticky situations (like those pesky squirrels or off-leash dogs) with confidence. Your dog will learn foundation skills to draw on as needed, and how to cope with triggers and stressful situations with calmer, more appropriate alternative behaviors. Together, you'll build new behaviors that will allow you to turn situations that should be a pleasant "walk in the park" into--yup, a real walk in the park.