Oxfordshire Animal Behaviour and Training

03/06/2025

Underpinning principles of how and why we train the way we do. Focus on them as sentient beings, and not them as robots 😊

02/06/2025

"You'd Rather Put Dogs In Chemical Shutdown Than Train Them".

This is such a common throwaway comment at the moment. One that needs examination.

When I first started this work I was anti meds. I used to very naively believe it was just another way of controlling a dog/restraining them.

Boy has my opinion changed over the last few years.

There's a few cases on my books at the moment that 100% NEED the medication they're on. 100%. It wasn't a "this will make it easier". It wasn't a "this will mean we need to do less training". It wasn't a "do this then your problem will be fixed".

It was a "for your dog to respond to any/more behaviour modification we need to give them a little help in managing how much overwhelm they are feeling".

And it was a tough decision, not taken lightly.

I ALWAYS want to give the dog a chance to battle through their struggles without being medicated first and foremost.

I think back to my history and how my GP put me on medication immediately as a young teenager. Without any forewarning about any difficulties it can present with. Without any hesitancy and offering any other type of help first. I presented with (albeit severe) anxiety and the medication was the answer for him. The whole answer.

I don't want to be *that* practitioner.

Medication isn't the answer. Mainly because medication isn't about chemical shut down. That isn't the type of meds we reach for. Anyone who perpetuates that myth just isn't taking the time to really see how some dogs genuinely need some extra input in order to ease their struggles.

It's about EXTRA INPUT. It isn't a chemical restraint. In fact it isn't a restraint at all.

One case I'm referring to- after months of behaviour modification where the dog was responding WELL, the next stage was feeling like too big a jump from where we were. Unfortunately real life isn't organised in a way dogs need it to be. This dog was still far too overwhelmed with some basic real life experiences we had to consider meds to help him bridge the gap between what he can now do, and what we need to expose him to next. The result has been absolutely monumental. This dog is now coping with things we literally could only ever dream of. He's not shut down, not by any stretch. But the gap between stimulus and response for this dog has grown so substantially that some old triggers (like change) have seemingly melted away. His ability to think instead of just feel has been a marked change. He's able to participate in behaviour modification and training in ways he couldn't before.

Another case - until you've seen genuine hyperkinesis you won't really appreciate what you are looking for. It became clear right from very early doors that JUST behaviour modification wasn't going to touch this dog. In fact, it had been tried. Aversives had been tried. As had positive reinforcement methods. Nothing worked. Thankfully the family knew just using increasingly severe aversives was a slippery slope to misery. We've been working together with a vet on a genuine diagnosis and progress is still being monitored. Part of the diagnosis was giving sedatives. It worsened the behaviour (a hallmark of hyperkinesis). Nothing about this case is trying to achieve chemical shut down. It's about trying to genuinely help the dog with an actual chemical problem.

Another case - extreme fear of a genetic origin AS WELL AS life history. Fear based behaviour mod is not about shutting a dog down. It's the opposite. It's about lifting them up. It's about giving them more of a chance to be able to even process the world around them without immediately panicking. We know you can't train a dog out of genuine fear. The goal isn't shutting them down so they can tolerate the world better. It's about building them up so they can ENGAGE with the world better.

None of these cases have been about putting them on medication and hey presto, sedated/shut down dog there for you to work with. None of these dogs are being treated with sedatives.

Medication can make a MASSIVE difference in some really severe/complex/rare cases. It's really naive to think you can spend years and years and years working with these marvellous creatures and you'd never come across a dog whose brain chemistry just isn't as it should be. Think of the number of dogs with physical disabilities. Deafness, blindness, epilepsy, structural issues. These things happen and the brain is also susceptible to things being a little bit topsy turvy making life more difficult to cope with.

Medication isn't going to fix anything. But it can make the dog a LOT more open to thinking/feeling a bit differently. That's where behaviour modification comes in.

I wish, for our dogs' sake, we'd stop just blindly sharing these myths without fact checking them. It simply isn't true that we look to meds to achieve chemical shut down. Meds CAN BE part of the work in many ways. But NONE of those ways are about sedating a dog so they stop behaving in a way we don't want them to.

30/03/2025

Ryan at OABT has started his PhD! He is looking for owners and puppy class trainers to take part in some interviews - can you help by taking part or sharing?!

[ADMIN APPROVED]* Hello Everyone!

My name is Ryan Dillon, and I am a MPhil/PhD research student at the University of Lincoln. I am currently exploring owner and trainer perceptions and experiences of puppy training classes. I am currently reaching out to both dog trainers and owners across the U.K to take part in an interview about their perceptions and experiences with either teaching or attending puppy training classes.

All participation is voluntary and if you are interested in taking part in a 30-45 minute interview, then please scan the QR code in the poster or use the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/shtf8eZmSD

Interview questions will focus on the purpose of puppy training classes, the content covered, and the challenges trainers face when delivering these sessions.

If you do not want to take part but would like to help, you can do so by sharing this post.

Thank you very much!
Ryan Dillon

21/03/2025

Lovely infographic on dog behaviour.

If you didn’t know, Park Vets are officially a Dog Friendly Clinic as assessed by the Dog’s Trust! We’d like to share this resource on body language, as well as some words by one of our vets to help your dog feel more comfortable in our practices:
“Many pets get nervous coming to a strange place. Regular visits with positive experiences can help, for example bringing your dog in to have fusses/treats and then leaving again will help to build a positive association. Also having regular nurse consults to get used to being handled without anything scary happening! At home, you can help by training your dog to allow you to touch their feet, picking them up and putting them on a table, having their head/neck extended amongst other behaviors so these are less intimidating for them when they are here.”

12/02/2025

The amazing Cerys is running more scent training!! Highly recommend.

We are excited to open bookings for this.

Here is what one of our recent introduction to scent detection graduates said:

“Just finished beginners course & so happy with teaching, tasks & information. Cerys is a an awesome teacher .. very clear with instructions….

Can’t wait to go to next level with my Weimaraner .. she has abilities I was totally unaware of but have been found by Cerys “

10/02/2025

We’re not trying to be difficult if we request further investigations… we’re doing our due diligence and what’s in the best interest for dogs 🐶😊

08/02/2025

Words aside, as we don’t work with horses, this is a really interesting illustration alone. It’s important to know the capabilities of the individual pet we’re working with and how well they meet our owners’ goals. This is why we include a prognosis within our reports.

Our pets are sentient beings; we can, of course, train to support them but we won’t forcibly mould them into something they’re not / that’s unfair to expect of them.

Wise words from Fed Up Fred

02/02/2025

Reactive Dog Classes for March/April 2025:

March 8th - 10:15, 11:15
March 22nd - 10:15, 11:15, 12:15
April 5th - 9:15, 10:15, 11:15
April 19th - 9:15 and 10:15

02/02/2025

We’ve been working with a few adolescent dogs at the moment with very big emotions. This is a nice little video just to share and let those know you’re not alone and management is absolutely suitable whilst you ride that teenage phase wave🐶😊

21/12/2024

That’s a wrap! Our last day today for 2024. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with all the dogs, cats and owners this year. We really appreciate everyone who chooses us in what is a very saturated industry!

We’ve had some really fabulous success stories this year! One of our final sessions is pictured below. This particular dog struggled with her interactions with dogs, especially after being attacked a few times! Today we were confident enough to let her off lead and make choices to interact, or not, with Benji our stooge dog. Apart from the warm-up at the start and settle-down at the end of the session, she spent the entire time off lead as we went for a mooch around. It was lovey to see her be brave enough to come over to Benji and enjoy herself! Although she can still be unsure of certain interactions, she copes so much better by now choosing to move away instead of reacting. Of course, her journey continues but I just wanted to highlight the hard word this particular client has put into supporting her needs.

Finally, OABT is not OABT without the help of some very special people too! A massive thank you to Charlotte for supporting us with the reactive sessions, of which without her, they wouldn’t be so relaxing for the dogs. A huge thank you to Cathie and Caz for not just volunteering, but adding valuable perspectives when discussing cases. Finally but certainly not least, Cerys at Blue Lemon Dog Training. She has done a fabulous job with puppy classes throughout the year, clearly being a positive force for owners! It’s also been lovely speak to her about the more academic side of our work.

Ryan will be taking a bit more of a backseat in the New Year to explore other ventures, but he will still support ongoing clients and take on fewer clients.

Thank you everyone! 🥰🐶