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Bark To Basics, Prestwich (2025)

18/07/2025

Meet Skye !

Skye is a gorgeous XL Bully we did a House Call Session with recently to iron out some unwanted behaviours in that were presenting in the home. Skye and her rottweiler sister, who had previously been very close, suddenly began fighting with one another - when Skye had her time outside of the crate she couldn't relax at all and was constantly jumping up, bashing into her owners & unable to settle or relax. Skye had already been to a trainer for this issue previously and unfortunately this trainer thought having his two dogs bully & harrass Skye would be beneficial to help resolve her behaviour with the other dog in the home, when that didn't work he pinned her to the ground and SAT ON HER knowing she had a heart murmur - this caused Skye to panic and react and at that point he basically had written her off and suggested Behavioural Euthanasia - insane 😤 this understandably made his owners cautious in selecting their next trainer & not many would work with her due to her breed - ALL dogs, no matter the breed or size, need training !

Anyway - we got to work !

We made a start by focusing on the root cause of this behaviour, although the American Bully size classes have been developed for companionship the breeds itself has a foundation of working breeds in its history, its a relatively new breed having only been developed in the 90s so there are loads of dogs out there that have inherited differing drives. We spoke about what Skye enjoys, what she's not interested in and what outlets we can provide to allow Skye to exercise these natural behaviours in a constructive way. From there we got to work on building a nice off switch so she can relax with her family more, remain calm and not pick fights with her Rottweiler sister. After alot of initial excitement and wiggling Skye settled into this beautifully and quickly understood she had a good reason to offer the behaviour now it resulted in a clear, positive reinforcer while her over arousal resulted in clear communication to stop. This keeps things nicely Black and White for dogs like Skye who are just beginning on their impulse control and off switch journey. All her owners really wanted from her was to be able to relax on the sofa without her being wild & over excited, a dog this size can be difficult to control if they're being over zealous! But keeping things simple, achievable and worth while for Skye helped her click onto this portion of her training really quickly.

We spoke about how trigger stacking plays a huge role in this behaviour and can exacerbate issues between dogs in the home. For example, we know Skye is cautious of and fixated on other dogs when on her walks, fixation is the period when adrenaline and cortisol are released - everytime this happens on a walk, these hormones can stay in a dogs system for 72 hours. When a dog is consistently full of both adrenaline and cortisol, it can negatively affect their sympathetic nervous system and this can mean that play can seem like conflict, normal behaviour may be interpretted as offensive & what couldve been a minor spat between two dogs can become an all out fight. We spoke about how furthering handler value & engagement in all scenarios - ontop of working on her impulse control & building a solid off switch would be beneficial for Skye, she already has an amazing relationship with her owners so this is going to be really easy to build. Relationship always comes first !

Lastly, we discussed outlets. Skye has an old elbow injury which means she can't do alot of exercise or any high impact exercise, we discussed options that will allow her to burn off excess energy that won't negatively impact her joints such as hydrotherapy, a water treadmill session or spring pole. We also discussed how some of the breeds used in the foundational crosses for the American Bully are prone to same s*x aggression, this typically presents at 12-24months of age but it has been witnessed in puppies, its a breed specific trait that exists in a multitude of dog breeds - management for this behaviour is key. We can't change genetics but we absolutely can improve upon how valuable they are to practice.

By the time we finished up Skye was chilled out, sat at her owners feet and eager to work for more rewards. She has a beautiful temprament around people and now she will be able to petted to her hearts content now she is learning to keep her excitement under control - Once she had a clear understanding of what we do and don't want from her, she was really eager to please. Skye now has some homework to crack on with until we see her next time - well done big girl 👏

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16/07/2025

Meet Hugo !

Hugo is a one year old mix of Presa canario, Neo mastiff, Great Dane & mastiff - mixes like Hugos are called bandogges and they are typically used for gaurd work, protection and bite work. We did a House Call with Hugo recently to go over somethings we needed to implement and change after he bit a neighbor for trying to lead him inside by the collar, alongside some issues caused by the natural desire to gaurd, trying to chew/dig his way through the walls & not allowing anyone to get any sleep until he had done a patrol of the garden - we got to work !

I was pleasantly surprised when I met Hugo, his baseline temprament is that of a sweet, social & stable dog who is lacking in some impulse control, he's got some standard puppy issues combined with the typical guarding breed issues we see crop up around the adolescent period, this is the age self employment and poor emotional regulation can begin. His size alone had made simple management harder than it had to be for his owners, if he was the size of a terrier a warning bite wouldn't be as scary, puppy issues like stealing things for a reaction are more easily dealt with as you can move things out of an medium to large sized dogs way and you can find a crate that would actually work for his size to provide a safe spot but due to the size of Hugo at only one year, he doesn't fit in a crate ! making this all the more challenging for his owners to manage. We spoke about genetic predisposition to the behaviours he's exhibiting to strangers that he can see through the fence in the garden, and how trigger stacking at this stage can play a role in him not fully understanding who is a friend vs foe when he's full of adrenaline & cortisol, these hormones help dogs gear up for their natural purpose and while Hugo hasn't specifically been bred to work, the genetics are alive & well and need to be put to good use for us to stop the above. When the sympathetic nervous system is essentially in overdrive, its harder for dogs to discern what is a threat and what isn't, causing issues like redirection or concern where its not required. Having run his behavioural assessment in person it's clear that the orginal issue, the warning bite, was purely down to trigger stacking, self employment & lacking impulse control. At the age Hugo is, it's similar to having a 15-17 old human child - a prime age to make mistakes and bad decisions. Having entered the homes of many genuine bite risk & bite history dogs over the years, its clear to see Hugo is not an aggressive or offensive dog at all - but he does need a little help to keep him on the straight and narrow.

While covering genetics we spoke about each breeds orginal purpose and how we can provide a constructive outlet for Hugo that will honor these genetics in a safe, structured way. Because he's not a nervous dog, we've opted to look into protection & obedience sports once we've refined his impulse control, obedience & engagement through counter conditioning & ensuring he knows he cant act on his own whims. This is a skill set every dog should have, but the larger the dog, the more important this is. Because this big lad doesn't fit in a crate anymore, we've suggested kenneling - not for Hugo to live outside permanently, but to provide a safe place for him to retreat to when guests arrive and to aid in building a clear boundary of what he can and can't look after when he's in the garden. The property overlooks a feild used by locals & Hugo was becoming abit obsessive in wanting to watch for people so he could gaurd the garden. A kennel provides a place where he can focus on the house, not the surrounding boundary, and will allow him to use that gaurding instinct constructively & safely. We spoke about self employment and what it is, and how we can change this simply by becoming the most valuable & interesting thing for Hugo going forward via hand feeding all meals in return for wanted behaviours only, the benefit of this when used with a good structure behind it is that puppyish behaviours like stealing items to elicit a game of chase quickly fall off, they're far more interested in you to bother - as well as being quick to recall away from the fence. We will double down on this by positively conditioning the kennel to be a great place to be with long lasting high value resources as Hugo is not a resource guardy boy, he brought over a big bone to me during our first meeting and wasn't at all phased.

One of the main issues his owners experienced was Hugos obsession with having to give the garden a good patrol at night time, he was becoming destructive and stopping them from getting any sleep until he was taken out into the garden at a silly time late at night. We spoke about structured decompression and how we can utilise his new relationship with food to knock this off aswell as potentially allowing Hugo to patrol the kennel run instead of the garden, for now we are using this behaviour as an opportunity to correct the unwanted behaviour towards strangers beyond the gate & when in the garden as a guest. This, coupled with structured decompression, will aid in stopping the trigger stacking cycle.

Lastly, we've Reccomended 1-1 Leash Skills session to help further handler engagement and obedience when out on his walks - engagement needs to be offered in *all* scenarios for it to be valuable enough for dogs to practice when you really need them too. We get alot of dogs in where they're attending groups to work on obedience and while this is great and something I encourage, alot of my clients just habitualise the feild they're working in and as soon as they leave - the trainings out the window. Our Leash Skills sessions take place in real life, everyday environments full of distractions, novel sights, smells & sounds while we proof in the skill sets we do want & training out the behaviours we don't want. It's always best to cover all basis.

Hugo was a pleasure to work with, he's the largest puppy I've had in to date and that's saying something 😂 he now has a few weeks worth of homework to crack on with until I see him again, until next time big boy ! 🐕

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01/07/2025

Meet Echo !

Echo is a gorgeous working line German Shepherd puppy who came in to make a start on puppy foundations.

Unlike puppy classes, our puppy foundational programme is 1-1 & focuses on real life skill sets your puppy will need before they enter the tricky adolescent period. No sterile rooms to train in, no standing in a feild, no learning tricks - just genuinw skill sets in an everyday setting with everyday distractions and situations- we have a 'start as you mean to go on' approach here, so that means no free play with other random dogs, either. Contrary to popular belief, this isn't beneficial for dogs or good socialisation, and in 6 months time you'll increase your chances of having an over excitable dog that doesn't listen to a word you say because other dogs are now more valuable than you are - or, worst case scenario - a defensive, reactive and stressed dog who doesn't quite understand that every dog they pass doesn't want to come and invade his space.

Echo is only 14 weeks old and was already presenting with high arousal & a little nerve driven reactivity towards dogs, there is some minor pulling ahead on the lead and a lack of handler engagement- the last two being fairly normal puppy behaviour at this stage. We spoke about Echo's lineage and that being a working line dog, with siblings that have gone into Police work, he's really going to need a job going forward. A job for a dog can be anything from your everyday walk being "work" by having them work for food & toys in return for nuetral responses around triggers, maintaining handler engagement & offering wanted behaviours, or even better, getting them involved in some kind of sport that honors their genetics. For Czech line shepherds like Echo, obedience sports are a great outlet for all of that natural drive - you'll have heard me say this a million times before, but if there is a drive that's not being put to good use then you can expect issues ! We discussed some ways we can provide appropriate outlets for Echo that will aid in his training.

Today our main focus was on Echo's Leash skills, Engagement building, maintaining handler value and nipping that reactivity in the bud. His owner has been brilliantly proactive 👏 which I love to see ! We began shaping in a heel and Echo did lovely with this as we did a ton of luring to proof in the heel position as the most positive place to be. Echo has a lovely food drive and worked for his rewards beautifully during repitions. As he worked on this we gradually began to work Echo around passing dogs, prior to the foundational skill sets we taught today he would fixate & bark at passing dogs, his hackles would raise & he felt a little unsure. It's important to note that this isn't always a fault in some lines of GSD as some working line dogs are pretty much bred to enjoy conflict, our job is to show them when this is and isn't appropriate.
We covered a little on canine behaviour, body language & communication to not only help Echo's owner read him, but to read other dogs too so we could select nuetral, good examples to work around when exposing Echo to dogs which he did wonderfully with.

We had Echo passing dogs without any reaction in no time while in the heel position. He's still very young and this is all very new to him, so this training definitely requires consistent, daily practice from here on - but he's shown us he can do it today and now he has a little "job" to complete - all the better ! Echo now has some homework to work on until we see him next time to further refine these skill sets as he grows up. Well done little man 👏🐕

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26/06/2025

Meet Norman !

Norman is a beautiful Great Dane who came in to work on his reactive behaviour towards dogs. Norman would fixate heavily on dogs, lunge, flail & buck on the lead & give passing dogs a good telling off - He would also react to prey animals. During the assesment period it was akin to controlling a small horse ! Luckily his owners have been brilliantly proactive and got this powerful young boy into professional training quickly - we got to work.

Like many of of the giant breeds we work with, Norman came in on a head collar to try and limit his lunging, reactivity & pulling when passing dogs. He had been on a slip before but he just powered through & pulled ahead. We discussed how the slip lead works and how this tool isn't just a restriction tool like a clip lead, but it's also a communication tool that allows us to interrupt unwanted behaviours. We swapped out his head collar & got to work on leash skills on the slip, where we began teaching Norman how to maintain a heel and how to engage. He settled into this quickly and understood what we wanted from him in no time as he was keen to earn some tasty rewards.

Once the foundations of this were covered we moved onto the fun part - working Norman around passing dogs. With the help of clear boundaries & clear reinforcers Norman went from being difficult to control to relaxed & nuetral around passing dogs, including dogs that would react at him. He made a huge step forward in session and didn't offer a reaction to any passing dogs throughout. Once I had proofed in this skill set with Norman I passed him back to his owners - now it was their turn to learn the skill sets ! Good training isn't just about the dog, the owners always need to learn alongside. Both of Norman's owners took to the skill sets beautifully and for the first time Norman was maintaining the heel position & letting dogs pass without attempting to pull his owners over to passing dogs.

Lastly we discussed Norman's body language & development stage, we could see at the beginning of our session he was amped up and aroused by all of his surroundings, he struggled to listen to basic commands due to how overwhelmed he was. We taught his owners how to build & mark structured decompression behaviours that help dogs self regulate, which is always helpful during this life stage - Norman is going through his 3rd fear period, which is a normal critical development period that helps dogs become independent & self sufficient adults, unfortunately for us this is the window where unwanted behaviours become solidified & habitualised if not corrected and typically, wanted behaviours need to be reinforced all over again due to the brain undergoing massive reorganisation to prepare adolescent dogs for adulthood. About 30 minutes into our session Norman was far more relaxed and able to calmly & clearly communicate with passing dogs that he's not really into saying hello - which is completely appropriate and fine - he quickly understood he didn't need to loose it to ask for space, and that we will advocate for him instead.

Our next move with Norman is getting him ready to sit calmly in a beer garden where dogs are present once he's completed the homework we've set, until next time big boy !

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24/06/2025

Meet Dior !

Dior is a beautiful XL Bully who came in to resolve her Reactive Behaviour towards dogs. Dior would fixate at a distance, lunge out & bark at passing dogs - she's a big girl & this behaviour was making her difficult to control ! Because Dior is an XL it's paramount that we got this under wraps quickly so as to not put Dior at risk. We got to work !

We started off in an area where we could guarantee passing dogs at a comfortable distance but Dior didn't react at all - we decided to give her a test run near her home and we discovered this is where the reactive behaviour is present, but not in other environments!. Reactivity in one environment but not in another can occur for a number of reasons, the most common one being nerve - nervous dogs tend to habitualise their daily walking route and begin to understand that the stress they feel on a walk happens *there* everyday, & when in new environments that they havent habitualised, they may opt for conflict aviodance instead. We decided to run the remaining time of our session on her typical walking route to have a look at why this reactive behaviour was occuring closer to home.

We made a start on Diors leash skills to shape in a nice relaxed heel & to help Dior understand leash pressure & communication which she settled into beautifully. We passed a few dogs and while Dior fixated she didn't actually offer a reaction and the reason as to why became clear - dogs that didn't directly engage with Dior were, in her mind, no threat to her whatsoever - Dogs who fixated, reacted, pulled towards her or wanted to play caused her alot of concern, she had a knee jerk reaction to keep these dogs at bay by reacting.
While maintaining a comfortable distance we passed a lovely dog on our walk who was desperate to say hello to Dior - Dior immediately wanted to react which we quickly corrected, this helped create a very clear boundary for Dior and she let the excited dog pass without further concern and remaining in the heel position. Creating clear, firm black and white boundaries is key here.

We spoke about how important this foundational skill set is for nervous dogs, the heel position not only helps you build engagement but it allows you to better advocate for your dog, too. While we worked on this we also drilled engagement building to knock off Diors fixation towards dogs so we can eliminate the reaction before it begins to build. Dior is used to being out ahead on the leash, we spoke about how that additonal pressure can build frustration which is the last thing we want from her. We continued working on repitions while teaching her owners how to read Dior and other dogs - this is a skill set we teach all of our clients - if you can spot a potential "problem" dog a mile off you can advocate for your own so much more effectively under threshold and you can understand how your dog is feeling, which will give you better context as to what they may choose to do in certain scenario's if they aren't directed by you, first. Again, both Dior and her owners did great with this!

We still have a little work left to do with Dior but she's made an excellent start. Next time we will be working this lovely girl around one of our amazing Demonstration Dogs to further proof in these skill sets - well done big girl 🐕✅️

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16/06/2025

Do You Have A Reactive Dog Or Are You Experiencing Aggression Problems ?
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With Well Over A Decade Of Experience & Formal Education in Canine Behaviour & Psychology, We Are Experts In Our Feild - We Are Dedicated To Getting Our Canine Clients & Their Owners The Help They Need To Thrive.

No Nonsense Dog Training - Just Results.

12/06/2025

Meet Leia !

Leia is a lovely Pocket Bully who came in to work on her Leash skills & nervous behaviour, aswell as some barking at the door whenever someone knocked on ! Leia is a nervy girl but she's also a little different to what we're used to here - while she was pulling ahead like a freight train on walks, she wasn't lunging, barking, growling, showing teeth or heavily fixating on passing dogs. Instead she was opting for conflict aviodance behaviours, silently trigger stacking stress & this was attributing to the issues she was experiencing at home - we got to work!

During the assessment period, it was clear to see Leia was on a mission, to pull ahead & aviod aviod aviod. She wanted her walk to be over and done with ASAP bless her. She also struggled to take food, food refusal is a hallmark of stress - we opted to work Leia in a quieter, calmer area of the park while we worked on the foundational skill sets she & her owners needed - we're all about adapting to the individual dog here and for Leia that meant additional resting periods as she's a low drive, low energy girl.

We made a start on Leia's Leash skills, she was on a bully billows collar & clip leash so we swapped this out for the slip. We worked on leash pressure & communication and she clicked on that the heel position was the best, most positive place to be to earn some tasty high value rewards We spoke about how we can improve Leia's food drive by gradually phasing out her current diet to a lower carbohydrate, higher protein food. Low drive dogs/ companion breeds typically don't do well with high carb dog foods, they're great for working dogs who need all those extra carbohydrates to burn but if it's not being burnt off by exercise, play, sport or work then that energy has to go somewhere else - often somewhere you don't want !

When passing dogs Leia would orginally communicate some nerve driven behaviours, these behaviours are subtle and commonly go missed. Being able to understand the root cause of the nerve is extremely important - otherwise you'll just treat the symptoms and the unwanted behaviours will crop back up in no time. Once she had the foundations down she was alot more comfortable - she had a little rest we gradually began working around more distractions at her pace. Her nerve driven behaviours had significantly improved and she remained in a heel. We took her to a cafe to work on a little exposure, something she doesn't normally do, and she did great !

Lastly, we set her owners up with some homework to not only to work on the skill sets above but to help with her barking at the door. We spoke about how trigger stacking stressors and experiencing this level of nervousness out on walks will impact her barking at the door. If everything is scary outside then it will cause a nervous dog to become extra defensive when those scary triggers bang on the entrance to her safe place, her house ! The homework for this focuses on classical & counter conditioning methods to help Leia understand the door isn't any of her concern, while the work we're doing outside is to help build neutrality, confidence & tolerance 🙌

We still have some work left to do with this lovely girl, but it's only onwards & upwards from here ! well done big girl 🐕✅️

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11/06/2025

Meet Daphnie !

Daphnie came in for a Half Day to work on her Reactive Behaviour towards dogs, joggers, bikes & cars, along with some pulling on the leash - she is a lovely mix of shar pei, bull terrier and some labrador. We've previously worked with 2 of her siblings for the same issues so we knew there was a definite genetic predisposition to nerve from the get go. Daphnie would fixate heavily on dogs & lunge out in an effort to defend herself, she was also beginning to develop redirection caused by the frustration she was experiencing when in view of triggers - we got to work !

We made a start by swapping out her clip leash to the slip lead, we did this because she was all over the show at the beginning of our session and putting a ton of pressure on her collar & her trachea, this allowed us to teach leash skills & communication without putting any pressure on her trachea - all while teaching her a nice slack heel. Just like her siblings, Daphnie has a great food drive and was really eager to work ! We spoke about hand feeding going forward & how important it is to create a job for a dog like Daph. Despite her size she's a powerful young girl - teaching her that engagement in the heel = a safe, positive place to be was paramount at this stage. We had Daphnie heeling, relaxed and earning her wage in no time at all - she's a really bright girl & took to the foundational skill sets beautifully.

From there we began working Daph around passing dogs, cars, bikes, Joggers etc and she did brilliantly - We worked Daphnie at a comfortable distance while using her "wage" as a clear reinforcer to condition the nuetral response we wanted from her, having her in the heel position meant we could better advocate for her space & she was instantly so much more relaxed and comfortable. We passed a range of triggers during our session from cars, fire engines & tractors, passing dogs, dogs barking at squirrels, dogs chasing balls, a pack of on leash huskies & plenty of joggers - Daphnie remained in a relaxed heel throughout while offering maintained engagement to her owners & she knew exactly when her rewards were due ! Her owners took to the skill sets wonderfully too 👏

During the second half of the day, we worked Daphnie at a Cafe for short periods inbetween repetitions. Staying still in the presence of dogs is typically a little harder for nervous dogs to master, all of that adrenaline is telling them to keep on the move & stay vigilent - when they're used to alot of pressure on the leash it can make them feel abit trapped and that will cause them to think their only option is to react to keep triggers at bay. We worked on positioning and exposure at the cafe and she did amazingly well once again, she sat down calmly facing dogs without any anticipation behaviours, no fixatation or feeling stressed & with a nice slack lead & engagement, even when one of her owners left to grab a drink she was nice & relaxed 🙌

Throughout session we went over Daphnie's body language when passing dogs, this is something we teach every owner who comes in. It massively improves our own communication and relationship with our dogs, this way we can spot how our own dogs are feelings so we can better help them. We also cover other dogs body langauge to help owners spot potential problems a mile off - A proactive approach like this is beneficial for everyone. These skill sets allow us to better advocate for our own dogs ahead of time, stopping unnecessary stress for both owner and dog alike, with the added benefit of proofing in the idea for your reactive dog that *you* will deal with any issues - your dog doesn't have to !

Lastly we touched on genetic predisposition- this can understandably sound really daunting to owners, when we hear "genetic predisposition" its so easy for us to think there's no hope for change. While training & behaviour modification won't alter your dogs genetics, it *can* help them learn to manage those inherited predispositions. With the right approach, dogs with genetic predispositions to nerve driven reactivity can build confidence, tolerance & better coping skills with an end goal of neutrality in the presence of triggers. I've been really lucky to work with 3 of the Bridgerton littermates from Bleakholt now, they're a unique mix of primitive breed & working breeds, all with varying drives & nerve, we spoke about each breeds orginal purpose & where each predisposition comes from, along with ways we can utilise these drives and provide outlets for them, too ! I'm going to do a little more on these 3 and genetic predisposition in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled ;)

Daphnie smashed her First Session, she did so well & was shattered after 5 hours of hard work throughout the day ! She now has some homework to practice until we see her next time, well done wrinkly girl 🐕✅️

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