24/08/2026
Catching up with Zeus 🐾
Earlier this year, I worked in a pretty casual capacity with Zeus on his exercise and mental enrichment requirements. Yesterday, I got to catch up with him again — this time for something a little different.
Zeus has recently started displaying some leash reactivity, particularly when being walked by his favourite person.
Zeus and Nikita have been through a lot together, and they share an incredibly strong bond. Sometimes, this can mean they unintentionally pick up on each other’s anxieties — particularly in leashed situations where Zeus may feel like he has limited options to create space or “get away.”
So rather than simply focusing on stopping the reaction itself, our session was about helping **both ends of the leash** feel more confident navigating these tricky situations.
We worked on recognising Zeus’s early body-language cues *before* he reaches the point of reacting, and gave Nikita some practical management skills for those moments when things do become a little too much.
We also introduced engage/disengage exercises, teaching Zeus that when he notices something that brings up those big feelings, he can disengage and redirect his attention back towards Nikita instead.
But a huge part of yesterday’s session was actually about **handler skills**.
We worked on helping Nikita feel more confident handling Zeus, staying calm when triggers appear, and knowing what to do *before* things escalate.
Their homework now? **Keep it easy.**
Rather than heading straight into busy environments full of dogs and people, they’ll be practising these skills somewhere quiet and low-pressure — building the habits and confidence they’ll eventually need when the environment gets harder.
Because sometimes dog training isn’t just about teaching the dog new skills.
Sometimes it’s about giving the person holding the leash the confidence and tools to say, “I know what to do here.”🤎