New Website

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http://K9ClickerTraining.co.uk

I've created a new website to document my training methods and behavioural techniques.

I've integrated a blog into my new site so I wont be posting on this site any more.

Please visit my site and feel free to email me with any comments or suggestions.

Sometimes it doesn't feel that good

My line of work delivers a very mixed bag of emotions. I get enormous pleasure out of helping dogs and owners co-exist with each other.

I meet all sorts of people from the extremely wealthy to the OAPs who are living on the breadline. Most of them share the same problems and seek the same goals.

Unfortunately it is not always a bed of roses. Here’s an example of the dark side of my work.

I received a call from a woman asking for help with her newly adopted Collie. The wee dog was a perfect gentleman indoors. Unfortunately, he was getting very stressed when he ventured outside. He was getting so wound up that he was barking and snarling and performing crocodile death roles whenever he saw other dogs. This was deeply distressing for the owner.

I could tell by the owner's voice that she was not one to be crossed and would not suffer fools gladly. She told me that she had owned dogs for years and that she knew how to train a dog. I got the impression that she had trained dogs in the past with a heavy hand and a course voice. I used to frown on this type of treatment and stay clear of people who handled dogs in this way. I now look on it in a different light. My view is that I can make a difference by educating these owners how to achieve results using humane methods.Seeing is believing. Running away or turning your nose up at these people will solve nothing.

Anyway, I said that I would visit the owner and assess the dog. These situations are never easy because some owners do not like being told the truth.

I entered the house and performed some basic clicker training with the dog. He was very amicable and gentle. I then placed a gentle leader on him and clicked and treated him for remaining calm. After a few minutes, I attached a 6-foot lead and gave him time to settle before I walked him quietly outside.

I walked around the streets with the owner and attempted to settle the dog down whenever he got upset. I managed to keep him fairly calm but he was a handful and it took all my handling abilities to stop him from going over the edge.

We returned home and I had to give my assessment of the dog’s behaviour.

This was a handsome, intelligent little collie.The owner had attempted to amend his behaviour using the traditional methods that had worked with her previous dogs but this guy requires a different skillset. I was in no doubt that he required some extreme socialisation and expert handling if he was to overcome his hang-ups. The town where he lived was highly charged with criminal activity and drug abuse. There were dogs being kennelled in every other garden and the negative atmosphere was electric on the streets. The town is renowned for having packs of dogs running wild in the streets and it’s certainly not the environment for socialising a stressed out collie.
The owner was getting older and was not fit by any means. On top of that the birth of her grandchild was imminent. The dog had already attacked a few of the neighbour's dogs and had bitten the owner’s son twice in the last few weeks.

I always say I’m in this for the dogs and I stick by that statement. I took account of the overall situation and my recommendation was that it would be best if the wee dog was returned to the rescue centre and re-homed into a more suitable environment. This dog needs a home where he can be socialised and stimulated. This wee guy needs loads of free running and plenty of jobs to do to keep him occupied. In a perfect world I would have adopted him myself and brought him on but this is not a reality at the moment.

My decision broke the owner’s heart and I’m not proud of it. The owner had formed a bond with this wee guy and she doted on him even though he had put her through the mill. The woman stayed by herself and he was her only companion. I found this decision easy to make but very difficult to implement. I know in my heart it’s the best course of action. I would feel responsible if anything happened to the owner or the new baby because I had lacked the bottle to make an unpopular decision. I must stress that this was a recommendation not an ultimatum and I was not enforcing the separation. However, the owner agreed with me that it was the best course of action. The owner she said she just needed closure from another person.

Unfortunately, common sense and best practices don’t count for much when your losing your best friend. I feel deeply saddened at the pain and anguish that this poor old woman is going through. I would have preferred to make a more popular decision and guard her from this suffering but I had to act in the best interests of the dog.

I genuinely hope my decision pays off for both dog and owner.

I would like to offer the owner my sincere sympathy and wish her all the best for the future.

This situation “doesn’t make me feel that good”.

Bonnie and Jasper

Most of my posts concentrate on dog aggression or behavioural dominance.
Every now and then I come across a case that encompasses a new challenge. This case is definitely one of the most unusual.

I received a call from Pamela one Friday afternoon. The conversation went along the following lines. “ Hi Paul, I got your number off Julie at the dog’s trust. I have 2 dogs named Bonnie and Jasper. Jasper is fine most of the time but Bonnie has started snarling at my 11 month old daughter and she snapped at her the other day.We’ve had some training advice in the past but we were unable to keep up with it because of our busy routines. I really feel that it may be better if we could find a good home for Bonnie as I’m terrified she bites my baby. We also come down every morning to find a terrible mess in the office where the dogs sleep. My husband Steve walks them both for around 45 minutes every night but they still mess in the house”

I agreed to see Pamela and to be honest I had almost resigned myself to the fact that we would have to rehome Bonnie. I had mailed Julie at the dog’s trust saying “I’m very hands on with most things but I refuse to put a baby’s life in danger. If we need to rehome this wee dog, so be it”.

I arrived at the house to be greeted by a couple of noisy dogs. I introduced myself to Pamela and Steve and I began to discuss the ins and outs of the co-existence of dogs and babies in the same household.

I could see that the thought of rehoming Bonnie was ripping their hearts out and I was attempting to manage their expectations and guilt. I explained that sometimes it can be best for dog and owner to part company. I referred to Mary with little “Jake the peg nipper” who have forged a super relationship and are as happy as can be. I felt the best I could do was to try and be responsible and stop the baby getting hurt.

I noticed that all the time I had been chatting to the owners, Bonnie had been hiding in the office and had occasionally been popping her head out and having a snarl and a few nervous barks. I was just about to leave and I had an overwhelming urge to look at Bonnie. I knew I had to assess her so I mentioned to the owners that I should take her outside to get a feeling for the kind of home that would be suitable for her.

I walked Bonnie outside with Steve and performed some loose lead training. I was clicking her when she kept pace with me. I noticed that this nervous wee soul was transforming before my eyes. I noticed how alert she was and how she was now walking with her neck arched and her ears up. She was obviously enjoying the mental stimulation and attention.

We returned indoors and I decided to try something. I asked that her mat be placed at the side of the sofa. I placed a house line on her to ensure that the baby was not going to be put in any danger. I started to click her for sitting on the mat beside me. Bonnie appeared to be quite happy to sit and be rewarded for sitting on the mat. Suddenly this “no hoper” wasn’t looking that bad and I had a feeling that we may just be able to do something.

The owners appeared to be quite happy to give Bonnie another chance so I advised them that Bonnie should not be permitted to run away into a room at the back of the house and snip and people. I advised that Bonnie be encouraged to sit on her mat when both Steve and Pamela were at home.

My hope was that Bonnie would learn to tolerate the baby being handled by Pamela and be happy to be involved in family life. Obviously she would be treated for sitting and staying on her mat while the baby toddled around the room. The real objective was to make Bonnie face up to reality and deal with the fact that the baby will receive more attention than her. The other side is that she would be rewarded for exhibiting good behaviour and still be a valued member of the family.

Next step was to have a go at tackling the messing in the office. This type of behavioural problem is really difficult to cope with and most owners are extremely intolerant of it. There is nothing worse than knowing that you are going to be “welcomed” by a terrible, smelly mess first thing in the morning. This is especially true when you are making the effort to ensure that the dogs are being exercised regularly.
The situation in the office was that one dog slept in an open cage and the other dog slept in a dog bed. My advice was to lock one dog in the cage so we could establish who was making the mess.
I worked with the family via email for a few days where we made a few minor adjustments and eventually we discovered that Jasper was the culprit. We subsequently realised that Jasper would not eliminate in his cage if he was locked in. As time progressed both dogs started sleeping in the cage and as I write this I understand that the office has been mess free for over 2 weeks.

I also worked on allowing the dogs to bark once when the doorbell rang but to place them behind on a line while I answered the door. I rewarded them for being quite and sitting while I answered the door.

So the first visit had been quite fruitful and I had learned “never say never” and always to give things a try. The owners were keen to continue. I had proved my worth and by this time I had my heart set on trying to stop this clever, misunderstood wee soul being dumped into a rescue centre with the label of “not being good with children”

So we set up another visit. Things had definitely improved around the house. Bonnie was much more content and was sitting happily on her mat when I entered the room.

I chatted with the owners and I could sense that Pamela was still not convinced that keeping Bonnie was the correct thing to do. Incidentally, it was apparent that this was causing Pamela a great deal of stress and upset. I don’t like upsetting people and I hate to see anyone crying. I knew I had to try and get to the bottom of things so I asked Pamela a few questions about how she felt and what would make things better for her. There were a few fundamental issues that emerged. The first was a deep maternal protectiveness that was only natural. Pamela had been frightened when Bonnie snapped at the baby and she was not prepared to let this happen again.
The other resounding factor was that Pamela was under pressure looking after the baby, phones ringing, dogs running around, trying to do housework and all the other usual distractions. On top of this, I was requesting that the dogs be stimulated mentally and physically throughout the day and this all just seamed too much for Pamela to handle. The fact that she had to ensure that Bonnie was never left in the room alone with the baby was just another responsibility that Pamela could do without.

I decided that the only way forward was to build up the relationship between Bonnie and Pamela through very short 2 minute sessions scattered throughout the day. I walked out with Pamela and showed her how to train Bonnie to follow her on a loose line. Pamela and Bonnie performed very well and both appeared to enjoy the experience.

The next step was to attempt to stop Jasper barking and whining when the phone rang. This was a weird one and I had never encountered anything like this before. Whenever I come across a new problem I try to put myself in the dog’s place. Suddenly it dawned on me.

Pamela had been letting Jasper outside to run around the garden when the phone rang. Jasper had come to associate the phone ringing with grabbing his toy and getting released into the garden. He had discovered that whining or barking got him released into the garden quicker.
My first move was to remove Jasper’s toy. This would be the first step in breaking his association with the phone ringing and him being released. I then started clicking him for running to his bed and sitting. Next step was to get Steve to make the phone ring. Within a few minutes Jasper was associating the phone ringing with him being rewarded for sitting in his bed. This is known as a replacement behaviour where we use the same trigger but create and shape a replacement outcome. As time goes by, the dog associates the trigger with the replacement behaviour.

My next visit was to get Bonnie involved with normal day to day activities. I had my son Louis with me along with super stooge dog Lulu. I showed Pamela how handle dog aggression. I then showed Pamela how to train Bonnie to walk along side the pram. This would allow Bonnie and the baby to go for walks together and would help strengthen the bond between Pamela and Bonnie.

This encounter has introduced me to lots of new behavioural problems and taught me how to appreciate the emotional anxiety that a baby can excerpt on owners and dogs.
From a dog’s point of view, babies can destroy the bond that has been established between them and their owner. It is understandable why some dogs attack babies in a bid to “remove the problem”. Owners need to ensure that the dogs don’t feel too left out by ensuring the good times and great.

My job was made easy with the help of 2 really nice owners who had the dog’s best interests at heart. Hopefully with a little work, the owners, dogs, and baby will be able to co-exist in harmony.

There's nothing as queer as folk

Were do I start?
I run up and down the country with the sole objective of stopping dogs getting returned to rescue centres. I hold down a demanding full time job so my dog work has to be done at night after work and after I’ve attended to my own dogs. This equates to me being on the go for up to 18-hours, 3 or 4 nights per week. On top of that, I donate most of my earnings back into the rescue system. I’m not looking for sympathy. I choose to do this work and the plus side is that my advice is generally welcomed and appreciated. I find my dog work extremely rewarding and I know that sometimes I make the difference and stop dogs being dumped in rescue centres or being put to sleep.

Every now and then, situations occur that make me question if all this hard work and sacrifice is worthwhile.

I recently experienced a situation where I had given some pre visit work advice via email and telephone. I visited the client and spent over 2 hours working through numerous situations. At the end of the appointment, the client didn’t have any cash and asked me if it would be OK to write me a cheque or pay me next time. I said next time would be fine because I usually donate my earnings or use them to subsidise other people who cant afford to pay for training so its no hardship for me to go unpaid now and then. The following morning I wrote a mail to the client covering the things we had worked on and outlining things that should be progressed etc.

Later that day, I received a mail stating that the client wanted to delay any further sessions because the whole experience was way too stressful for her and her dogs. I think delay was a nice way of saying “forget it and don’t come back”. This decision had been prompted because one of the dogs had wet his bed overnight. The owner accredited the bed wetting to an extremely stressful training session. She was concerned that because the dog had a rough past and because she had not had him for long that my training session had put the dog back. This owner reckoned that the dog had been distressed because he had let out a light squeal when I took hold of his collar to remove him from the room. This wee dog was really content and happy by the time I left the house. He was sitting with his neck arched, ears forward and tail wagging. This is not the behaviour I’d expect from a stressed out puppy.

I always try to look at everything positively and this post is not a jibe at the owner. To be honest, she has the dog’s best interest at heart and she’s trying her utmost to ensure that her dogs have as happy a life as possible.
I’d hazard a guess and put the bed wetting down to the dog wondering if his situation is about to change again. He may have come to associate a new handler with a new home. Does wetting his bed constitute absolving him from any future training or discipline? I think not.

The reality is that any training program is a behaviour modification process. By definition “modify” translates to “make a change or transformation”. To change a behaviour there has to be a crossover point. This crossover point usually means “No, your current behaviour is unacceptable and I wont tolerate it anymore”. The owner’s intolerance is normally the reason that I get called in the first place.

My training methods are based on positive reinforcement and negative punishment. PUNISHMENT, I hear you say? Well, we all use some kind of punishment when we modify behaviour. Negative punishment is when you remove the dog from a desirable situation or when you remove a pleasurable stimuli. E.g. if the dog is trampling over your flowers in the garden, you remove him from the garden for a few minutes then allow him out again. The idea is that you translate that the flowerbed is out of bounds to him and he will be removed from the garden each time he enters it. In time, the dog gets the message and refrains from assaulting the flowers in the garden. THIS IS NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT. Negative punishment does not cause any pain or physical suffering.

I hate being negative and I don’t like crossing paths with anyone but I deeply resent being labelled as a heavy-handed trainer.

I do excerpt my dominance on dogs but not in an aggressive or bullying manner. I’m NOT in favour of any kind of positive punishment even rattle bottles or choke chains. I will not tolerate petulance and I refuse to be pulled, jumped upon or bitten by a dog and I will react swiftly to remove a dog from a situation if it attempts to dominate me. I place myself in a leadership position and reward the dog for complying to my requests. I like to think of myself as a good boss to work for. I do have standards and I’m demanding but I will reward generously and consistently. All my videos on this site show happy dogs willing to work NOT quivering wrecks frightened to step out of line.

On the plus side, this experience had a few aspects that are worth mentioning.
The first is that the owner was humanising the dogs. The dogs were being treated as equals and as such were operating like equals. The owner had received letters of complaint regarding the noise that the dogs were making in the house and in the garden. The dogs were constantly jumping up on visitors. They had also been allowed to run loose and had previously ran up to strangers and jumped all over them. This kind of behaviour is simply not acceptable. These behaviours need to be modified and there may be an initial period where the dog will feel out of place because he is not being allowed to operate in the fashion he is used to. Owners need to realise that after this initial crossover period the dog will start to conform and be much more content.

The other resounding aspect of this case was that the owner appeared to be extremely mindful that the dog had been mistreated previously. Lets get real. There is nothing I or anyone else can do about the incidents that occurred in the past. We CAN modify the dog’s behaviour and make his future more enjoyable. People need to stop getting hung up about the past. We’ve all experienced pleasure, pain, hurt, mishap and misdemeanour. We don’t have to mention it to everyone we meet or let it affect our future. I sometimes believe that owners use dogs to express their own emotions. I’ve no issue with that as long as it doesn’t put the dog’s welfare at risk.

On a serious note, there are amendments to the dangerous dogs act being presented to the Scottish parliament. These new laws could make life very difficult for owners who let their dogs interfere with other people. Owning a dog in the UK is going to become much more demanding than it is at present. The days of letting unruly dogs disturb neighbours are numbered. This owner could potentially end up being charged under the dangerous dogs act if her dogs continue to operate in this fashion.

Some owners like the notion of having an obedient dog but have no idea of how to put it in place. Some people go through life getting their own way by throwing strops or by getting moody.Dogs dont care if you're moody.You'll have to be better than that if you want your dog to obey you. Dogs are pack animals that are guided and dominated by a strong and worthy pack leader. Don’t think you can reverse thousands of years of evolution by “being nice or throwing a strop”. Share your space or food with your dog and suffer the consequences of canine equality. Be inconsistent or unreliable and your dog will repay you with similar attributes and acts of petulance.

There is a huge void between love and respect and a dog may love you but he will not respect you unless you show him that you are a worthy leader.

I’d like to thank the owner for this experience. I’m sure it will make me a better trainer.

Alfie

Rodger and Margot contacted me regarding Alfie, a labradoodle just over 1 year old and already in his 3rd home. Second chance readers will be familiar with Alfie as he’s been a regular presence on the site over the passed few months.

Alfie is a handsome chap with tons of drive and a personality that would charm the knicks off miss world. He was showing some petulant behaviour towards other dogs and had a “talent” for pulling his owners on the lead.

I arrived at the house to be assaulted by this big hairy lump. Alfie was not aggressive towards me. He was just exuberant and playful.

I introduced myself to the owners and spoke about domestic behavioural do’s and don’ts. I performed some clicker training with Alfie to get him to sit in his bed. Alfie was very enthusiastic and really enjoyed the clicker training.

Next step was to tackle the lead work. We walked Alfie to an area nearby and performed some loose lead work with him. Alfie soon got the hang of things and was happy to keep pace with me in return for some tasty liver cake.

I noticed that Rodger and Margot were speaking too much to Alfie.These vocal cues were not being interpreted correcty and Alfie's response was unreliable and inconsistent. I advised that they reduce the amount of verbal commands and concentrate on clicker work where Alfie can be encouraged to offer them behaviour.

My next visit was going to handle Alfie’s aggression towards other dogs. I had my son Louis and my young dog Lulu with me to act as decoys. We walked Alfie to an open area nearby and Louis brought Lulu into the frame. Alfie initially got very grumpy and snarly. I decided it was better to control his head so I placed a gentle leader on him. I find a gentle leader is great for calming dogs down and after the initial rebellious antics; most dogs walk really well and don’t mind them too much. As expected, Alfie tried to release himself from the halti by twisting and stopping but soon calmed down when he learned that there was no escape.

Next step was to get Margot to handle Alfie while I walked beside them with Lulu. As soon as Margot took charge of the lead, Alfie attempted to manoeuvre himself into a position where he could have a go at Lulu. I pointed this out to Margot and instructed her to take the strong position where he could be corrected if he moved out of position. Within seconds Alfie was walking perfectly with Margot. Rodger then took charge of the “controls” and I started to introduce some distractions like throwing a ball in front of him and getting Lulu to retrieve it. Within a few minutes Alfie was walking to heel with Rodger totally ignoring Lulu – job done.

Alfie has a similar temperament to my own dog Oscar. He has a hard edge and needs to kept interested. Like all these high drive dogs; Alfie is very intelligent. He is capable of assessing situations very quickly and working out where he sits in the large scheme of things. I’ve no doubt that Alfie’s previous demise can be attributed to his ingenuity and ability to work out who he needs to pay attention to and who he can ignore. These types of dogs need very consistent and deliberate handling.

I think Alfie has found his forever home now. My only concern is that Alfie’s owners will continue to let him dominate situations. This is never advisable for dogs with a strong will and inevitably leads to further misdemeanours and disobedience. Sometime I think dogs like Alfie adopt a "I will because I can" policy and if they are not set straight, they continue to rule the roost.

Alfie’s owners are not looking for a dog with robotic obedience. My objective was to help them get Alfie to a position where he can be walked without pulling their arms out their sockets or barking and snarling at other dogs. I’ve gave them the foundations and the tools to achieve this. Hopefully Alfie will continue to improve with the application of consistent handling and solid leadership.

Lulu and Oscar in Action

Here are a few clips of my dogs having fun around the house.

The first clip is Lulu shutting the door in the living room. This is a handy trick when you're settled in your chair to watch the football and can't be bothered getting up.

The bottom clip is Oscar running onto his barrell and showing off with a waive and a bit of verbal.

These tricks are great for keeping the dogs stimulated and interested.

enjoy .........

Jasper - Alive and Dangerous

Well there are some dogs that are pretty straightforward and just need a few pointers and they are sorted. At the other end of the spectrum there are dogs like Jasper.

I’ve been involved with Jasper for a few months now. Jasper has to be one of my greatest challenges to date but he’s taught me so much and I'm grateful for the experience.

I initially got called asking for help with a 2 year old rescued GSD. He had just been neutered and he was requiring a "little help".

Jasper dived on top of the sofa barking and growling when I entered his house. I got him off the sofa and he instantly urinated on the carpet. I took him out the front door and he eliminated all over the pathway. It was obvious that I was dealing with a troubled character.

I walked Jasper down to the small park down from his house and did some loose lead work with him. Jasper was great so we progressed to leaving the ball when it was dropped etc.

I advised the Jasper’s owners to ensure they took all the usual behavioural precautions, lifting his food, daily routines etc.

I received a call a few weeks later saying that Jasper had bitten the man of the house. The attack was totally unprovoked and he had badly punctured the skin. Again I advised that the behavioural process was put in place and to ensure he was not allowed to invoke play, demand food etc. It appeared to me that Jasper was getting his own way and he was getting upset when things were not as he expected. A few weeks later and I received another call saying he had bitten again and this time Mark had to be hospitalised.

I asked about the daily routine that Jasper was getting and I advised the he was exercised in the morning as well as night time. I also advised that he was stimulated mentally with games etc.

After 2 biting episodes, I decided I needed to see Jasper again. I arrived at the house for the second visit and Jasper defecated all over the living room carpet as soon as I walked in the room. This was extreme stress and I immediately I had my suspicions that all was not well. I actually said to the owners “I could end up getting bit by this dog tonight”.

The main complaint was that Jasper was being very aggressive when he was out and was pulling on the lead incessantly so I walked with the owners down to a roadside and started working him along the road. Jasper was doing OK and the owners were amazed at his lack of aggression. I then asked Karen to walk with him. Jasper immediately turned into a monster, patrolling frantically with his head and tail up ready for action. I let things be for a short while and when things were not settling down, I took him off Karen and walked him away from her. By this time Jasper was stressing. I thought he was just playing up so I persisted to walk him away from Karen. I tried to settle him down but he was very upset. I still couldn’t work out what was wrong. I walked him back to Karen and he started to pull and fret. When we got to Karen I attempted to walk passed her but Jasper stopped dead in an attempt to get near her. I insisted he came with me and he just snapped and latched onto my arm, twisting and turning and biting straight through 2 layers of clothing to the bone. I forced him off me and still insisted he walked with me because I could not let him see that biting would get a result. On top of that I had been taken by surprise and needed to regroup.

The whole situation began to unfold before my eyes. Jasper thought Karen was his mate and he was willing to protect her against anyone. I got Jasper home and asked what was really going on in the house. Jasper has been allowed to sleep in Karen’s bed when she was out. He had bouts of tearing up the bed clothes when Karen was at work. It also unfolded that Karen was lying cuddling Jasper at night on the sofa when she returned from work. It also transpired that Mark was doing most of the walking so whenever Karen walked him, Jasper felt the need to protect her. Jasper had formed a bond with Karen and he was being loyal by protecting her, even if it meant biting anyone who came near her.

I now insisted that Jasper be removed from sofa and beds and Karen had to show Jasper that Mark was higher in the pecking order than him. I also advised happy “find it” games. My main concern was that he was not allowed to be stressed or upset unnecessarily but he still had to learn his place in the pack.

A few days later I received a call saying that Jasper had bitten a man jogging in the park. To make matters worse, He had pinned and held him down. I now had fears that we were dealing with a dog that had been bite trained. I advised that Jasper was muzzled whenever he left the house.

I did not want to explore Jasper’s biting potential but I was interested to see if he had any professional training or tracking experience. If Jasper knew how to track, we were definitely dealing with a potential killing machine who had been trained to bite and hold.

I arranged to meet the owners and Jasper in a quiet field away from distractions. I placed Jasper on a 30ft line, planted his favourite toy, laid a track and asked him to find it. It was obvious that Jasper had never done any tracking before. I must admit I was relieved with this result. This indicated that he was an instinctive rather than trained biter.

I worked with the owners and Jasper in the field performing recalls etc and Jasper had a great time. I also brought Lulu with me and we tried to desensitize him to her. I got the impression that Jasper just didn’t know how to communicate. He was really keen to return to his owners. At least this was a step in the right direction.

My next move was to introduce clicker and focus activities in the house. My aim was to get Jasper to offer his owners focus. I sent clicker training instruction to Jaspers owners and booked another visit. The owners had not had much success with the clicker so I was keen to see what was going on.

When I arrived for this visit I asked that Jasper be brought outside the house. I did not want anymore stress and accidents in the house.
I met Jasper outside the house and he was OK. We started to walk down the street and immediately Jasper was trying to pull Karen’s arm off. I took Jasper from her and just stopped walking. I rewarded him for coming to me and I proceeded to walk again. I stopped and reinforced the reward for keeping pace with me. After a few minutes we walked quietly back to the house.

I then started to do some focus work in the house with Jasper. Jasper was too excited to use the clicker so ball focus work was the best candidate. Jasper was happy to play but there was not enough room so I suggested we go outside. I asked that Karen make him wait when she walked out the door. Jasper was totally excited and was barging his way out the door as soon as he saw the door handle move. I now began to realise that Jasper was getting into a stressful state before he even left the house.

I got Karen to do some body language work with Jasper to make sure he waited at the door until he was asked to proceed. This went very well and Karen was pleased at being able to control him.

I subsequently added distractions in the form of myself and Karen’s friend standing at the end of the driveway. Jasper and Karen did very well.

I also worked on getting Jasper to go to his place and wait. Again this went very well and acted as a great confidence builder for both dog and owner.

This is still very much work in progress and Jasper will take a lot more work to get him stable. It’s all about winning small battles with a dog like Jasper.

Jasper is a very complicated and volatile character. The other side of him is a big handsome dog with an affectionate, loyal nature. I don’t think Jasper is out and out aggressive. He’s more of a pitiful soul than an arch villain.

This whole experience has been a long haul for all concerned and I’ve been very demanding on the owners at times. Dogs like Jasper need lots of positive encouragement to build confidence. This type of dog also needs firm leadership to set and maintain the boundaries. Unfortunately Jasper is the type of dog that usually gets misunderstood and ends up being put to sleep.


Karen and Mark have had to put a lot of work in with Jasper. It is not easy living with a dog like this. You have to be super vigilant and patient. On top of that I have been demanding and abrupt at times to ensure that my instructions were adhered to. It’s all for the good of the dog but sometimes I can get very animated – it’s just my passion to succeed.

Jasper is definitely a much calmer, happier dog since I started working with him. He may end up absolutely fine. Never say never.

Thanks for the experience Jasper - you’ve made me a better trainer …………….