I have been where you are

Does this sound familiar?

That feeling of frustration as your dog disappears into the distance yet again, seemingly ignoring their recall cue.

The embarrassment as your dog heads off in pursuit of something, taking no notice of what you are doing or saying.

Oh no! There’s a rabbit! And there goes your dog blindly chasing it, no matter how hard you try and stop them.

The stress and anxiety you feel not knowing how and when you are going to be able to get your dog back to you, or if they are going to get hurt.

It can seem like the whole world out there is more important, exciting, and interesting to your dog than anything you do or say.

‘Be more exciting’, ‘Don’t get mad at them’, ‘Use better treats’, ‘Keep them on a lead’, ‘Don’t walk near wildlife’, ‘Try this’, ‘Try that’, ‘Do this’.

One thing is always certain, you will never be short of advice on how to manage your dog’s recall.

You begin to feel desperate to make things better.
You will try advice from anyone, in a desperate attempt to try and fix your dog’s behaviour. You will do anything to try and stop yourself from feeling frazzled and you just want your dog to listen to you. You may even reach out to a local trainer or behaviourist. They claim to be able to help you turn your dog’s behaviour around in a matter of hours.

‘Great’, you think, ‘this is just what I need! Sign me up!’ 

But what follows isn’t what you had hoped for. You are left feeling as confused as ever, and your dog is showing little sign of any improvement. They are still ignoring you, disappearing when they’re off-lead, and choosing to interact with just about anything or anyone, except for you.

The truth is, there are lots of different training methods out there to choose from. Likewise, there are lots of different trainers out there for you to work with. So, not every trainer, or every method will suit you and your dog personally. Some may help a little, others may not help at all, and some may even make you take backwards steps, instead of helping you to move forwards.

This is something I have had first-hand experience with, having tried lots of different methods and trainers with Paddy. Some of these choices were not right for us, and didn’t help us, some helped a little, and others had us feeling like we took one step forward and 10 steps back again!

I have been where you are.

I have felt how you feel right now. I have been in your shoes with my own dog. But, instead of giving up and accepting that Paddy’s behaviour was never going to improve, I researched kind, effective training techniques. This is when I discovered Predation Substitute Training (PST) and it was like the missing link I had been looking for all along.

Finally, instead of trying to battle against my dog’s urges to chase and explore, I learned how I could work with him to build a strong partnership together. He needed me, as much as I needed him and there is now nothing that we cannot overcome when we work together. And let me tell you, it’s a fabulous feeling to be on the exact same page as your dog, working towards the same goals.

Not only have these methods helped to make my dog’s recall more reliable, but they have also strengthened the bond I share with him in the process. Double win!

Finally, a method that makes sense for humans & dogs!

Instead of us behaving like the ‘fun police’ and always trying to stop our dogs from enjoying themselves, PST teaches humans how to become invaluable partners to their dogs. This makes it much more likely for our dogs to trust us when they need support and guidance, instead of them trying to handle things alone.

And this makes so much sense! When you think about it logically, why would your dog want to come back to you if they see you as the ‘boring one’ who ends all the enjoyment, when they could simply just continue having fun?

Would you run towards someone and embrace them with open arms, if they always made you feel scared and stressed when you were around them? Or would you carry on minding your own business, and doing whatever you can to avoid going near to them?

Let me help you move forwards.

They say, ‘teamwork makes the dream work’ and this is certainly true when it comes to training your dog, which is why the PST training protocol may well be the key to a successful relationship with your dog, just like it was for myself and Paddy. This is why I incorporate my experiences into the training I offer today. It has inspired me so much, that I have made it my mission to help many other humans and dogs who are faced with the same issues as I was.

So, are you ready to lay the foundations for a happy, supportive relationship with your dog?

Get in touch today to see how I can help you.