Katesbridge K9s

30/12/2025

🌟🐾What traits and qualities make an Impackt Aggression Therapy Dog (ATD)?🐾🌟

Marcie, my fellow Impackt team mate, at Malvern Fabdogs , created this wonderful content that helps us all understand the work and effort and nuanced training that goes into raising an agression therapy dog. Enjoy 🐾🌟

A qualified ATD is happy and confident in their job role and takes everything in their stride. They understand what is expected of them and enjoy the task set for them by us Impackt Behaviorists 🐾🌟

🌟How do you know if a dog is fit, able and happy to take on this role?
Well........ they need to possess the following attributes:

1. 🌟 Rank and temperament
An ATD must be a high ranking dog. A protector/ enforcer who is comfortable in the role of policing and will call the shots when group dynamics are in play.
A naturally low ranking submissive dog will just not be able to cut the mustard, They wouldn’t want to, or be able to, correct poor behaviour from another dog. Their instincts would be to avoid, submit or snap.

2. 🌟 Balanced and social
An ATD must not just be socialised with dogs but must also be habituated to them - totally confident and comfortable in the presence of all (or nearly all dogs ). ATD’s will have seen and experienced every type of dog - every size, breed, rank, energy, behaviour, and trait. The balanced nature of the ATD means we can identify a pathologically aggressive dog by observation of the ATD…. this is the type of dog they are uncomfortable with. As Pamela at Impackt Behaviour, has often pointed out, there is no such thing as an over socialised dog … there is simply good and bad socialisation.

3. 🌟 Drive
Each ATD is naturally in possession of high drive which gives them their desire and work ethic. There are a number of types of drive and most drives can be channeled into work. The type of drive we can channel are things like food drive, pack drive (handler pleasing), protection drive (guardian breeds) and of course prey drive. Each of the drive types can be measured as low, medium, high or extreme. Low and extreme are probably the two levels that are least suitable.

4. 🌟 Resilience
This is probably the most misunderstood, and debated, attribute a dog can possess as an ATD. Resilience is the ability of the ATD to go through a tough test and and not be harmed by it in any way. This quality can only be learned over time and under close management by the handler. It is NOT a genetic trait. Resilience is measured by observing how quickly a dog can return to normal after a stressful event. ATD’s are back to normal in an instant. Cortisol and stress hormones reduce quickly and efficiently if they rise much at all in the first place.

5. 🌟 STRESS
In order to build immunity (resilience) to stress a dog must be exposed in a controlled, safe and regular manner to the event or interaction that is stressful. It can be as simple as a dog not wanting to get into (or out of a car) - they need to understand that it’s a need, a task and a process. That they must move through it because you, their leader, has asked them to and that they will come out, safe, the other side of it with you. It’s not their choice ..it’s not a democracy…. it’s a (benevolent) dictatorship!

All of these traits and qualities combine to build an ATD who excels at Aggression Assessments and leads a happy and fulfilled life alongside their Impackt Behaviorist 🐾🌟

30/12/2025

🌟🐾 What traits and qualities make an Impackt Aggression Therapy Dog (ATD)?

Marcie, my team fellow Impackt team mate, at MalverMalvern Fabdogsted this wonderful content that helps us all understand the work and effort and nuanced training that goes into raising an agression therapy dog. Enjoy 🐾🌟

A qualified ATD is happy and confident in their job role and takes everything in their stride. They understand what is expected of them and enjoy the task set for them by us Impackt Behaviorists 🐾🌟

How do you know if a dog is fit, able and happy to take on this role?

Well........ they need to possess the following attributes:

1. 🌟 Rank and temperament
An ATD must be a high ranking dog. A protector/ enforcer who is comfortable in the role of policing and will call the shots when group dynamics are in play.
A naturally low ranking submissive dog will just not be able to cut the mustard, They wouldn’t want to, or be able to, correct poor behaviour from another dog. Their instincts would be to avoid, submit or snap.

2. 🌟 Balanced and social
An ATD must not just be socialised with dogs but must also be habituated to them - totally confident and comfortable in the presence of all (or nearly all dogs ). ATD’s will have seen and experienced every type of dog - every size, breed, rank, energy, behaviour, and trait. The balanced nature of the ATD means we can identify a pathologically aggressive dog by observation of the ATD…. this is the type of dog they are uncomfortable with. As Pamela Impackt Behaviour has often poImpackt Behaviours no such thing as an over socialised dog … there is simply good and bad socialisation.

3. 🌟 Drive
Each ATD is naturally in possession of high drive which gives them their desire and work ethic. There are a number of types of drive and most drives can be channeled into work. The type of drive we can channel are things like food drive, pack drive (handler pleasing), protection drive (guardian breeds) and of course prey drive. Each of the drive types can be measured as low, medium, high or extreme. Low and extreme are probably the two levels that are least suitable.

4. 🌟 Resilience
This is probably the most misunderstood, and debated, attribute a dog can possess as an ATD. Resilience is the ability of the ATD to go through a tough test and and not be harmed by it in any way. This quality can only be learned over time and under close management by the handler. It is NOT a genetic trait. Resilience is measured by observing how quickly a dog can return to normal after a stressful event. ATD’s are back to normal in an instant. Cortisol and stress hormones reduce quickly and efficiently if they rise much at all in the first place.

5. 🌟 STRESS
In order to build immunity (resilience) to stress a dog must be exposed in a controlled, safe and regular manner to the event or interaction that is stressful. It can be as simple as a dog not wanting to get into (or out of a car) - they need to understand that it’s a need, a task and a process. That they must move through it because you, their leader, has asked them to and that they will come out, safe, the other side of it with you. It’s not their choice ..it’s not a democracy…. it’s a (benevolent) dictatorship!

All of these traits and qualities combine to build an ATD who excels at Aggression Assessments and leads a happy and fulfilled life alongside their Impackt Behaviorist 🐾🌟

24/12/2025

🌟🐾🌟 What does an Impackt Dog Behaviorist do and how are we different?🌟🐾🌟

Now that I'm successfully accredited with Pamela and the Impackt team of behaviourists across the UK Impackt Behaviour let me explain some more about what we do......

We deal mainly with the ‘ tricky’ dogs out there who are very reactive or aggressive. We have a particulaly high success rate in being able to help these dogs and their owners by understanding the root causes and nature of the issues driving their behaviours.

When we establish these causes we can safely guide, both dog and owner, on the best course of action moving forward.

⭐️ 5 reasons that help us achieve success with the dogs in our care 🌟

🌟 1. DIAGNOSIS

Our unique approach using Aggression Therapy Dogs (ATD’s). Often owners are caught in the ‘catch 22’ of "Is it reactivity or aggression my dog is suffering with?"

How can they test why their dog is reactive or find out if it’s aggressive or not?

We can can tell them through our protocols, our methods and our ability to read the language of ‘Dog’ ! Our Unique Impackt approach using ATD’s has been pioneered and refined by Pamela Dempsey Impackt Behaviour for well over two decades🌟

This methodology has now also been passed on to me, and the rest of the team, her Accredited Behaviourists 🌟

🌟 2. PERCEPTION

Often it’s owner perception……we see so many reactive or aggressive dogs and we find that people think their dog is far worse than it really is. Our bar is very high so we can quickly diagnose a low level ‘problem’ dog…. Often, the ‘fix’ is very fast and very dramatic

🌟 3. EXPERIENCE

We see experienced, and knowledgeable, owners with difficult dogs all the time but with fresh eyes and an experienced team to consult with, we can see things they can’t… it can be subtle and sometimes it’s simple because we are outside looking in

🌟 4. UNDERSTANDING

We embrace old and new understandings of how a dog behaves, if proven to be safe and in the dog’s best interest. Overlaying this we have Pamela’s observations of real world behaviour gleaned from over 25 years working with dogs and by helping at least 25,000 dogs herself… that’s a lot of observation time and focused understanding of how the species thinks and behaves. It’s shared experience and understanding that means we are fluent in the language of ‘DOG’

Some stats for the figures people to highlight the volume of Pamela’s work and experience that we are lucky enough to be able to tap into.....

🌟🌟On average 4 cases a day
🌟🌟6 days a week
🌟🌟let’s say 48 weeks over the year (conservative estimate )
🌟🌟x 23 years =
🌟🌟🌟26,495 dogs🌟🌟🌟

Factor in dog socials, dog neutrality classes, puppy classes, agility classes, home visits and now a TEAM of Impackt behaviourists working with their own client’s dogs … a lot of time spent with well over 30,000 dogs

🌟 5. REAL WORLD SOLUTIONS
We offer solutions that work in the real world. We set the owner, and for, up to succeed. We will confront problems. It’s no good offering an unrealistic programme or schedule in order for the client to ultimately fail. If we can fix it in ONE session we will

Thank you to the fabulous Marcie at Malvern Fabdogs , who is my Impackt team mate and wordsmith extraordinaire, for her help with this post

🌟🐾🌟🐾🌟

23/12/2025

🌟🐾🎄Not a clue what we're up to when it comes to recording fancy footage for the socials 😆 but we're in a Christmassy mood and we're beating the "Cone" 🎄🌟🐾

A few minutes of fun over the course of the day allows Ellie to decompress, keep her focus and still enjoy fun times with me. Yes, the cone annoys her, but it's a necessary evil until she’s better and these moments of interaction remind her that we're still here for her and we'll get her through this.

Should you and your dog be running “The Cone” gauntlet, drop me a DM for tips on engagement and activities best suited to wearing one 🌟

Ellie developed a wee abscess on her side whereby a skin tag had fallen off and become infected. All is well thanks to our fabulous vets in Rathfriland Veterinary Clinic but "The Cone" stays put for Christmas .....

20/12/2025

🐾🐾🐾 Announcement Time 🐾🐾🐾
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

20/12/2025

🌟🐾Exciting Times 🐾🌟

20/12/2025

🌟🐾Announcement Time🐾🌟
🎉 Guess who's become an "Impackt" accredited behaviourist and joined the, UK wide, Impackt Behaviour Team🎉
Pamela at Impackt Behaviour and her amazing team of dog behaviourist's, and their therapy dogs, are now my tribe 😍 that feels so good to say as myself and Ellie, my German Shepherd, have been working towards this moment for some time. 9 months ago I took the plunge and got in contact with Pamela. I joined her accreditation programme and with time, commitment, hard work and the support of her and her team, here we are, fully accredited and ready to rock. I will explain what this means, over the coming days, to me and to all the dogs and their owners out there who may need my help. For now though, I'm going to enjoy this moment and revel in the excitement of being able to say "I'm an Impackt accredited dog behaviourist". Here's to the future of Katesbridge K9s and all the dogs we're going to meet 🐾🌟🎉

09/12/2025

29/11/2025

A Trip Down Memory Lane........

🐾📚🐾I mentioned C.S.Lewis in my previous post about our photo shoot, and that his links with County Down are strong. Tollymore Forest Park is widely regarded as the magical place that inspired his books "The Chronicles of Narnia". He was born here and wrote many other fine books in his time, one of which contains this particular quote.

The quote is special to me as it reminds me of my previous life, in the world of Pharmaceuticals and G.M.P. Training, and how I used it as a common thread throughout all of my training seminars. It resonates with me now, as it did back then, because integrity is still the driving force in all that I do when it comes to my own dogs and those I work with.

You must have integrity especially when people put their trust in you but even more importantly, in my case, when it's a dog that puts it's trust in you......... 🌟🐾🌟

28/11/2025