Testimonial from Caroline & Michael with their dog Apollo.
First-time dog owners adopted handsome Apollo, but who was reactive and needed an expert holistic approach to help him deal better with the world around him.
Having adopted a dog in 2021, it became clear we were dealing with many challenges, and we quickly realised we needed expert support if we were going to help him and us! Having done hours of research on a behaviourist who might be able to help us, I reached out to Laura and booked a behavioural consultation. It’s hard to emphasise how much was riding on the consultation; as first-time dog owners with a reactive dog, we were massively out of our depth and didn’t know how we could make our situation work to give Apollo the life he deserved.
The consultation and subsequent report put everything into context for us and helped us to understand why Apollo exhibited the behaviours he did towards other dogs. It gave us recommendations for other avenues to pursue, including physio, as Apollo has three legs, and we needed to explore if pain was a contributing factor to his reactivity. The holistic approach recommended gave us a new perspective on how to care for a reactive dog and why he could be struggling.
After a few months of intense physio, quiet living to empty Apollo’s emotional bucket (that featured LOTS of secure fields!) and time to work on the beginnings of counter-conditioning, we were ready to return to one-to-one sessions with Laura and Sarah. He came on leaps and bounds and clearly saw he could cope with much more in just a few short months.
Now regulars at Training and Control classes, we continue to see Apollo make progress. These classes are an absolute godsend and absolutely pivotal in our reactivity training; the ability to be around other dogs in a calm, safe and understanding environment helps us make such strides in his training; he might not ever be the park run dog I wanted, but Laura has made us see that we can give him a safe and happy life doing things he can cope with whilst trying to expand his horizons in a way that is safe and ethical.
Living with a reactive dog is such a life adjustment, and it can be hard dealing with the outside world of judgment and harsh opinions from others when you know your dog is just having a hard time. Finding Dog Comm and their community have helped more than I think we can ever express. Laura’s expertise, empathy and pragmatism have been invaluable.
