Every dog is individual with its own feelings and goals. Even though the description of a behaviour such as barking at people or another dog might sound the same and, in some cases, look the same, and yet, the reasons often vary. The variation can be influenced by the primary reason of the individual dog, the feelings and reaction of the handler at that time, the environment the dog and the handler are in at that time, the learning and coping ability of the dog, how long has this behaviour been rehearsed, the consequences and many more.

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The Assessment

Before the actual training process can begin, we need some time to find out what is actually happening and what you would like to work on. To make this process easier on you and your dog, I will ask you all the questions I need beforehand in my intake form and consultation call. It is very important to me that you are as detailed and honest as possible, as this will really help me to see what is going on and understand you both better, the underlying issues and associated behaviours. There is absolutely no judgement on tools or methods used as I believe we all do what we can to our best knowledge at that time. And I am very grateful you are making the steps to further help your dog by asking for help.

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Once I have your form, I will have much better idea what to expect and we can now schedule our consultation assessment. This can be done via video call, face to face meeting or combination of both depending on your location and enquiry. Every situation is so different, and what suits one dog may not suit another. During our consultation assessment I am interested in how your dog communicates, solve easy tasks and problems, what makes them happy and what scares them. Often the unwanted behaviours are just clues and communication to the dog’s needs. In many cases I do not need to see the actual behaviour, especially if it is unsafe or stressful for the dog and humans. I would like to also prevent any further rehearsal of the unwanted behaviours right from the first meet together. Over the years I have seen many of similar behaviours and trough our collaboration we will have plenty clues to find out what is happening. I never work with your dog by pushing them purposely in to stressful situation as that significantly reduce their ability to learn. In more complex cases, that kind of stress can affect the dog for many hours or days making steps closer to your desired goal much harder. We will also dive deeper in to the basic plan for your foundations such as management to ease the stress and rehearsal of the unwanted behaviour, rewards, lead handling skills, body language, and supporting behaviours that will help us to start making steps towards the desired goals together. 

 

By the end of our first meeting, you will have the foundations of a behaviour plan for your dog and plenty to get on with, so I’ll leave you to make a start.

 

What is next?

As a part of the consultation, you will also get access to two weeks of unlimited feedback and questions via WhatApp (or email if you prefer) where you can tell me all about your progress, struggles, successes and raise any questions you might have. The aim is to make this process easy for you, make sure you are comfortable with the tasks, and have support with troubleshooting so you do not have to wait until another appointment to keep progressing.

 

It is important that the foundations are in place before moving on to next task. I can make tweaks and suggestions to keep you both on the right track, we do however need to stay engaged. My subsequent session or further package are more focused on working in specific way and environments in safe and controlled way and tailored to your dog’s pace.

 

My aim is to fully support you and work with you as closely as I can, and there are plenty ways how to reach me at any stage of your training. I truly want you to succeed and I’ll be relying on you to keep the training going between sessions, so the foundations can be made strong to build up on and the desired changes can be made permanent.

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The cost of the consultation

1. Stand alone consultation is £145 with £50 deposit payable upon agreement of pre-session phone call

2. If pain is suspected as contributing factor to the behaviour, additional gait analysis (Dynamic Dog Assessment) can be offered for £115

3. Consultation and 3 session follow up package £310

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What is included

Stand alone behaviour consultation is deep dive in to the history and cause of your dog's behaviour. The main focus is to build solid foundations that further modification and training can be build up on. This first steps are often the hardest as it requires time and commitment. 

1. History form analysis: this form is essential for me to get the first overview of the whole situation, the dog’s history, life and who they are and I take time to analyse all your answers throughly. 

2. Consultation call: Once I go over your form, I will then arrange a remote 60 min phone call to go through your answers and get to know you and your dog even better. We will look at the potential cause of your dog’s behaviour, application of management and foundations for modifications.

3. One In-person training session: With all the background information, I can then form a step by step plan and we can then meet face to face to put the necessary foundations and management in to practice. 

4. Plan of action notes: After our in person session, I will send you summary of action notes and what is necessary to practice and watch out for. 

5. 2 weeks of unlimited feedback: To allow you to put the steps in action and keep you on the right track, You can contact me with any questions or share feedback of your progress. Please note this is up to you to contact me and inform me of any changes and questions.

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After the two weeks from our initial consultation, subsequent individual sessions (or package beforehand) can be booked to progress further with any behaviour modification. Changing a behaviour is a journey not an event and sometimes it takes several months or even years to achieve desirable goals depending on the cause and severity of the struggles and your realistic goals. It also takes more than just teaching a dog few "skills". It often involves changing the dog's environment, diet, exercise and our own habbits in the way we do things.

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