From barely being able to leave the house to enjoying walks again.
When Lorna first contacted me, life with her 20 month old Border Collie had become incredibly difficult.
He was so frightened of the outside world that even going into the back garden to toilet could be a challenge.
Lorna and her family were struggling to know how to help him.
He was:
- Terrified of going outdoors.
- Often unable to leave the house comfortably.
- Shutting down completely when he became overwhelmed.
- Barking and snarling when fear tipped over into reactivity.
- Finding everyday sights, sounds and experiences outside extremely difficult to cope with.
By the time Lorna reached out, the family felt lost.
But this wasn’t a dog being difficult. This was a young Collie who simply didn’t feel safe. When a dog is frightened enough to shut down, bark, snarl or react, the behaviour we see on the outside is only part of the picture. Underneath it is an emotional response or fear, uncertainty and/or overwhelm.
Instead of focusing on stopping those behaviours, we needed to understand why they were happening in the first place. So that is where we started.
We looked at how he was experiencing the world around him and put together a structured plan designed to reduce the pressure he was feeling rather than continually asking him to cope with more than he could manage.
We:
- Reduced the amount of overwhelm he was experiencing.
- Worked at a level where he was able to feel safe and process what was around him.
- Helped Lorna recognise the subtle signs that told her how he was feeling.
- Gradually rebuilt his confidence around leaving the house.
- Introduced the outside world at a pace he could cope with.
- Gave him opportunities to make choices rather than forcing him through his fear.
And gradually, things began to change. The dog who could barely make it into his own back garden can now go out for short walks with minimal disruption (something Lorna says they genuinely never thought would be possible when we started working together).
There is still more progress to make. The next stage is gradually increasing the length of those walks while continuing to protect the confidence he has built. But that is the important thing about behavioural work. Progress doesn’t have to mean your dog can suddenly do everything.
Sometimes progress is walking through the front door.
Then reaching the end of the path.
Then managing a short walk.
Those small steps can represent an enormous change for a dog who once found the world terrifying.
And this story didn’t stop with one Collie.
Lorna has two younger Collies too, and as we worked together we began looking at their behaviour and the way all three dogs were influencing one another. By understanding each dog better and making changes within the home, the whole dynamic began to settle.
Life became calmer and more manageable. Lorna and her family began to feel that instead of constantly firefighting behaviour, they finally understood what their dogs needed from them.
That confidence in the human is just as important as the progress we see in the dog.
As Lorna said in her review:
“We finally feel like we understand them better and, more importantly, feel confident that we can continue helping them.”
That is exactly what I want families to take away from working with me.
Not dependence on a trainer.
Not a list of exercises you have to follow forever.
But the ability to look at your dog, understand what they are communicating and know how to support them when life becomes difficult.
Lorna and her family did the work.
They slowed things down when their Collie needed them to. They learned to see the fear underneath the behaviour. And they gave him the opportunity to discover that the outside world didn’t always have to feel so frightening.
The result is a young dog beginning to experience a life that, only a short time ago, seemed almost impossible. If you’re struggling just like Lorna was, don’t lose hope.
If getting your dog out of the front door feels impossible, if walks have become something you dread, or if fear and reactivity are beginning to take over everyday life, things can change.
We start with the dog in front of us, work out what they are trying to tell us and build from there.
If your dog is frightened of the world around them, please don't give up hope.
Where you are today does not have to be where you stay. Sometimes progress begins with something as small as helping a frightened dog feel safe enough to take that first step outside.