Helping owners live an easier life

Yesterday afternoon I finished with a consultation with a leash reactive dog. As I left the backyard of the vet we realized that a vet client had positioned him in the laneway we were to exit through. On enquiring from a distance we discovered that his dog too was reactive. As we went to exit on the other side of the building I said to the man,

“You need to take a magnet from my car. We can help with this.”

When I returned he was hiding up behind my car (clearly marked) and he told me that his dog had been attacked when he was a puppy. I told him that we help with dogs like that all the time. He’d just watched me help another dog leave calmly. I handed him a magnet from my car and with little response to this gesture I watched him duck and weave to the back door of the vet.

This was yet another case of people believing that they just have to live their lives this way and of dogs continuing to practice their anxious ways.
Barkers in Balance, helping dog owners have an easier life.

WE CAN HELP YOU!

Here are just some of the stories of dogs of owners we have tried to make life easier for:

MY NAME IS TED the Mini Dachshund, 2.5 years old. Sadly I’ve joined the ranks of anxious, reactive dogs, due to unprovoked dog attacks. When will people learn:

1) that there is only one place for off-leash dogs and that is in a designated off-leash area?

2) that “Don’t worry; my dog’s friendly” just doesn’t cut it?

3) that “under adequate control of the owner” means exactly that?

4) that a bomb-proof recall is essential?

Anyway, back to me….I had a lesson this week so my human and I could practise exercises to engage my focus, make me feel better about seeing other dogs and work towards making me more confident on the street again.

When CHLOE first came to us she was very reactive to dogs and humans, very scared of new experiences and often would lash out at her humans if she didn’t want them near her. We’ve progressed through many graded steps, working alone, with one other dog and human handler and now to this: responding and relaxing on the edge of one of our Good Manners classes. Needless to say, there were smiles all round at this lesson!