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This is Storm the Shih Tzu from South Shields.
Storm is massively reactive to pretty much everything - he’s very reactive to traffic, people, wheely bins, birds fly low above him, and dogs when he’s out as well. Interestingly, if the person speaks to him first, he doesn’t react, whereas if they don’t, that’s when he reacts to them. He’s also bit someone while he was out where he lunged at them randomly as they were walking past him and ripped their trousers. Storm has also gone for the groomers and the vets because he doesn’t like being touched or having his nails touched or his mouth checked. Other than this, he's actually a really nice dog once you've met him!
Storm and his owners live on a very busy road, so when he comes out of the house, he’s up a height from the moment he gets out. The plan is to teach him to focus on his owner and walk nicely at heel while coming out of the house, gradually reintroducing him to the road at the front while he has something else to do to take his mind off it. He currently really pulls on the lead to escape the traffic. We’re also counterconditioning the traffic, which means Storm gets a treat each time he sees a car. He’s very food motivated so this should work nicely with him. The owners are really stressed when they’re out with him on walks, especially since he’s bit someone, they’re worried that he’s going to bite someone again so it's super important that we get his behaviours under control, manage them from the start and teach Storm to cope with the outside world.
Storm had a very good session, the owners are great as well so he should do really well.
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