Trixy is one of my favourite pupils. She loves to retrieve a ball and whenever I have a spare minute I play with her. Sometimes I hide a number of tennis balls in the long grass for her to find. She has a great time. Her breed is somewhat uncertain but her history is not.
Having been 'excluded' from four previous classes for her unruly and aggressive behaviour Brenda, her owner made numerous excuses for Trixy's behaviour before I'd even met her.
"She doesn't like other dogs," she told me, "and is very aggressive towards them". Brenda followed with a list of Trixy's shortcomings so long I ran out of ink writing them down.
At the first class I asked her to muzzle Trixy until I assessed her behaviour. It usually takes me a couple of weeks to work out the root cause of unruly aggressive behaviour. With Trixy it took a couple of minutes.
Trixy was a very anxious dog with a very anxious owner who could recite every bad incident that had occurred in Trixy's life. It was the constant regurgitation of these upsetting events that kept Trixy trapped in the past.
I asked Brenda to remove the muzzle and taking the lead I CALMLY introduced Trixy to my dogs. Within minutes we were walking around the park as though we had all been together for years.
"I don't believe that," said Brenda in tears. "Why is she behaving so good with you?"
The answer was obvious. I wasn't anticipating trouble or projecting my own anxiety. I was just walking along in a relaxed manner expecting good behaviour and that's exactly what I got.
Dogs don't really listen to what you say...they don't have to. They are tuned into the internal conversation you are having with yourself. If you ask a dog to lie down not really believing they will obey it's the negative expectation they respond to.
Relaxation and confidence is usually all owners need to improve the behaviour of their dog. Frustration and yelling isn't going to do it.
We start our new puppy class this week. If you'd like to join me and see how you can create a calm relaxed dog just go to my website or text me on 07590-560012.
