22/05/2026
Molly was never “too much”. She just didn’t have the right outlet or guidance for the dog she is
When she started with us, everything set her off. Dogs, people, bikes, buses… it was constant and overwhelming for both her and Kelly.
Over the 5 sessions, we focused on giving her more clarity and direction. That meant putting consistent boundaries in place, adding structured play so she had a proper outlet for her working drive, and working through controlled exposure instead of throwing her into situations she wasn’t ready for.
The change hasn’t come from shutting her down, it’s come from helping her understand what to do instead.
Now she’s able to pause and think a lot more before reacting. When she does react, it’s smaller, less intense, and she’s able to recover much faster instead of staying stuck in it.
She still has her “big” triggers. Garbage trucks are top of that list. But even those moments are more manageable now, and they don’t spiral the way they used to.
Because of Molly’s drive, she is a dog that needs a bit more time to work through those bigger triggers. You’ll often see that with dogs who have an intense herding drive, or with older dogs who have had more time to rehearse the behaviour.
Kelly has done the work, and more importantly, she now has the skills to keep building on this. Give it a few more weeks and those big triggers won’t feel so big anymore.
This is what happens when you stop trying to suppress behaviour and start meeting the dog where they’re at.