Bark To Basics

You may have noticed that the page has been silent for over a month now - don't worry, we are still training, just not in these temps to keep your dogs safe.

One month ago today I lost the light of my life, Luka.
As a result I'd taken some time away to grieve - I've had Luka for 11.5 years, loosing him has left a hole in my life that I know for some of you is all to familiar. My boy was running around with me one day and the next 75% of his kidneys shut down and I just couldn't save him, there was no option to do anything beyond the hardest decision of my life. We gave him the best last days we could, he used the last of his strength to come over to me and lay by my side in the cool grass of Heaton park where he got to see dogs, get fussed by strangers, see rabbits and squirrels and enjoy the fresh air.
Many of you worked with Luka in session - he was a genuine ray of sunshine & he helped so many of your dogs become who they are today 🩵 A dog like Luka comes along once in a lifetime & while I miss him deeply, I recognise how lucky I was of all people to have him in my life. Luka is the entire reason Bark To Basics exists, he was and still is my biggest Inspiration to help reactive dogs become who they really are.

I have a huge back log of dogs to feature, so if you're waiting for your dog to appear on the page you'll see them in the next few weeks - we've not forgotten about you !

Give your dogs an extra treat tonight, from all of us here 🐕

Meet Goldie !
Goldie is a lovely rottweiler who came in to work on her Reactive Behaviour towards passing dogs. Goldie is full of beans & struggled to contain her excitement in general & due to her size, walking her was nowhere near as enjoyable as it could be despite her lovely temperament -
We got to work !

We made a start by swapping her harness out for the slip & began teaching her some leash communication in a quieter area. Now that food was involved, she was ready to earn it and offer us engagement in the heel position. Goldie took to this really well & was eager to learn ! We gradually moved her into busier areas at her pace to work her around environmental distractions aswell as her biggest trigger - dogs !
Goldie took to this beautifully and we maintained her food drive under threshold during training.

Alot of people don't recognise that a dog bring overly friendly is classed as reactive - if left, it's a fast track to a form of reactivity called barrier frustration. Luckily Goldies owner was really proactive and wanted to get this behaviour resolved for Goldies benefit which I love to see ! We had Goldie passing multiple dogs with out a problem in no time at all !

Goldie will be 6 weeks into her homework now - practice makes perfect 👌🏼we can't wait to see her progress. Well done big girl !

For training tips, stories & more, follow us here or check out our other socials ;

IG:
Tiktok: .2.Basics