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Living with a reactive dog is hard
You have tried everything. Treats, no treats, turning away, standing still, looking at the other dog, deliberately not looking at the other dog. Six different techniques from six different videos, every one of them promising it would be simple.
And the lunging has not stopped. Your shoulder knows it. So does the pavement outside your house at half past five in the morning, because that is when you walk now.
It is not really about the walks
You check every corner before you turn it. You have favourite parked cars. You know which streets are safe on a Sunday and which ones are not, and you plan around it without even thinking any more.
You have started saying no to things, quietly, because it is easier than explaining.
And underneath all of it sits the part nobody says out loud. You feel ashamed of a dog you love, and then you feel guilty for feeling ashamed. You think about the life the two of you were supposed to be having. And some nights you wonder whether somebody else could give it to him. A farm, perhaps. A bigger garden. Someone better at this than you.
I know exactly how that thought feels, because I have had it about my own dog.
The Back on Track programme
Back on Track is an eight week one to one programme for dogs living with reactivity and aggression, and for the people on the other end of the lead.
Over the years, with a lot of dogs and a lot of owners, I have found what I believe is the right balance between training at home, where it is calm enough to actually learn something, and training out in the real world, where the problem actually lives. We build the foundation first, then we take it outside and apply it to your streets, your routine and your family.
I have been where you are
His name is Bucky.
We walked at the strangest hours to avoid people and dogs. Checked every corner. Hid behind bushes. Every single walk was loaded with anxiety before we had even got out of the door. My whole life was organised around a dog I loved to the moon and back and could not understand, and it reached the point where we sat down and seriously discussed rehoming him. Was he even happy with us? Would a farm have been better? A house in the countryside? Do I need to buy some sheep for my border collie?
I could not carry on like that, and neither could he.
So we did the work. Patiently, consistently, and slowly. And eventually we came out of our hiding corner and started enjoying life again.
Bucky and I now explore the New Forest together. We run Canicross with other dogs around us. We walk past cattle and horses. We took up tracking, and we completed a gundog course, which is not a sentence I ever expected to write about him.
I want you where I am now, not where I was.
Is this the right programme for us?
Back on Track is built for dogs who:
- bark, lunge or snap at the sight of people or other dogs
- get overexcited and cannot bring themselves back down
- chase moving objects
- struggle with frustration
- cannot settle
- guard food, toys, spaces or people
If you read that and recognised your dog, you are in the right place.
It is not the right fit for puppies under six months with no behaviour concerns, who belong in the Puppy School instead, and it is not right for anyone hoping for a single session fix. This kind of change takes time and it takes you being involved in it. If that is not where you are at the moment, I would far rather tell you honestly than take your money.
Why my approach is different
I have worked with dogs for over ten years and studied animals for considerably longer. My background is not limited to behaviour. It covers genetics, nutrition and ethology, and I have written scientific articles on the sociality of polar bears, leopards and tortoises.
That matters more than it might sound. Reactivity is rarely only reactivity. Very often it is pain, or sleep, or diet, or genetics, or arousal that never comes back down, wearing a behaviour problem as a disguise. Looking at the whole dog is how you find the real cause instead of managing the symptom for the next ten years.
What is included
Step one: the initial assessment, up to two hours
We look at the full picture. You, your dog, your home, your week. Nothing is skipped. By the end of it we understand why your dog is behaving the way they are, and you have a training plan that is clear, simple and built around the life you actually have.
Step two: the review, one and a half hours
What worked, what did not, and what we change. This is also where we step out into the real world and begin training there, with me coaching you through it as it happens.
Steps three and four: the path ahead, one hour each
Change does not happen overnight, and staying on course is the part most people are left to do alone. Two further one to one coaching sessions, in locations of your choosing. Loki, my helper dog, may well join us.
And in between the sessions
A written report after every session. This becomes your map. What is going on with your dog, why it is happening, how to read them, and how to support them as they learn that you are right there beside them.
A weekly training schedule. Life is busy. You get a simple weekly plan so you always know what you are working on, and you stay consistent without training taking over your evenings.
WhatsApp support throughout. Ask me questions. Send me videos of your progress. Get real feedback while it still matters, rather than at an appointment a fortnight later.
A free muzzle fitting. Safety comes first, and a properly fitted muzzle buys you and your dog the breathing space to make progress without either of you panicking. I carry the full range from The Muzzle Movement along with samples from other brands. We find the right fit for your dog, and I teach them to genuinely enjoy wearing it, right up until the day they no longer need it.
Spaces
I only take a small number of Back on Track clients at any one time, and that is deliberate. The programme includes WhatsApp support and a written report after every session, and I cannot do that properly for a long list of people at once.
If the timing matters to you, it is worth getting in touch sooner rather than later.
Let us have a chat
The first step is a free call. No pressure and no script. You tell me what is happening, I tell you honestly whether Back on Track is right for you and your dog, and if it is not, I will point you towards something that is.
