Dog Training and Behaviour Case Study
Koda – The whirling dervish turned polite lady about town.
Koda, an adolescent female Weimaraner, and her owner were really struggling when they came to me for help.
During an initial 121 session we created a list of areas that needed focus:
• Koda waking up multiple times during the night.
• Hyper and erratic behaviour when out on walks.
• Lack of engagement with the owner.
• Jumping up at the household occupants / visitors.
• No recall and high level of pulling on the lead.
• Barking at children and other dogs.
• Restlessness at home.
Life with Koda was tough. The owner didn’t know where to start. Koda’s lack of control and constant over-reaction to anything; combined with lack of quality sleep, a full-time job and a family was taking its toll.
Looking at Koda she wasn’t enjoying it either, her excessive behaviour indicated that she was struggling to cope.
Something had to change, and quickly.
The Plan
Taking all this on board I devised a plan to provide positive changes for Koda and slot into the owner’s life.
I started by changing Koda’s routine to help her become calm and focus on the owner. This got her able to do more so we could introduce confidence building exercises to remain relaxed and engaged in various situations.
Once she was more engaged, I went back to basics to revisit core training and provide exercises to build recall, lead walking and other elements.
I then gradually built up the level of distractions, especially other dogs, children and movement, so she learnt to cope in busier environments.
All of this was done at Koda’s pace and sessions were spaced out to ensure we achieved success. I provided support during and between sessions to ensure progress in the right direction.
Where we’re at now (Results)
5 months on I’m pleased to say that Koda is now a dog that sleeps through the night, walking and life with her is much more enjoyable and she no longer is as erratic around humans and dogs.
Have a read of this which Koda’s owner recently sent me:
“My daughter had a netball match a few days after the last session and I took Koda along (nervously and with no expectation as to how long I would stay). It was at a school funday / fete type thing and I ended up being there for two hours. I was gobsmacked!
I managed to sit and chat to another parent for 45 mins whilst drinking a takeaway coffee (a few treats when Koda was ignoring me so she’s improved there) then when walking around she did pull at times and had 2/3 brief barking moments but was able to calm back down quickly. At two hours she was ready to leave but I would not have been able to do that a few months ago and would have just waited in the car.”
It's been wonderful to have helped bring about such a dramatic and positive outcome for Koda and her owner. Everyone is smiling. 😊
I’d love to work with you and your dog, either to build on the behaviours to make life living together as enjoyable as possible, or maybe to iron out any niggles, big or small so you get the most from your dog.
Feel free to contact us to discuss further.
WHAT OUR TRAINING CUSTOMERS SAY
Ferris and I have loved our beginners classes with Cotswold Hound, such a friendly welcoming atmosphere to classes, everything we learnt was geared to real life situations and taught in a fun way with games that were great to get the kids involved with training too.
I loved that socialisation was built into each session, and I've come away confident with Ferris meeting and greeting other dogs and reading their body language.
Barnaby is really approachable and gave me loads of advice on dealing with any issues in a positive way.
Thank you Cotswold Hound, thanks to you me and Ferris are ready to take on the world together!
Ferris