Balanced Canine Trainer & Behaviourist - BK9T

Balanced Canine Trainer & Behaviourist - BK9T I’m Alex - a certified trainer & behaviourist, specialising in reactive dogs. I create personalised, trust-based plans to reduce stress & build confidence.

However, that is not all I do! I’m here to help in all manners of training. Do right by your pups🐾

01/03/2026

Beau is a staffy who is highly reactive and is a bit of a silent killer, as in she will not make a big display, but if close she will lunge and bite.

Beau’s owner has tried all the tools on the market, all the training techniques. She has been researching for the past 5.5 years to no avail. She has never given up on beau and she was always hopeful that one day she will be different and be the happy dog that she sees in the home.

She even hired a trainer! A positive only trainer who is highly reputable in the Lincolnshire area and £350 and a 2 hour walk later, they just told her “just don’t take her anywhere, where there’s dogs”……. I wish I was joking.

Our session took only 1:30 hours, but we saw results within 5 minutes. I showed the owner what was capable which eased her mind. As you can imagine after 5 and a half years of seeing your dog go crazy at the sight of other dogs, people and anything that moved, you’ll be conditioned to be anxious as f*ck yourself which only adds fuel to the fire.

After we got all the practical side done we enjoyed a nice walk together and I know many of you might say “Oh wElL dOnE aLeX, sHe Is fInE wItH oNe DoG nOw. BiG wHoOpT”, but we passed about a dozen dogs and she was more than fine, she didn’t care!

Beau’s owner now feels happy and excited taking her out. She feels like she has a dog again, not a walking liability and because of this she can give her the life she deserves.

Tune in to see beau take it to the next level!

26/02/2026

Meet Seth. Seth is a good boy and the owner has done a lot with Seth for him to understand who is in charge.

However, due to a few unfortunate instances and the wrong tools Seth self employed himself as mum’s bodyguard. Now he doesn’t react to absolutely everything, but he does read to things he deems as threatening.

His owner has tried so many different techniques and tools over the past year and a half with no success.

With a well fitted collar we established fingertip control over Seth which is no simple task because he is a horse of a dog and we have taught him some boundaries and helped his owner re-establish leadership. They’ve had some great walks since and she’s starting to enjoy taking him out again. This is the end goal, I want to change my client’s lives and make the experience of taking your dog out enjoyable.

Tune in because in a few weeks we’ll be taking Seth alongside Odin on a trip through the town centre and sit down in a cafe and enjoy life because that’s one of his owners long term goals.

04/02/2026

Dogs don't get pranks guys!
A lot of people do the same when it comes to wanting to "find out if my dog will protect me"
If you tell your friend to dress up and attack you in your home and your dog defends you, great now you know, but you've just set in a deep fear/ waryness of people in your dog and reactivity. Same for this prank. A less confident dog (and even confident dogs) will start reacting around dogs or people after just one bad experience. If they then get to practice that behaviour, it sets deeper roots until all they know is losing their s**t when a person or dog comes near them. TLDR: don't do this s**t guys.

04/02/2026

Stop letting your dog run s**t!

What do I mean by this? Letting them decide when they get attention, play, food (begging for it incessantly when you’re eating), what smells they go to by pulling you like a tank, who they go up to, which dog, which person, granny, aunty, uncle, you get the gist.

Letting them have no boundaries around doorways, car doors, back door, park entrance, any sort of threshold.

Letting them disrespect your space by cutting you up on a walk, staying in your way whilst you’re cooking or cleaning, be pushy about going on your bed or the sofa without you allowing them on there first.

Not hearing the end of it whenever you leave the room, let alone leave the house and you giving in the second you hear them distressed.

Letting them lead the charge whenever you’re out on a walk and they’re in front of you pulling like a tank and doing whatever they want, whenever they want it (I’m not saying to have them on a heel the whole walk, that’s silly. But they shouldn’t pull and they should be easily redirected from anything in the environment).

Letting them guard every item they want, food, or even worse you. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve see online “Oh they only guard their bones haha! That’s so understandable, it’s a bone! It’s so high value I don’t blame them!”…. Okay…. What happens when a child gets a bit too close running past and gets nipped, because let’s be honest, kids will do what they want most of the time.

This all sounds very complicated, but it’s not. All you need to do is let your dog know that everything is dictated by you and not giving in at the first sign of resistance. If you do that. You’ll see your dog begin to settle and allow you to lead. Leadership is love and giving in to their every whim and avoiding aversive methods isn’t.

It’s always nice to hear updates like this. Separation anxiety is a crippling issue many dogs and dog owners face, but i...
24/01/2026

It’s always nice to hear updates like this.

Separation anxiety is a crippling issue many dogs and dog owners face, but it doesn’t have to be.

This dog had some severe separation anxiety, barking the moment the owner left the room and scratching at the door.

If she can go from that to this, then so can your dog.

22/01/2026

Socialisation is often misunderstood. *Disclaimer* I made the same mistake!

I let my dog meet 10-20+ dogs on walks to “make him friendly”, however two things happened he started pulling and whining to get to other dogs which made him look intimidating and he got too big for 99% of people to let him come even within 20ft of their dogs.

This led to frustration and lunging at the end of the leash to get to dogs.

He’s now done a 180 and is fine ignoring dogs, but that’s with management as the damage is already done.

Why is it damaging? Meeting and playing with dogs is highly self rewarding, for most dogs it’s even more rewarding than treats or play with you (as is the case with Odin). This means that once they get a taste of it and it becomes exiting they’ll choose to seek it out like little addicts.

This then leads to whining, pulling, lunging, high pitched barking and inevitably frustration aggression if they don’t get their way for too long.

What can you do instead?
From a puppy (or from the moment you rescue them), if they see a dog then you reward them, BUT, you don’t let them get close to them at all.

What happens is they realise if they see a dog they get paid and the more consistent you are, the more they’ll choose to look at you after looking at a dog before you even say yes or click and reward. When that happens pay them again. Now they will have learned two things “dogs are great. If I look at them and look back at my human I get paid” and “they’re not exciting, my human is because he feeds me”.

If they never get to practice the excitement for every single dog, they’ll be more focused on you.

Now don’t get me wrong they can’t be isolated from every dog in existence, just strange ones. You don’t know if the dogs they’re saying hello to on the street are reactive, ill, in heat, wired wrong, or have irresponsible owners.

The dogs they can say hello to and play with are:
Family’s dogs
Close friend’s dogs
If they are well socialised and not a nut case as they’ll pick up bad behaviours form them otherwise.

As a general rule of thumb you should always play with your dog twice as long as they have played with another dog and have a command for play to stop to ensure you’re in control of the excitement.

If you have made it to the end, well done! If you have any other questions, don’t forget to comment or reach out.

19/01/2026

Prey drive sucks, but sometimes it can be a blessing more than a curse if channeled right.

It does feel very frustrating when you’re constantly worried about any little critter in the bushes jumping out and sending your dog into a frenzy.

If you’re constantly stressed and actively try avoiding livestock or wildlife, then I can help you.

13/01/2026

Your dog pulling on your walk isn’t just them getting rid of that excitement, or them loving their walks that much they can’t control themselves.

This is emotional dysregulation and you’re allowing them to build up to anxiety or reactivity. Their body is in a constant fight or flight mode and any trigger might set them off.

If you want to gain control of your walk or better yet save your dog emotional stress then look no further.

I can help you (your shoulders and back) and your dog in just one session.

If you want a calmer dog on your walk, simply comment “pulling” and I’ll hit you up so you can get the dog of your dreams.

12/01/2026

Get rid of “dog may bite” signs.

You’re signing up for a load of legal issues if your dog actually bites someone.

Whilst I understand that the notion of the sign is that nobody breaks in, in reality it just means your dog will have a tougher time in the eyes of the law and so will you.

Get a sign saying “dog on property” as you’re not alluding to your dog having the potential to be “dangerous” in the eyes of the law.

05/01/2026

Trimming nails 😱😱

A dreaded subject among many dog parents especially around winter/summer time where walks decrease.

Luckily for you, I got the perfect video!

First you start with desensitising your dog to their paws being touched. For an 8 week old puppy this is very easy through consistency and positive reinforcement. For a fearful rescue just this bit can be challenging. Take longer if you have to, there’s no rush.

Next step is you let them sniff the clippers until they’re comfortable with them coming out and being around them. Again take as long as your dog needs for this step and the next ones.

After that you touch their paws and nails with the clippers for short periods. Do this for many (positive) reps once or twice a day.

You can then finally move on to the last step where you actually cut the nails. If all you can manage is one, then that’s great! With time your dog will let you do all of them.

If after months and months you haven’t been successful then alternatives such as scratch boards are available.

With plenty of walks on pavements (when weather allows) trimming nails is not needed which is also an alternative.

Let’s talk separation anxiety.Separation anxiety is not just taxing for your dog. It’s taxing for you as well! Wether it...
28/11/2025

Let’s talk separation anxiety.

Separation anxiety is not just taxing for your dog. It’s taxing for you as well!

Wether it’s your pocket that suffers from destroyed items, your relationship with your neighbours or your mental health knowing your dog is suffering, separation anxiety is not easy.

This puppy is experiencing full blown separation anxiety, but that’s on track to improve now! You deal with separation anxiety the same way you deal with training, nice and slow.

Bella is now on her way to being able to be left alone without destroying the house. Tune in to see her progress!

Building your dog’s confidence looks like this:Why does this make them confident? You’re taking an elevated surface with...
03/10/2025

Building your dog’s confidence looks like this:

Why does this make them confident? You’re taking an elevated surface with weird texture and random gaps and telling them to get on it using rewards and leash pressure. For dogs this is weird!

Once they are on they have to deal with the elevated height, their nerves and maintain that beautiful sit/down and wait. You combine all these things and you have to build nerves of steel.

This sort of fun exercise will not only build their confidence, but also get them to put their trust in you fully. To me that’s a win-win.

What other exercises could you do to build a dog’s confidence?

Go out on a field when it’s pitch black and with no lighting toss the ball into the darkness! If they are hesitant to go the distance throw it a few feet and slowly build it up. Darkness makes dogs naturally wary and having the confidence to run into it solidifies their nerves. You can also practice obedience such as long sits and stays with added distance with a nice big reward at the end.

Exposure to new and challenging environments. Of course go at your own pace, but do push your dog to see the world and not only get socialised in the process, but learn how to deal with the big scary world out there.

Lastly one of my favourites which I’ve done with my own dog which made him an unshakeable rock of confidence is: throwing loud objects in your house on the floor randomly (such as a pot, pan, metal drinking bowl, tins and cans). This will spike your dogs adrenaline and they will get spooked at first, but they will eventually learn to go and check it out and once they do, that’s when you reward them big time! This exercise helps your dog regulate themselves when their adrenaline is firing off, which will help you in many real life scenarios.

If you have tried these exercises already or have done others I’ve not mentioned I’d love to hear it in the comments below!

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