Dog Behaviour Consultation
We got Tilly 9 months ago, via a re-homing program run by a rescue centre. To start with everything was going well, but over the months without realising it at the time, our decisions were revolving around Tilly as she positioned herself in the household. She barked every time one of use left or returned home and she stopped walking away from the house, and walks were becoming a constant battle to the point we cut her walks from three a day when we first had her to two and then to just one evening walk a day. But that only worked as long as there were two of us walking her, but she rarely walked away from the house without a battle so in the end she was being carried away from the house and due to lack of exercise she was becoming heavier to pick up.
We were in two minds on whether to go to a dog training session or the behavioural therapist route. We decided against training sessions as Tilly behaves differently away from the home, so decided the best option was the behavioural therapist coming to our home.
As soon as Jo walked through the door she set to work and without realising it Tilly was controlling us and we were fitting into her life not her fitting into ours. After just three hours with Jo we had a different dog. Since Jo’s visit Tilly is now going for three walks a day and walks away from the house – no more being carried. Life around the house has changed too, as this was where the problems were beginning as Tilly was constantly following us around to make sure we were all there.
Tilly is now a different dog and I am sure that without Jo’s help we would still be struggling. We were very impressed with the work Jo did. She is now walking, because Jo taught us not to give in to her. Indoors is proving a bit harder, but we are persevering and are determined to win in the end and with Jo’s guidance it will help us achieve this. We just hadn’t realised until Jo visited and pointed it out how much we had given in to her and that she was ruling our lives.
Thank you for all your help!