Pixie the Pug

Today we kicked the day off with pixie the pug puppy.

Pixie struggles with a lot, basically, pixie reacts to the majority of events, whether that is a bird flying over, a car going past, noises, certain people, dogs, etc.

On the face of it, Pixie looks like she would be a difficult case, but when you see past the behavior, there’s a dog struggling to process what’s going on in the world around her. Her whole life has moved too quickly to take a step back and process what is going on, something I’m seeing more and more of with puppies.

Dogs need time to process the world around them, work out what requires a reaction and what’s normal, what’s scary, and what isn’t a threat.

For Pixie, we slowed her world down. Instead of letting her drive forward on the lead and build up frustration, we keep her moving in a figure of 8 patterns, gradually increasing the events around her in a way she could tolerate. We coupled this with counter conditioning, which is where you change the underlining emotion, not just changing behavior.

Pixie did brill, and with some consistent practice will be able to enjoy her walks again soon.

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.