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Home visits mean your dog is assessed and helped in a familiar environment
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What is a behaviour problem? A behaviour problem is anything which you are finding hard to cope with. Different people can tolerate different things and a puppy which is slow to housetrain may be no problem for one person, but a massive problem for someone else. Similarly some people have no problems being dragged around by their dog on the lead, but to someone else with a bad back this would not be so much fun! When is it too late to seek help with a behaviour problem? In reality it is never too late to get help as long as you are prepared to do what is necessary to make the changes. It is often much easier to make changes with newer habits as they are not so well developed and therefore easier to reverse, but long-standing problems can still be very sucessfully rehabilitated - and yes! you can teach old dogs new tricks!!
Ask for help as soon as you see something you are not comfortable with. It may be that with some problems you moniter the situation initially to see when the issue is occurring and if it isnt a one-off.
For example, your dog sometimes urinates on the carpet when you are out. If you establish it is happening regularly, or repeatedly you can then contact me with the information you have gathered about when the problem is occuring to help me to establish why it is happening and come and show you how to put it right.
With something frustrating, or potentially dangerous, such as aggression it is important to deal with issues as soon as you see them. Dont wait until it gets so serious you are too scared of your dog to work with them.
For example, your dog growls at your husband every time he tries to get into bed next to you
Dont laugh it off and ignore it. The week after it could be your child getting growled at and bitten and then it doesnt seem so harmless. Most rescues will not take them then because they see the problem as having gone too far, so many dogs are put to sleep at this point because the owner cannot bear the thought of being responsible for their child being hurt. This is a terrible decision to have to make and could have been avoided, yet it happens so often. The problem has usually been going on for some time, but people tend to hope it will go away, or just tolerate it as long as nobody is actually being hurt. By seeking help early on at the first signs of an issue there is a much better chance of changing the behaviour. You also have the benefit of time being on your side so you can work on the problem without worrying you are putting someone at risk. How long does it take to correct a behaviour problem? You do need to be realistic. Too often I get calls from people asking for help with a long-term problem and needing a solution immediately. There is very rarely such a sudden turnaround (although occasionally this can happen) and you need to be aware that a behaviour programme starts to turn things around over a period of time as you work with your dog.
If your dog has been chewing the old table in the kitchen for several months when you are out, but has now progressed to the brand new kitchen door, then the problem has been there for several months, but has just got worse in your eyes because the door is a bigger issue for you! To your dog it is just another item to use as an outlet for whatever he is feeling - boredom/frustration/anxiety. Just because it is now urgent for you to protect your brand new door does not mean it can be solved any faster than when he was chewing the old battered table!
The answer to this is to seek help for the early signs of a problem, rather than seeking help for the severity of it.
If your dog growls at your child occasionally, dont wait until they bite them for it to be classed as a problem - seek help for the growling as an early warning sign.
If your dog is chewing any furniture when you are out, seek help then - dont wait until he starts to chew something you find valuable. It is a problem for your dog or your self whatever he is chewing!
Your dog has a behaviour problem - how can I help? If you would like me to help with your problem please contact me by email or telephone so I can discuss the nature of the problem with you. I will not be able to solve the problem over the phone because I need to see your dog in his home environment to correctly assess the situation. It would be irresponsible and wrong to give advice without doing this. What happens next? After speaking to you on the telephone and taking some information from you about your dog and the problem, I can then arrange a home visit to come and assess and work with your dog. Lots more information is obtained by seeing the dog in their own environment where they feel comfortable. About the visit The consultation visit last around two hours and during that time I will explain your dogs behaviour and show you how to correct things which may be causing a problem. You can ask as many questions as you like and have other family members present, so everyone knows what to do. No harsh methods will be used during the consultation - only positive reward-based training. There will be lots of information given and demonstrations of tecniques. Included in the price of the consultation is a comprehensive and specially written training plan for you and your dog, detailing all the things we discuss and how to do the exercises. This helps to keep you on track after the consultation is over and to remind you of the instruction given to you.
Also included in the price of a consultation is telephone support for three months. This means you can phone me to ask any questions you may have about the training and I will ring you at set intervals to see how you are progressing.
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