Dog Training & Behavioral Therapist

Kelly is a very bright little Chihuahua girl puppy.  She is confident, but like many small dogs, she can potentially get hurt trying to negotiate peoples feet, steps/stairs, holes in the ground and all the other obstacles that small dogs have to deal with in life. Owners can worry about "babying" their small dogs, but Kelly's owners have just the right attitude.  They understand the difference between keeping Kelly safe while she meets people, dogs etc while not preventing her from experiencing the world and are doing an excellent job of training and socialising their puppy.

Cassie is a beautiful Border Collie who suffered from many of the common problems that Border Collies are prone to when living in an urban environment. She was excitable, noise sensitive and reactive on the lead. She pulled badly and I worried that she might seriously injure her owner on a walk. We got her walking nicely on an anti-pull training collar which took care of that immediate problem. Since then her owner has been working successfully on dealing with her other issues and I see improvements every tome that I meet them.

Pearl is a delightful young Labradoodle who is just about to enter adolescence. She had developed a habit of jumping up to say hello and this was an issue with the young grandchildren in the family. We were able to establish some rules quickly and show Pearl that she could have much more fun if she plays nicely!

Tin Tin came to the UK from India and was having a few problems adjusting to London life. He's a big strong boy with lots of energy. The owners are now focusing his energy onto listening to their commands and we managed to curb his enthusiasm on walks with some lead training.

Tara is a retired Greyhound.  Racing Greyhounds are usually kept in pairs in kennels so when they come to our homes they have to adjust to home life (which a Greyhound always loves!!).  They also have to adjust to being without another dog and can have separation anxiety as a result.  Greyhounds can struggle with stairs and different floor surfaces simply because they haven't experienced it before.  They also tend to react to seeing small animals when out on a walk as they have been trained to chase them.  Tara's problems were typical and her owners have been working diligently on overcoming her anxieties. She is slightly unusual in that most Greyhounds are really interested in their owners so can seem aloof to family, visitors and people they meet, but Tara is very friendly and delights in having attention as well as obviously adoring her owners.   

Benji is a very fearful Cavalier King Charles/Pug cross who was getting very upset and behaving as if he had to protect his owners against visitors and when visiting other peoples houses.  He also couldn't cope with going to cafes because people would constantly approach him as he is such a good looking dog.  Once his owners were able to demonstrate to Benjii that this wasn't needed and instead he should focus on them and follow their lead he became a much more relaxed and happy dog.  He still has fears so it will take time and lots of practice to build up his confidence, but his owners now have the training techniques to help Benji and have been working hard to turn the problem around with good results so far.  

Perry is a lovely natured long haired miniature Dachshund.  Now he has got to his adolescence he has been exhibiting some common bad behaviours such as barking, pulling on the lead and not listening when he is called.  He lives on a very busy road and as he loves people he tries to get out of the front door to greet people and try to visit the neighbours which is dangerous for any dog.  He responded really well to training and I am looking forward to seeing him and his owner again.    

Bruno is a French Bulldog puppy who was getting over excited, mouthing his owners feet and generally not listening.  As he is their first dog they weren't quite sure how to tackle this and communicate with Bruno so he understood what they wanted.  They have worked hard with their training and Bruno was behaving significantly better on the follow up visit.  I look forward to seeing him as he grows up.  

The kennel club describe puppy farming as follows: “A puppy farmer's main intent is profit.  As a result they typically separate puppies from their mothers too early, ignore guidelines about the maximum frequency of litters, provide inadequate socialisation of puppies, sell puppies through third parties i.e. away from the environment in which they are raised, keep puppies in poor husbandry conditions and fail to follow breed specific health schemes or to apply basic, routine health measures such as immunisation and worming. As a result, the puppies bred by puppy farmers are more likely to suffer from common, preventable, infectious diseases, painful or chronic inherited conditions, behavioural issues and shorter life spans”.

Daisy owners are very caring people, who took home a very fearful puppy who has had serious health issues resulting in constantly reoccurring sickness.  She has serious behavioural issues exhibiting aggression to strangers both in and outside the home and attacking her owners when she is frustrated. She is also noise sensitive and barks constantly at noises she perceives as a threat.  Puppy Farm puppies are not raised around people and do not experience everyday life so these type of health and behaviour issues are all too common. I saw Daisy at 11 months old and her owners had taken her to training and had worked very hard to help Daisy. I put a behaviour modification program in place to help them manage and tackle Daisy’s more difficult problems that were not responding to general training.  She is fortunate to have owners who are willing to go the extra mile and I have every confidence that they will continue to make good progress with her.     

This owner had a lot to deal with. An elderly Patterdale Terrier girl who was struggling with the very friendly Miniature Dachshund girl puppy and a puppy who was very fretful if left on her own at any time.  Dogs are generally very good at living with each other.  There may be a bit of grumpiness, but they are pack animals and it is not in their interests to do anything that might weaken the pack. However, a young puppy can have poor social skills and owners have to intervene at times to allow their older dog a bit of peace. This family had got a huge amount right and it was a case of confirming this and advising on how to ease the issues they were having. A week later the dogs are getting on much better and the puppy is starting to learn to be on her own. I am looking forward to seeing this family again as their puppy grows.