05/13/2025
What an incredible week in Santa Rosa, CA attending the Dog Reactivity Workshop, as hosted and instructed by the legendary Michael Ellis School for Dog Trainers / Co-hosted by the one and only . Meeting other trainers from around the nation was a blast, as we came together to share training challenges, unique strategies and novel solutions. I brought a dog with me (Scout, 3-yr-old English Springer Spaniel, Rescue, abused) that has become somewhat of a case study for me due to his spontaneous aggression that seemingly has no pattern or “trigger”. He graduated from our 4-Week Master’s program in May ‘24 And is fully trained to all commands. But the periodic outbursts of unprovoked aggression has had me on a year-long project to get to the bottom of a series of questions: is this dog reactive or aggressive? Can aggression be “fixed” in dogs that were severely abused in their early, developmental months of life? If so, to what extent? I will be adding/updating a special blog on our website about Scout and his endeavor to overcome trauma-induced aggression. Special thanks to Scout’s faithful owners for believing in him and entrusting Southeast Off Leash to seek out what is truly possible for dogs in this scenario.