THE first time Sandra Newham led her dog Tia into the room I have to admit I started to feel very nervous

Tia makes no move towards me and she is on a short lead and is well muzzled.

But her deep growling when the photographer starts moving around the room taking pictures leaves you in no doubt: she is giving a clear warning of her feelings.

Behind the muzzle three-year-old Tia is a nice looking dog and she has been with Sandra and James in their Millom home since she was a pup.

She is a much-loved and wanted family pet brought up in a dog-friendly home.

But Sandra says although Tia was fine as a pup her behaviour started to concern them as she got older.

The family had three dogs all from the same litter, her daughter had two and James and Sandra had Tia.

Sandra explains: “Tia always had a bit more of a nervous streak than the others and she always had a little bit of a growl with her, but she wasn’t aggressive or anything.

“As she has got older she was fine with family members, but not with strangers.” When strangers came into the house they had to put her into another room. When Tia was outside she had to be muzzled. When her daughter moved away James and Sandra, in their 60s, had all three dogs. The dogs weren’t walked a lot because controlling them on her own was a bit much for Sandra. James is registered disabled and not able to help out in that way.

Tia before treatment

Therefore the dog did not meet a lot of people socially.

Sandra says Tia has nipped twice, but never bitten anyone.

Sandra and James found Tia’s behaviour more dominating in the house as they con- stantly had to watch her.

She barked whenever someone went past and they had to be careful when anyone came to visit.

She also says: “We didn’t feel it was fair on her having the muzzle on all the time. We have never had a dog with a muzzle and I don’t like muzzling.”

The couple now live near a nature reserve in Millom and Sandra found herself with just Tia again and more time to spend with her.

She wanted to be able to take her out for longer walks without a muzzle.

James stressed: “We didn’t want to have her put down” and Sandra agrees.

With family coming to visit from down south Sandra says they considered getting a special electric collar for the dog which they had seen on the internet.

Then the couple saw an advert in a local newspaper for Bark Busters, a world-wide organisation which takes on problem dogs.

Bark Buster dog behavioural therapist and trainer Steve Smithson arrived at the couple’s home to check Tia out.

Steve recalls the first time he visited: “We opened the door about an inch and as soon as
she saw me she literally launched herself the door, bang, bang, bang — barking.”

The first thing Steve did was to change Tia’s diet from regular commercial dog food to a more natural food with no additives.

Tia was one of a big litter (11) and Steve says this can cause many problems in dogs because they can be born under-nourished.

He says: “Also because Tia is of a nervous disposition and not as confident as other dogs in the litter she wouldn’t get as much food from the mother.”

And when dogs are crowded in the womb they can suffer from slipped discs and pinched nerves causing pain and discomfort as they grow.

When the Mail visited the first time Steve had made only a couple of changes, but they had already had an effect. Steve says: “All we have done so far is to change the food about three weeks ago and today she is going to see a vet to check she is physically OK.

“After that we will be able to see the real dog.

“There is no point in coming in and just treating the symptoms.”

Sandra says already Tia has become more playful since the diet change — she even plays when they put the vacuum cleaner on and is a bit more like a pup again.

Steve says: “Our ethos is no dog should suffer because of its behaviour.

“Dogs do things for a reason, dogs aren’t born aggressive.

“ They don’t have a desire to hurt, so something is driving it to do it.”

It is several weeks later that the Mail was invited back to see how Tia was progressing and the change is obvious.

Gone is the aggressive growl and Tia sits calmly looking at us when we come into the room.

Steve has introduced a “crate” for her to sit in if the house is going to be crowded.

It is so large she can lie down full length and move around in it.

It is in the front room and has her own big soft blanket in it.

Because Tia feels safe in it people can move around freely, but Steve is keen to stress that the crate is to make the dog feel safe, not for people’s protection.

Tia is a fearful and timid dog and one of those signs is the way she walks with her tail between her legs.

When she was examined by the vet it was discovered, as Steve expected, that she had a problem with her back and her hip which he was able to manipulate back into place.

Tia stayed overnight at Steve’s house and he said after the treatment the dog was walking free from pain and even held herself better.

He explains: “We had a combination of a fearful dog, in pain, nutritionally hungry and in a state of stress.

“In the past she was able to go to the window and bark and bark and alert James and Sandra that people were coming so she was in a highly stressed state.”

That has been changed.

Steve has introduced new voice commands for the couple to use on Tia which she responds to.

James and Sandra started to call Tia away from the window when she went to bark thereby relieving her of the responsibility she thought she had to alert them when people were coming.

Instead Tia has a ball and runs about and plays with it.

Sandra and James say their life has become so much better and they are enjoying Tia more. Before she was a morose dog, but now she plays a lot more. Sandra says: “We still have to watch her at times, but my grandson’s friends can come in and she doesn’t bother with them. “There is a lot of difference in her.” She can go in the garden without a muzzle on and only sometimes does she jump up and bark if dogs. are going by. But she is then told off and she stops and Sandra feels she is in control of her behaviour. Sandra says: “It has definitely been worthwhile because we were at our wits’ end and Steve was a last resort. We didn’t know what to do because we were frightened to keep her.

Tia after treatment

“It was getting really bad especially in summer because we had family coming from down south and we would have had to keep her muzzled all the time.”

But Sandra says: “We didn’t want to give up on her.

“So many dogs get ill-treated or passed from pillar to post because people think it is the dog, but it isn’t always the dog, it is just knowing what is wrong and how it can be put right”.

Steve says: “All we have done to Tia is show her how to behave and what is expected of her when people come. We will never be able to change her personality”

He give Sandra and James credit for the way they have responded. Everything he has advised them to do they have done.

For fresh photographs Tia was taken out of the crate and outside.

She walked with Robert Fullard, Sandra’s grandson’s 15-year-old friend, whom Tia never tolerated before despite the fact he likes the dog and is a very pleasant, easy going teenager.

She walks calmly with Robert and even when the photographer brushes past her touching her face she doesn’t react or growl.

A pleased Robert says he has now taken Tia out for walks and is relaxed with the dog.

Steve says that once people have paid the fee he will spend as long as it takes and as often as it takes to get the dog right and if a new problem develops later he will come back.