Meet Bob the Greyhound

Bob's owners contacted us for help with their new rescue greyhound. Bob was struggling during his daily walks due to dog reactivity.

Assessment

During his assessment, it was found that Bob has had a long time in kennels before being rehomed. This led to a long time practising these skills of barking and lunging at other dogs. However, Bob did have lovely dog-dog social skills when with dogs he trusted. From the assessment, Bob showed anxiety when he first saw other dogs and nervousness to approach them. However, if the dog didn't approach him, he then showed a willingness to socially greet and interact with the dog. This meant we were seeing two types of reaction behaviours from Bob. One type for if another dog approaches him before he is ready and the other is when he could not access the other dog to socialise.

Treatment plan

We introduced a lot of self-control tasks for Bob to help him with his impulse control. This worked in conjunction with redirection training with other dogs being around him. this placed value on dogs being around and more willingness to be with his owners when dogs were around. Bob loved his training with the extra food and his owners were amazingly committed to his new training plan.

Ongoing

Bob has now managed to pass several dogs out on walks with great success! He still needs help every now and then as some dogs are very exciting or worrying for him, but he has been making progress each day. Bob has also recently accepted a new greyhound friend at home. This has helped with his confidence in some areas of his training. We look forward to working next with Bob for his separation away from his new owners.