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 …………….

Jake - The Peg Nipper

Mary called me with regards to her Parson’s Jack Russell Jake.

Jake has had a chequered past, being shunted from home to home for being aggressive and dominant. Jake has a history of biting feet when he gets stressed.

Mary adopted Jake to live with her other dog Shandy. Both dogs lived contentedly together for some time. Sadly Shandy passed away and Jake reverted to his old habits.

I arrived at Mary’s home to meet Jake excitedly jumping and bounding all over the room. He was intent on jumping on the sofa to elevate his head position and show his status within the pack.

It was obvious that Jake thought he was the leader of the house by the way he projected his protective body language. Poor Jake thought his mission in life was to protect Mary.

I asked Mary to put a house line on Jake. Jake soon commandeered one of his toys and lay down in front of Mary, guarding it. I knew this was a protective, dominant communication so I approached him quietly to take hold of the line. Jake immediately pounced at my feet and started biting. I swiftly marched him straight out the room and shut him in the hall for a few minutes then allowed to re-enter the room.

I removed his toys and started to clicker train him to sit in his bed. To be honest Jake responded very well and was happy to sit in his bed on command for a click and a treat. This was the foundation replacement behaviour for jumping on the sofa. I suggested that Mary take Jake’s bed into her bedroom and night and encourage him to sleep in his own bed rather than Mary’s bed.

The next visit was always going to be a little tougher than the initial one. I was accompanied by my son Louis and super stooge dog Lulu. The good news was that Mary had already noticed a difference in Jake. He appeared to be much more relaxed and content.

We practiced some bed commands when Louis with Louis walking in and out the house. I went over the basics of intermittent clicking to ensure that Jake understood that he had to stay in his bed when instructed rather than simply sit in it for 2 seconds and run out again.

We then tackled Jake’s lead pulling and aggression issues. I walked him outside performing my loose lead techniques. He soon got the hang of things and was happy to keep pace with me and get rewarded.

The next stage was to integrate him with Lulu. Jake got very aggressive when he saw Lulu. As soon as he pulled on the line I turned and marched quickly in the opposite direction. I kept an eye on him and praised him when he gave me his focus. I kept repeating this until he was happy to walk up to Lulu without trying to nail her.

I also enforced my authority by standing between Jake and Lulu and made Jake deal with the situation. I made sure he did not cross the line between me and Lulu.

I then started walking along the road in parallel with Louis and Lulu. I corrected Jake if need be but I made sure he was rewarded for compliance. Next stage was to take Lulu and Jake around the block together.

I asked Mary to take Jake while I walked along side her with Lulu. Next step was to start feeding both dogs together - job done.Jake had been totally desensitized to Lulu and was happy to share food and walk with her.

I must admit that I’ve never been a terrier fan but the more I work with these spunky wee guys, the more I like them and I’ll probably end up owning one in the future. They have boundless energy and are keen to please once they understand what is expected of them.

Jake still has a long way to go and there’s every chance of a relapse if he starts getting the wrong signals. Dogs like Jake need consistent reinforcement and stimulation to keep them interested. Mary will have to create a daily routine that will exercise his body and his brain.

I’ve no doubt Mary just loves Jake to bits. There was never a question of the two being separated but hopefully my help will strengthen their relationship and make life more enjoyable.

With solid leadership and plenty of positive stimulation, I’m confident that Jake will settle and become the companion that Mary is looking for.