Do Reactive Dogs Ever Really Get Better? | LIVE Q&A

Hello everyone, anyone's there? I don't think anyone's here. I'm early today because I'm always late because this never lets me in on time. So we've got 2 minutes till it starts and I'm talking to myself. Hello. Hopefully someone will arrive in a minute. I'll just wait for people to join. Here we go, one person's online now. I'm early, no one expected that, did they? Because I'm always late because this never usually works when I log on. I'll wait for a couple more people to join before I start yammering on at everybody. Maybe clean this really dirty camera as well. That's nice, that. There we go. Ah, a few people here now. All right guys, usual setup. Let me know who you are. Let me know where you are. Don't make me feel like I'm just out here talking to myself for an hour. Um, talk to me in the chat. Tell me what your name is. Tell me what dog you've got. If you're struggling with your dog, talk to me about that. Ask me questions. Like I say, it's free, innit? So you might as well just ask questions. And get them answered because no one gives away free stuff that often anymore. I'll give everybody a couple of minutes to join. Tonight's topic is gonna be— oh, hi Shadow, always here. Thanks for joining, nice to see you. Oh, Canada. Wait. Yeah, Canada. What's your mountain dog called? I wish the chat allowed you to drop pictures in it. Hi, Helena. It would be more joyful if I could see photos of everyone's dogs. But if you know, if the mood takes you, you can drop them in a message to me on Instagram. Someone actually did do that from a live a couple of weeks ago. ago. Um, they dropped me some really cute pictures of their dog on Instagram. I think they're actually joining a boot camp soon in Leeds. Unfortunately, they're not coming to me because it was a very, very cute dog. Um, all right, well, the topic for tonight's live is, can my reactive dog actually ever get better? Do you know what, I should probably tell you who I am if you're watching this and you've never actually seen my face before. Um, I'm Kelly. I am the owner of South Coast Canine Academy, and we work the same as YCA in that we train reactive dogs, and we work exclusively with reactive dogs and their owners. Any breed, any age, any level of reactivity— if it's something that you're struggling with then get in contact with us and we'll do our best to help you if we can. Um, all right, I'll start yammering then. A German Shepherd from Sweden. Do you know what, it's always so fun to me that people are all over the world watching these. Thanks for tuning in. I've actually got some questions down here. So tonight's topic, like I said, if I could actually remember the PIN for my phone, Is, um, can my reactive dog ever actually get better? And if you already follow us on Instagram, there is an option usually on there today to— it'll be on every Tuesday— to drop in questions that you want answered. So you'll definitely get your questions answered. Um, so take advantage of it because it's free. Uh, all right. Is my dog too old to change? That's a super common question, actually a bit of a myth in itself. Um, dogs are never too old to change. I think the most common phrase is old dogs never learn new tricks, but that is totally not right. The only problem that you're really battling with, and a dog is older, is they've got lots and lots of history of rehearsal of that behaviour which you're trying to get rid of. So your score sheet with your dog's behavior is all the way up here in terms of them winning at doing the thing that you don't want them to do. You being able to stop it is all the way down here. So it can be harder to change and take longer for sure. Like, if your dog has been gobbing off at people every time you leave your house for the last 6 years, it's going to be a harder behavior to change than a dog that's only been doing that for 2 months, but absolutely not unfixable. And doesn't mean that just because of their age or the amount of time that they've been practicing the unwanted behavior that they can't change. It means that you might just have to work at communicating to them a bit harder than someone whose dog hasn't been doing it for ages. Um, is my rescue too broken to fix? I've got 2 of them, so no. No, I think this is probably a common theme with all the questions tonight really, is there is no dog that is too broken to fix unless it was like a serious like neurological issue with the dog. Like, those dogs are incredibly rare. I have personally never come across one. There are some dogs that are more challenging than others for sure, like, and like I was saying before, more dog— some dogs that have had like a long, long rehearsal of doing the thing that you don't like, um, that behavior forms like a neural pathway You'll never get rid of that pathway. You just need to work at building new ones that are stronger and better chosen behaviors so the dog stops picking that thing and starts picking the thing that you actually want them to do. Which, to be honest, in terms of reactivity, there's only a handful of things you don't really want your dog to do. Gob off at people and dogs. put teeth on people and dogs, chase kids, chase traffic, chase livestock. There's not that many things in life that dogs simply cannot do. It's much easier to be able to communicate to them, hey, those few things are off the table, rather than spending years and years and years teaching your dog 200 other alternative behaviors and paying into this and this and that and the other, and then just leaving them in that gray space where they have no idea what it is they're not supposed to do. You'll get to, to be where you want to be with your dog much quicker if you're able to tell them there's just this handful of stuff you can't do, that pick something else. Um, I think the thing about rescue dogs, people hold on to their past far more than they should, and it keeps the dog stuck In that space because you can't recognize that yes, they did need rescuing, but they don't need it anymore. You've already rescued them. They already have the potential of a new lovely life. Like, they're not living in a horrible situation anymore. You're not going to let anything bad happen to them. But because they've had a bad start in life, you don't want to tell them that there are things that they cannot do because you want to just wrap them in bubble wrap and make everything amazing and shiny and sparkly. But unfortunately, that isn't a very clear picture for a dog, and it really holds them back. Like, their past doesn't define who they are as a dog. It's definitely part of their story, and it's all something really helpful to know when we're Working with a rescue dog, but it's not who they are and shouldn't be who they are forever. Like, stop holding on to those things and start helping them see that they are confident and they can't— they are capable and they can do hard things. If they're like, oh no, scared, don't want to do that, or like can't walk through a puddle, Can't go in a coffee shop, can't be near another dog, can't get up on the sofa. Like, help them build that communication system with them, show them that they can, because those little small things stack up over time. Even if it seems like something stupid, like walking through a puddle or like jumping up onto a bench or like an unknown surface, it seems ridiculous and small and stupid, but it's something that the dog's like, nah, I can't do that. You show them that they can. Those little things build up over time, and then they're like, oh, when it comes to the bigger stuff, they're like, I have done hard things before. Maybe I can do this. Maybe I will experiment. Maybe I'll try. I trust you to help me. And then work through it together, build them up, and then expand their world. You want to give them the most full life you possibly can, but you can't do that if you keep keep them stuck in this tiny space where they start believing they're not capable of doing anything. Jesus Christ, I proper go off on tangents, don't I? My dog's 6 and has been reactive all her life. Can she really change? Yeah, of course she can really change. Like, like I was saying before, your dog has a history of rehearsal, like How— you've had her since a puppy. She's been doing things you don't like since she was 6— 4, 6 years, sorry. So there's a lot of rehearsal of unwanted behavior there, but it's definitely not something that you can't change. You just need to change the way that you communicate with her. She wouldn't do the stuff you didn't like If she knew it wasn't what you wanted or it wasn't what she was supposed to do. I think that's the biggest thing, is like, we don't— lots of people don't have that way to say to the dog in a way that they actually understand, hey, that thing you just did right there, that was wrong, don't do that again. Um, so it's about building that with A long-standing reactive dog, and then getting them out and getting them out in those situations and showing them in multiple different locations. Dogs are like shit at generalizing. That's why people often, when they have like a younger dog, you're trying to teach your dog something, you're like, oh yeah, well, they know, they know down, they definitely know it because they do it all the time in the house, they do it all in the garden, but as soon as we go out the house, like out the window, they just won't do it. It's like they've never heard the word before. Dogs learn in pictures, and it's just that your picture hasn't been generalized for the dog enough to see that thing happen in enough different spaces for them to be like, oh, everywhere. And that's the challenge that people run into. So making sure that once you have your foundations there, that you start getting out and you start experiencing things and you start showing your dog in a way they understand That was right, that was wrong, in lots and lots of different locations. Difference between reactive and proactive? Probably in, in the old name there. Reactive, doing things reactively in the moment to how your dog is responding to certain things. Proactive, showing your dog before the thing happens, this is unacceptable before you put them in the situation when they do the thing. In terms of like reactivity training, I think the, the space in which people go wrong most commonly is that they think they have a way to make behavior go away, and they just do it straight away in front of the thing that the dog Doesn't like or is reactive to. And you run the risk there, especially if reactivity comes from a place of fear, that the dog was like, I'm reactive because I'm scared and I hate the thing. Now you do the thing, now I get punishment in front of that thing too. Now I double hate that. You need to make sure that you're practicing stuff outside of triggers first before you introduce them, so you mitigate that risk. So the dog knows, uh, I've seen this picture before, it wasn't anything to do with the— um, I was gonna say subject. I've lost my words again today. I should probably stop doing these at 5. It's right before dinner time. Um, in front of the Right, I hate it, but I'm just gonna say trigger. Um, it's nothing to do with the trigger because I've seen this picture before with whatever it was that we practiced around a novel thing. It was what I was doing in the moment that got me that. So how about I don't do that thing anymore? And that's being proactive, and that's mitigating risk. Rather than trying to just put your dog in front of the thing and freeball it and hope for the best. Uh, does it make sense that a dog can have better obedience off lead than on lead? Thanks from New York. Fun in New York! After playing tug according to your standards, my dog will not lose it anymore, but he still gets a little excited when seeing another dog. After playing tug, um, give me a little bit of context there. Like, when you say, yeah, for sure obedience can be better off lead than on lead, your dog's just seen it in the context of not having a lead on more than they've seen it in the context of having a lead on. When you say obedience, what exactly are you talking about? Are you— do you mean your dog is like less reactive off lead than on lead? Because yeah, for sure, like that's a super common thing when the dog has more liberty to move away and to create space on their own. Loads of dogs are better with that, but then when they're on a lead, they're stuck on this short amount of space, there is nowhere for them to just move if they want to get away or create space on their own. So with that, they're left with fight, which is where the reactivity comes from. It can also be to do with frustration. If your dog is off lead and just going up to dogs and saying hi all the time, Doing whatever they want, and then all of a sudden when they're on the lead, they're like, oh, my pal over there, I always go and say hi to that dog. And then suddenly they're on this lead and you're like, nah, because we're like going home now, or like, I've got to go and catch a bus or catch a train or do whatever, we've got to go. Then they're like, no, because I always get to go and say dogs, now I'm frustrated, now I react. So— His recall is perfect even if he sees another dog and responds to my verbal hand Or dog whistle commands. Okay. Are you— well, with your recall, you don't ideally— you don't really want to have a verbal, a, a visual, and a whistle cue. It's got to be just one. It'll be much clearer to your dog. Like, if recall is 3 different things, that's really hard to For the dog to nail down, I would pick one, your strongest one. If all 3 are okay, I would just pick one and stick to that. Um, I personally don't love whistles just because it's another thing to have to carry when you go out. Like, you're never gonna lose your words, so I would always pick a verbal. Also, like, with a hand signal, like, your dog's always going to be facing you. I wouldn't have a combination. Uh, still gets— okay, I would personally pick your verbal cue then if all of your— if all of those things are strong. Like, if your dog's running away from you and you put your hand up, they're not going to see you, so it's not what I would pick. Um, I would definitely go with your verbal cue and just stick to that. Stick to one thing and Make it always mean the same. Um, in terms of like playing tug, what, what do you mean? Like after playing tug, your dog won't lose it in terms of like being reactive to other dogs, but he still gets a bit excited? If like you're used— so are you using play Okay, so you're using play to drain your dog's tank, give them a nice avenue in which they can put stuff and like be silly and do all the things that they like doing— barking, jumping— draining the tank a bit there. But then when you go out, he still is not reactive but still a bit excited when seeing another dog. I would say that will be down to putting your Play into windows of opportunity, so you have a clear marker. That's fine. Yeah, I mean you can build obedience in with play. That's totally fine. It's a nice way to teach things, but you need to have a clear window to open your play. So I say to my dogs ready and a clear window which closes play. I say enough. Some people say all done. It doesn't matter what you say, pick whatever you want, just make it mean that the game is over. If when he sees another dog he's getting excited but he's not yet committing a crime, i.e., lunging, barking, snapping, he's just getting a little whiny or a little like silly and goofy, then you could, um, if it's whining, I would use an end of Play cue. So if I say enough to my dogs, if I'm walking down the street then and my dog's just whinging and whinging and whinging as we're walking along, but it's not going anywhere, he's not done anything wrong, I would say, okay, enough. And you can translate that out into other areas of training. None of that, not even whining. What do you mean then with getting excited around another dog, like when they're playing, when they're meeting another dog, like being too over the top? Um, let me know what you mean with, with getting overexcited with other dogs. And yeah, Helena says that obedience only really works for a while. The thing about using obedience is it's just a form of management. You're— the only thing that you're making better when you use obedience to manage reactivity is your obedience. If you put your dog into a sit every time they— a dog goes by, fine, you've made your sit really strong. They're in behavior. You put them in a down, you put them in a heel, they're always going to be in behavior. They're not freely making choice, they're doing a job. So you're putting a plaster on a problem because then you still can't trust that dog be at liberty around other dogs because they still don't understand what's right and what's wrong. They can only get through the situation if you give them a job to do to get past it. At liberty, they might still make the wrong choice, and that's where a lot of people go wrong. So yeah, obedience is only going to have a short shelf life because you'll never be able to fully 100% manage your dog every single time. Like, what if the dog What if your dog sees the dog before you do? What if the other dog comes out of nowhere before you see it? Um, your obedience only works if you can micromanage every single interaction your dog ever has, which is completely unrealistic, and eventually you will have a blow-up. So stop focusing on obedience, start focusing on communication. Uh, he can be heeling by my side but sees another dog and then starts to walk ahead of me a bit. And has also turned to look after a dog has already passed. I mean, none of that sounds like a crime. Like, he's allowed to look at other dogs. He can't lunge towards other dogs— that would be a crime. Um, if he's in a heel and then he starts to walk a bit ahead of you, then he's no longer in a heel. He's forged out of it. So again, it sounds like you're using obedience to get through things. Um, giving him a behavior to do, but that's not working because he'll break behavior. He doesn't understand that he's like— his obedience isn't that strong if he'll forge out in front or he'll break the heel to turn and look at the other dog. Um, but looking at other dogs isn't a crime. He can look, he can't lunge. Uh, my housing situation makes it nearly impossible for my dog not to run into their trigger every day. Yeah, I mean, that's a super common problem that people run into, especially people that live in like busier, more populated areas, or in even in like a suburb where, yeah, there's loads of houses, everyone's got dogs. You can never not pass one. I live in a row house and don't have a yard, so I have to take her down the street to the closest place she can go to the toilet. We've got a dog like here that this week were fine as long as they can manage it and take her up out into fields and hills where they're not going to see anyone, or that they're a really long distance away from dogs, but they don't have a garden, so they can't not run into dogs every single night when they're taking the dog out to toilet. Um, it's an annoying problem to have in terms of like management, but to you I would say, do you want to manage your dog for the rest of your life? Like, you want her to be in those situations? I'm assuming your dog is a her, by the way. It might be a he, sorry. Um, I'm assuming that you want your dog to be able to cope in those situations. Like, that's the house you live in. Maybe that's the house that you're always going to live in. or the house that you will always live in with that dog. It's no life for you if every single day you're head on a swivel looking out like a sniper for any single dog that might come into contact with your dog. Um, that's the sort of dog that we work with every single day at, at YCA, week in, week out. YCA South Coast. YCA do it too, but I'm plugging South Coast. Um, have a chat with our team. I think there's a link in the chat there to book a call. Again, always plug in the freebies. The calls are free, so they're half an hour. It's a chance for you to have a chat with people who are experienced and deal with these kind of dogs every day. Give us a bit more background on like what type of thing you're— what sort of reactivity you're working with. Like, tell us as much as you possibly can about your dog and it will help us to help you. If we have something that can help, we will help you. So, um, I would say have a, have a chat. I've done a lot of work with her in other situations and she's come a long way, but it's in my home area that it's a problem. Yeah. Like, have a talk to us. Maybe we'll have, um, maybe we'll be able to get you into a boot camp. Maybe it's the sort of dog that we could work with. Like, we only take on people that we think that we can definitely help. So have a chat with one of our team, and if we think we can and we can find you a spot, then we'll absolutely take you on and get you to the point where you can just be in your own area with your dog again and it's not going to be stressful. Um, super social 14-month-old working lab, well trained— trained well in the sense of great recall, solid down, good markers, breaks when told, but is always on, doesn't truly rest unless we're out. How would you approach encouraging calm, helping switch off whilst out of behavior? No crimes or activity, but follows room to room at home. Whine and almost vibrate with excitement pre-walk. So that's a dog that just doesn't know how to come down off the mountain. I'd say there's 2 elements of things that you could do with a dog like that. If you don't already, 100%, I would be getting that dog crate trained, um, giving it a super clear area where it's just like, you've come in from a walk, you've been fed, I know you've been exercised, I've played with you, your tanks are drained, you've had every single need met. Now I need you to sleep. All I'm saying is you've got to do it there. So they don't— they get the opportunity to actually switch off properly and not be the sort of dog that your Lab sounds like, where they're always one eye open. What's that noise? Where are you going? Is someone going upstairs? Can I come with you? Who was that at the door? Did you hear that past the window? They're never truly resting, and they're never truly coming back down to a more grounded state. They're always vibrating somewhere up here, and it's just that one thing that could eventually become reactivity because the dog's just doing and doing and doing and doing, doing, and never actually learning to switch off. I think that's a really, really common problem with people, especially with Work in line dogs, they have certain needs in terms of exercise and genetic fulfillment, but they don't know how to actually just switch off because we've never taught them. And you never think about it being something that you actually have to teach a dog, but lots of dogs really struggle with it. So like my Big dog chance when I first got him, could not switch off in the house. Like he was just up down, up down. What you doing? Where you going? Da da da da. Fizzy all the time, and a bit of a pain in the ass. So I he was crate trained anyway. So I did utilize the crate, but eventually I farmed that out. Although he still sleeps in a crate in the evening during the day when we're at work, I farmed it out to tethering in the house. So Using a lead, tying him to an immovable piece of furniture, my sofa. He had come in from a walk, I played with him, I knew all his needs were met. I popped him on a lead, tied him to the sofa, and let him work it out. And for the first time I ever did it, he's up, down, up, down, this way, that way, get up, spin around, get up, spin around again, sit up, lay down. But eventually he realized, I can do all that stuff. I've got this much room to do it in, and it's kind of boring and nothing's going on, I might as well just rest. And then as like a week or so went on, we came home from a walk, he went on his lead tied to the sofa, and he instantly just switched off and laid down and went to sleep because he's like, oh yeah, I know what you're doing here, you want me to chill out and go sleep, fine. It's something that you'll have to work on. But not just thinking that giving a dog like that more and more and more and more will be the thing that helps them rest and learn how to switch off, because you're just going to create an athlete and a dog that needs more and more and more and more. Like when you do Couch to 5K, like when you started, you could do like 1.5K, seemed like probably can't even walk it. Then you get to 5K and it doesn't meet your needs anymore because you're like, oh no, I'm, I'm fitter and stronger now, I need to do like 7K for it to be a satisfying run. Then it's 10K and then you need to go further or faster. Same for dogs. If you keep giving them more, they will just always need more. You need to teach that dog how to switch off. So utilizing things like crates and tethering is going to be really, really helpful for you. Um, I rescued him a year ago. He didn't come with that problem, but he was attacked 3 times by other off-lead dogs. Oh, that's— yeah, that sucks. Really shit. Um, but really, really shitty situation that he's been attacked by 3 off-lead dogs. But don't let the defining thing of him— don't let him sit in— if it's fearful, don't let him sit in that fearful state. Show him that it was just those 3 dogs. Most dogs are fine. Help him in terms of resocialization. Help him with his confidence building, which it sounds like you do already with your play. Just make sure that you put your play in windows, build some structure around that, and then get him out, get him around dogs. Because if he sees dogs all the time, and it was just them 3, you know, you've probably had run-ins with people in your life where you're like, that person was a knob. But I know not all people are knobs, just that one, because I meet loads of people in my life. Same for dogs. Can have a bad interaction and come off on the other side of it. So like, oh yeah, well, it's probably just that dog though, because like I see dogs every day and it's mostly they're just fine. We just walk on by each other, no, no fuss, no muss. So don't let that, that thing that happened that was rubbish, or those 3 things that happened that was rubbish, be the defining thing. I've done a lot of work with her in our situation. She's come a long way, but it's in my home area. Oh, sorry, I already read that. Boot camp works. Don't think about it. My dog is living his best life. Send 2 fingers up to the vet and the other trainer. Thanks, Elena, always my cheerleader. Yeah, we work with dogs every week like the dogs That you guys are describing and get them off lead, get them living a better, bigger life, get them doing things with you guys. Like, that's the reason you get a dog, right? That you want to take them with you. They're your best pal, and they don't get to live forever, even though we wish that they did. I was saying to my husband last night, isn't it so mad that, like, These— that dogs are just so amazing and they only get to live that like short little life. How do that— how is that a thing? It's 2026, can't we just make dogs live forever? Um, but you want to give them the best of the years that you get to spend together, so don't waste time Trying things that are going to take you— like, many roads lead to Rome, right? You could try something that would take you 2 years and eventually it will work fine, but that's— I'm really bad at maths. That's a year, nearly 2 years longer than it would take you to get to the point where you could if you came And worked with us on a boot camp. We want to get dogs off lead living a better and a bigger life as quickly as we possibly can, because why waste time doing things inch by inch by inch, like an hour with a trainer here, an hour with a trainer there, setbacks in between? Yeah, okay, fine, it's a compact week and For some people it's faff because you have to take time off work and you have to arrange childcare and things like that, but it's 5 days of the whole of your dog's life and then you've just done it. And then you can go out and you can start living the life that you thought you were gonna live with your dog when you brought them home. I think that's really the best thing about it, is like loads of people are like, is this really gonna work in 5 days? Like, my dog's been doing it for X amount of years, or like, my dog's reactivity is so bad and so intense, is this really going to work in 5 days? Like, yeah, like, read the reviews, look at the testimonials from the people that we've worked with. It does work. And those dogs are now— their world was this big and now it's this big. They're out there doing everything and they're living the life that Their owners wanted to live with them for so long. Perfect, makes sense. I was gonna ask if back tying would be a suitable alternative. That's super helpful. Yeah, no worries. Yeah, sure, back tying. Just make sure that, like, don't know how big your lab is, but obviously it needs to be something that they can't move. You can't really tie them to like a dining chair if it's like a really light one, only to have them drag it across the lounge to be like, no, not staying here now, I come with you. There just needs to be a heavier piece of furniture for a bigger dog. Thanks for your info. Hard to find a trainer out here who has a balanced approach. A treats-only trainer ruined the critical puppy training period, so I'm playing catch-up. Um, whereabouts in the world are you? Let me know. And I'm really sorry if you did already let me know and I've missed it. Um, our boot camps are in person, but we do also offer an online training course called Training with Instinct. Loads of people across the world that can't make it to our boot camps in person use our online training course. You still get access to trainers, you still get access to live Q&As, you get access to our entire internet library of step-by-step videos, um, and it's a really really good option for people that can't make an in-person boot camp. It is slightly longer obviously than the 5-day intensive because you're not working with a trainer and you're not gonna probably spend 30 hours in one week doing it. Um, but it is a really, really good option for, um, for people that can't make it in person. But we do have a lot of training centers globally now. So we've got South Coast, obviously South Coast of England, YCA, the original, up in Leeds, and then we've got Perth Canine Academy for people in Australia. Are you allowed dogs on planes in Australia? Probably. If you are and you're anywhere in Australia, hop on a plane and get over to them. Adam and Brody and their team are sick trainers, so Um, that'd be great. And now we also have North California in Sacramento. I think it's in Sacramento. Tell me if I'm wrong. I think it is. Um, Sam and her team are also a really good group of amazing trainers. Um, so near Vancouver. Can you take a dog in a plane from Vancouver to California. Crazier things have happened. We've had people come here from Finland, so, um, and like all over Europe. But like I said, we do have that Training with Instinct option available. Um, have a chat, use the link that's on the bottom there to have a chat with one of our trainers. We'll be able to talk through exactly what's Like I said, what's going on there, get a bit of history on you guys and see where you're at, and we'll be able to point you in the direction of the, like, best fit in terms of training program for you if we have something that's suitable for your dog. It's also half an hour free chat, so I would just book on a call with someone from the team and they'll be able to point you in the right direction. Where's Jacob? He's— is he still teaching? I was wanting some sessions again with him. We don't offer any one-to-one sessions Anymore because we have found that the results that we can get for people with our boot camp style model just like far exceeds any results that we were ever able to get with one-to-one training or board and trains. Like, the results last because you are here with your dog the whole time. Outside of the 10 till 4 when you're here Monday to Friday, you're not making mistakes because you're here with us nitpicking you all day. And then obviously by the time you go home, your dog doesn't need to go out for a walk, um, because they're tired, they've had their full day's exercise, they're all absolutely beat from the learning that they do when they come here. And across 30 hours of a week Those handling skills become more second nature to you. You're on the end of the lead the whole time. It's very, very rare that you'll ever see one of our team pick up the lead, so that muscle memory is there by the time you get home. Like doing an intensive driving course as opposed to like doing a few lessons with an actual qualified driving instructor and then yopping around the streets with your mum. you're going to pick up bad habits there, and those bad habits, then your driving instructor has to unpick them. They might cause you to fail your test. When you do an intensive course for a week, you never get the opportunity to make mistakes, and that's the beauty of boot camp. You don't get the opportunity to make those mistakes. We're always eyes on watching you, guiding you through loads of different situations in the real world. Around things that you will experience when you get home. So by the time you get back, that muscle memory is there. When life throws you a curveball, you're like, oh yeah, I've done that before. I know how I'm going to deal with it. I know exactly what to do. You're not like, oh God, we only— we haven't even covered that in training yet. And now I'm out on this walk and this thing happened and we're not quite there. And you have these little setbacks. Again, Rambling, aren't I? Uh, so no, we don't do one-to-one sessions anymore, um, but reach out to our team and like let us know what is, um, what's going on with you and your dog, and we'll be able to point you in the right direction of like where we can help you there, especially if you've worked with us before. Max the Border Collie here, 3 months post boot camp, had my 7th birthday on Tuesday of boot camp. Oh, that's so special! First time off lead in the park, I wouldn't leave my chimpanzee to practice recall. Uh, how— what— tell us about the adventures that you've been on since boot camp, like how are you finding life since you left? Did you do, um, I guess you did your boot camp in Leeds if you're 3 months post, because we've only been here Nearly three months now, actually. June, July, August. Oh, we have been here three months. Tell us about what you've been up to. I can drive to California, but crossing the border with an animal has become a bit more tricky lately. Oh God! Why do they make everything such a faff? It's so annoying, isn't it? I used to love taking my dogs over to France, but that's a real faff now. They've taken away the passport thing, and you have to. pay for those really expensive pet thingies. Yeah, like I said, I think probably the best option for you would be to have a chat with one of the team. Like, they'll be able to— maybe they would even know. Some— someone might know about, like, getting across the border with an animal from Canada. I don't know because I never done it, but maybe someone get you there. Let's see what the questions we've got here. Can't remember my password. Right, I got. definitely had some more questions on here for you from you guys, and I should answer them because you've taken the time to ask them. I've tried 3 trainers— trainers— tried 3 trainers. I don't know why I went Australian. I've tried 3 trainers already. Why would this work? Usually the people that come to us on boot camp, we aren't their first stop on their training journey. They've usually been through a couple of trainers, uh, before us and tried things that didn't work for them before. Um, I think usually there's a piece missing of the puzzle for most people in terms of having that clarity of communication with the dog. Um, you've tried things potentially That you thought worked in the moment, but they weren't lasting. You've done one-to-one sessions, but the progress was slow, um, or non-existent. There were a lot of setbacks. It's taking you too long, so you dwindle off because you can't— you don't have the time to constantly be doing it day in, day out for 8, 9 months, or however long it's going to take. Um, sometimes the personality of a trainer just doesn't gel with you. Like, not everyone is for everyone. But I think the biggest problem and the reason why our training is different is like what I was saying earlier, in that you don't get the time between sessions to make the mistakes, and you are the one training your dog just under our guidance. We're not picking up your lead for you. We're not micromanaging you towards the back end of the week. You have the skills. We want you to start learning and doing things for yourselves. So yes, there is absolutely an element that we want to help you navigate stuff, but we don't handhold, um, we don't manage you in terms of picking up the lead once you get back home. Unlike training that you've probably tried before, the room for error is just so marginal because you've experienced so much in the time that you've been here with us. And we've helped you to help your dog generalize those things because it's not just training in a training center and then going to the same field or going to the rent-a-field or Going to that one spot near your house, and that's just where the trainer always meets you. We do the beginning of the week here, but then from Wednesday onwards, we're hardly ever at the training center because you don't live at a training center. That's not your real life. You've got the skills now, you need to put them to good use. So we try and get you out around as many things as we possibly can— busy parks, forests, pubs, cafes, runners, getting rushed by off-lead dogs, wildlife, kids, cyclists, traffic— all the stuff that you're gonna see in your real life. We help your dog to generalize behavior around all of it, um, and I think that's the reason, another reason why it works so well. And that's probably what makes this training a bit different to stuff that you've done before is that like, yeah, maybe your trainer has told you to go out and generalize that stuff, but you weren't doing it under any guidance, so your timing's a little bit off, or, um, there are things that you miss or slight nuances and things that you get slightly wrong that we help to nitpick you over those things so you're really good at it by the time you get back. Uh, leads. Yes, you were trying to get me to be more confident by the pond when we were jumped by a Chihuahua. Far less reactive but not neutral quite yet. Doing 2 hours off lead a day and been to the beach. Oh, that's so nice. I think that's usually one of the— wait, was— do you mean was I there with you? Um, 3 months ago. Was I there with you? Let me know if it was actually me, and I'm really sorry if I don't remember you. Um, I feel like I would— oh, Max, I do remember you! And that wasn't a Chihuahua, that was a Frenchie. And there was another dog, maybe it was a Chihuahua that was with them. There was 2 of them Yeah, and Max did amazing. We were walking and this woman just— again, this is the beauty of boot camp, like, it's good that that stuff happens— got completely rushed by 2 off-lead dogs. Woman couldn't get them back. Max handled it absolutely amazingly. Oh, I'm so happy that you got down to the beach. Well done, that's lovely. I hope you sent pictures to the group. Um, I think that's one of the things that we get lots of boot campers say is that their first— like when we say, where's the first place you're going to take your dog? They're like, we're going to take them down to the beach. That's the goal. Like we want to get them to the beach, or we want to get them to like Sunday roast with the kids and our family down at the pub. Um, yeah, adjusting my collar. No worries, I think you're right. Ah, that's so nice to hear from you. Um, if you follow us on Instagram, send me some pictures of Max. I'd love to see what he's been getting up to. Sorry, I had to step away for 2 minutes. Did you answer the question about TV reactivity about 6 messages above? Oh no, have I— what, have I missed messages? If you did, I'll go back later and rewatch. I will go back and find out All right, okay, here we go. Quick question, and I admit I haven't spent the time trying to solve this, which is arguably the real problem, but quick wins for reactivity towards animals, but specifically on the TV? You need to make sure that you have a clear punishment marker for your dog, um, that you're— so you're able to tell them the exact moment that they got it wrong when they barked at the TV. Um, if you don't have that, you will just be constantly interrupting your dog, i.e., using some form of pressure to guide them away, uh, or managing them until you can work with someone who can teach you a clear punishment marker. I wonder who that might be. Um, I know that your dog is 14 months and has like lots and lots of good obedience and stuff like that, but a boot camp could potentially be a really a good fit with you. I think it was a really nice question that someone asked earlier about the difference between reactive and proactive. We get lots of dogs here that aren't like— they're not aggressive, they're not lunging, barking, snapping at things, but their owners are struggling with the sorts of things that you're struggling with, like having an off switch, being able to tell them when they're getting it wrong, being able to calm them down. Um, recall not being 100% reliable. I think there's a lot of stuff throughout the week that's really applicable and helpful to younger dogs in terms of being proactive and getting them to a point where, yeah, there's nothing there going on now, but should something crop up in the future, you already have that communication system there where you're able to give them the appropriate feedback. And nip something in the bud if it does crop up. So, um, use the, the link that's at the bottom of this page and have a chat with one of our team. Like, I think a lot of the boot camp, especially in terms of being able to stop behavior like that with reactivity towards animals on the TV, um, will be really, really helpful for you. Once you've done boot camp, you can teach fun things like play dead and sit pretty. Oh, Helena, send me a video if you taught Ozzy to sit pretty. That's well cute. Let's see if we've got any more questions whilst we've got nine minutes left to go. Do do do do. I've really got that song in my head today. You know that one that goes, "How do you like your eggs?" Eggs in the morning, I like mine with a kiss. That one. Let me know. See, Harrison knows. Um, my vet said I should avoid dogs for life. Is that true? No, that is just management, and that is unrealistic management unless you are going to live on a desolate island where there will never be another dog. That is physically impossible. Possible. There will always be a dog. Like, everyone's got a dog these days. Um, there is a case for management in the beginning of reactivity training in terms of stopping your dog being able to rehearse any of the unwanted behavior that you want to go away, um, whilst you're putting in that foundational work, but it's not problem solver. Avoiding dogs— also, like, a vet has told you to avoid dogs. Okay, are they gonna close the vets then for you to go in when your dog needs to go to the vets, or are you just gonna book a private appointment where they chop you in through one door and chuck you out the back door and hope that your dog doesn't see another dog on the way out? Um, it's completely unrealistic and We've got a course for that if you're struggling, so I'd encourage you to get in touch. And also, don't take that advice. You can't take that advice anyway because you can't avoid dogs. So, 7 years on a lead before boot camp. No pictures please, I'm too modest. Can't praise boot camp enough, but fried my brain. Wouldn't go back to life before that. I like a raw egg on my breakfast. Raw? Grim! Oh, come on, don't tell me you're one of those people that like puts a raw egg in a smoothie. Yuck! Raw? Surely you're poached. Poached or scrambled for me. Will an e-collar make my dog more nervous? No, it won't if you teach it correctly. If you go back last week, I actually did an entire livestream on e-collars and the use of e-collars in training. But, um, using an e-collar, if you use it correctly, is just another form of pressure. And helping a dog that is already nervous learn how to yield to pressure and how to overcome pressure is amazing for confidence building. It's a small obstacle that they're able to overcome and work through with you, showing them that they can do things that they find difficult. Um, it also will give your dog off-lead freedom so that you're able to get your dog out in the world because you know when you need to get them back, you can call them back. You can breed curiosity there. They can get involved in the environment. They can experience a lot of new things. And that will only add to their confidence, not break it. Just make sure that if you are going to use an e-collar in training, that you are working with a decent trainer and that you are able to see results that they have got for a dog that is like your dog. If your dog is nervy, talk to the trainer that you're thinking about working with. Have they worked with a nervy dog like yours before? Can they show you proof that it has worked with their dog and the results they've been able to get with that dog. Don't just believe someone when they, when they say, yeah, yeah, I train in collar, I'll be fine, take you on. Um, and then you're left with your dog that has an unclear picture of what that pressure means. There was no foundational work done ever there. Um, there is no tool on the planet that you can just slap onto a dog and like poof, everything has just magically gone away. The tool works like a catalyst in training. It can propel you to where you want to be, but the tool itself does not fix the problem. You still have to teach the dog something. So make sure that you're not— bloody, I'm on another fucking tangent, aren't I? Just make sure that you're working with someone decent, basically. And no, it won't make your dog more nervous. Um, does my dog really need to be off lead? He's so reactive, so it feels risky. Getting dogs off lead safely is like one of the things that we focus on as like a primary objective from the minute any dog comes to one of our boot camps, because Dogs aren't meant to spend life on the end of a 6-foot lead. They need to have time to be able to move their bodies freely, explore the environment, use their nose, see stuff, hear stuff, feel stuff. Um, without that, they're— you're never going to be able to drain that tank fully for the dog. And it isn't the whole picture for sure. It's part of it, but it's a big part of it. So draining that tank for your dog and giving them the ability to get off lead safely because you know when you need to call them back, they are coming back, is a huge piece of the picture. But it needs to be in conjunction with a program that allows you to be able to solve your reactivity issues also. So yes, being off lead is massively important for reactive dogs, and it shouldn't be like the end goal. It should be something that you focus on at the beginning, because a dog that's had their needs met Is a dog that's going to be far easier to work with because you're not working then against a load of pent-up energy that's just sitting there and festering. The dog is like on an even keel and in more of a learning state, so you're able to then have that conversation with them about what was right, what was wrong, um, and they're going to be able to take in that information. Much better than if all you're doing is focusing getting them on a loose lead walk so you can just go and chop them through a field past a bunch of other dogs walking up and down and up and down and up and down until they don't want to bark at the dogs anymore. That's a massive— obviously that's the end goal, you want to get rid of the reactivity, but there are lots of pieces of the puzzle that fit together in getting a dog off lead safely. is absolutely one of those pieces. Um, so yes, it is that important. Every dog should be able to get off lead somewhere safely. There is obviously dogs that will have a ceiling in terms of like where they can be off lead or how much free rein they can have, but most dogs will get to the point where they can be off lead, and they should have that. It shouldn't just be the tail end of a training program or a goal that you're working towards, maybe at the end if the dog gets good enough. If you can do it at the beginning, you'll have a much, much easier dog to work with. Max likes a raw egg, not the shell. That's for savages. Shell's actually good for them, you know, it's got a lot of calcium and stuff in them. You can crush it up and give it to them. Don't take my word for it because I'm not a dietitian, but I put eggshell in my dog's food and they love it. They'll eat the whole thing. Thanks for joining this episode of How Would You Like Your Eggs in the Morning? And thanks to everyone for joining on tonight. Again, it was another lovely Tuesday evening with everybody. And thanks for all your wonderful questions. I thought that was a really good, good little chitchat. Sorry if I waffled. I always waffle. Probably going to get cut off by YouTube in a minute. And so I'll say, like I always do, going once, going twice. If you've got any more questions, pop them in the chat box now, and hopefully I'll get through them before YouTube Says bye-bye. And alrighty then, hopefully I'll get to speak to some of you guys about your dogs and maybe work with a couple of you. Sounds like there's some interesting people watching along tonight with some interesting dogs. That would be really nice to chat to you. The link's in the bottom there, so if you want to book on a call and chat with one of our team, that would be really, really nice. And like I said, if we think that we can help you, we absolutely can, absolutely will. So have a nice evening, and I will see you guys next week. Bye.