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Meet Monty! He is a very loving cockapoo that is scared of life itself. Whether that is noises, movement, and even smells.
He has currently had 6 sessions with another trainer, who said he wasn’t dog reactive, even though he barks and lunges at dogs over the road, and instead of tackling that, did parkour with him. He also did a reactive dog classroom-based course where it sounds like he was forced into a state of learned helplessness.
Although environmental confidence is important for Monty, his relationship with his owner needs to come first. He needs to learn to rely on and focus on his owner before he will be able to be desensitized to the world around him. On top of this, he needs a dopamine release! This taps into a brain circuit called the SEEKING circuit and while there that is engaged, the FEAR and PANIC circuits aren’t.
We have started him on some basic focus games and counter conditioning and handling techniques which he picked up straight away and was awesome at!
There’s a long road ahead for Monty, but now he has the right guidance, will certainly get there!
Well done to his owner for continuing to reach out for help!
If this case sounds like your dog and you are having a similar issue, or a different issue entirely, book a FREE assessment call with us by clicking HERE.