(established 2013)

Does your dog seem to have selective hearing, sometimes listening to you, sometimes not.

Is your dog nervous in it's environment or overly excited?

Does your dog become reactive around other people or dogs?

Does your dog walk you when you take him/her out for a walk, zig zagging from scent to scent or does your dog simply refuse to walk?

Whilst walking your dog, would it be good if your dog went to the loo where you wanted i.e. near a poo bin and not anywhere it wanted to go?

Does your dog aggressively fence charge when someone walks by or charge the door when someone knocks?

Does your dog have a strong prey drive, wanting to chase every cat, squirrel, rabbit, deer, sheep etc?

Does your dog greet people by jumping up on them, scratching or nipping them?

Does your dog lay on the couch or bed and refuse to move?

Does your dog control you, demanding attention, stopping you from leaving the house etc?

Does your dog have an obsession over a particular toy e.g. a tennis ball?

Does your dog guard items e.g. toys or food?

Does your dog have a questionable off leash recall?

Whatever problem(s) your dog has, they can all be resolved if YOU are committed to change. The vast majority of issues dogs develop (I would lean towards 90% plus) are created, nutured and rewarded by us. Very, very few dogs cannot be rehabilitated despite what many professionals may say. The responsibility wholly depends on you and whether you can change.

So what is my technique, my philosophy? I believe that we as humans can all too easily become distracted, too easily unconsciously manipulated into believing things that are simply not true. There are many reasons for this that I won't go into here as there are far too many variables (my upcoming book explains some of these reasons!). However, the one place that always has the answer that we often forget about or dismiss is Mother Nature. Mother Nature is all about balance, always has been and whenever there has been an imbalance, Mother Nature has always restored harmony and tranquility. On a planetary level this may take a thousand years, if not hundreds of thousands. On an animal level the time scale is much smaller. All animals live in balance. The predators take out the weak and elderly whilst at the same time keeping the prey animals moving about which keeps the fauna and flora healthy. Yellowstone Park in the U.S.A. showed what happens if you remove part of the healthy ecosystem i.e. the wolves. In a short period of time the whole ecosystem collapsed, even the meandering river changed to become straight lined increasing the flow. When the wolves were reintroduced slowly the ecosystem returned to a healthy balance again.

That is how I work with the dogs, always looking for ways to restore balance as that is where the dog is happiest and most content. Depending on the individual dog's state of mind I may have to lean towards the left, others I may need to lean towards the right. Either way, whichever strategy I employ, it is always to return to balance, harmany and tranquility.

There are many trainers, behaviourists, psychologists etc that insist on using only 'left' methods. In many situations it may take weeks, months or even years to resolve a problem. Is that exceptable to you? Weeks yes, but I would argue that months or years is unexceptable not only for your wallet but also the stress levels the dog has to endure over that period of time.

Equally there are trainers, behaviourists etc that use only 'right' methods. Some dogs of certain dispositions may respond well to this strategy but others will be psychologically destroyed. 

Surely the most commonsensical, logical approach should be a balanced approached as you are putting the dog first instead of your own individual bias. That way you adapt and change your strategy to suit each and every dog. 

I believe and over 12 years of observations and hands on experience (5 1/2 years of theory prior) has proven to me that in the majority of cases it isn’t the dog that needs training, it is how we interact with the dog that causes so many problems. If we can change just a few of our own behaviours then the dog can change for the better incredibly quickly. Dogs are incredibly quick learners. We need to not only understand the similarities and differences between the two species but equally the differences between male and female. Many of these differences are simply not thought of, including by many professionals.

The most important factor in any truly healthy relationship is trust and respect. Without either of these there is no relationship or at best, the relationship will be constantly up and down. And trust and respect is rarely achieved via love, excitement and treats. Once trust and respect has been achieved then by all means train your dog obedience or tricks using positive reinforcement. Your dog will be forever grateful.

   Let me show you how.

Surrey Hampshire Dog Behaviour Consultant

Creating Balance

1 to 1 Training for You and You and your dog

Patience and consistency whilst being calm and confident

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Dog Food Reviews 1          Dog Food Reviews 2        Yellow Dog Campaign        Puppy Farms

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