this photo is funny, ben and paddy totaly dont love the look of one another lol x

Pals for life - Ben and Paddy

To be fair to other trainers in area I only ever went to one and was just convinced that they must be right and I must be wrong as after all they knew what they were talking about right!!!?????

And the 2nd time we went we were told I HAD to get and use a Halti and the 4rth time that he was too boisterous and his aggression was off putting to others!!

Yeah you know that Awful aggression he displayed so much of on Sat!!!!!

I can just imagine the trainer here with 50kg of slobbering muscle!!!!

Had another decent walk this morning. This time me. Same thing using food to distract him and he still stiffened his head and neck and tail still arched over back but not even a small growl or a lunge or a lip curl nothing except oh "more cheese mum!!" We met a pointer and a collie and a small cross kind of like a minature beardie collie.

The other dogs were well behaved too but Ben was paying attention to me and the food!!

super news, just remember, to read his signals, if he needs a few words of comfort, fine, but dont go ott, if he needs a bit of, ben rap your cr ap, then in a semi I mean it voice give him that, {my commands are super eh} but the most improtant bit, if he doesnt do anything, PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE, cheese, and off you go again, next time I will show you how to keep him focused and calm without stopping everytime, sometimes stopping gives him more opertunity to do somit wrong, but as he seems calmer with this just now continue to stop, he may feel more stressed if he has to walk by at the moment, x

how are you feeling now, a bit less stressed, or are you still stressed a tad?

can I ask, when was the last walk you had without him snapping or behaving badly around other dogs prior to sat?

The last proper walk we had without him snapping when we met another dog??? I honestly couldnt even guess. Asfor so long we have been avoiding other dogs and deliberately going the other way

If I am honest I am still a wee bit stressed (maybe its just become a habit!!! ) but not anything like I was and hopefully the more interaction we have the better I will get.

if you took a rough guess at how long since he walked well with others what would it be,

Apart from the dog de Bordeaux (sp) and the sh*tzu probably I'd say 2 years at least

But the last time we saw Nala was at least a year ago and the sh*tzu prob about at least a month as I have just been trying so hard to avoid other dogs. And couldnt guarantee that if we met them we wouldnt meet other dogs

And The owner of Nala (Dog de Bordeaux) is a really confident guy who has always made it quite clear that she would not take any nonsense from Ben and if he was to try anything she'd put him in his place) and yeah he has had the odd grumble, like he tried about twice with Kaos but Nala would just bark at him Ben would run behind me and then evrything would be ok. So I am much more confident when the other owner is confident (though you wouldnt have believed that on Sat at 1st!! - But then I know Nalas owner well) and the sh*tzu its a bit like with paddy Ben will walk beside her BUT I have always had a halti on (and sometimes a muzzle ) and the lead wrapped round on my hand a hundred times

The big test will be when we meet a collie who stays round the corner (though hoping not to do that soon) it is aggressive and will start barking at Ben as soon as it sees him, so Ben rears up and gets all tense and on the 2 occassions where we have walked round the corner into each other with no option but to collide there has been teeth and fur and growls from both and of course I get tense and the other owner looks at me like its Ben thats a nutcase coz he wearing Halti (looking like hes mad!!) But the collie does bark and act like that with pretty much every dog as I have seen the same happening if I have been out without Ben.

I really pleased that you meeting with Shona and the gang went really well.

Now obviously I don't no what method Shona has shown you , but I do know that from experience that all dogs pick up your concerns via the lead. So if your nervous or stressed about approaching another dog because of Ben, then he will also. Hence the problem.

Lynne all you have got to do is build up your confidence with him and continual the good work Shona has shown you and things will be fine.

The biggest comfort he can have is hearing your voice. So if he has been a good boy, then tell him so. If he is doing something that he shouldn't , then let him know, but don't over do either. Consistencies is the key word. Do you praise him verbally or with treats like bits of chicken or cheese, because whatever you use now, stick with it, don't swap and change as that will only confuse him.

We all know that because you took the journey over to Shona's you have the determination to get Ben's problems sorted, but just remember that you have to work on your control of him as well, it's a 50-50 partnership.

You wait and see in a couple of months you will be putting a thread on this forum telling everyone how good Ben is now, and that you just can't believe how enjoyable it is to go out on long walks with him and not have to worried about his aggression anymore.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to your updates.

Thanks Colin

It really was a worthwhile trip from so many different angles - letting Ben interact with Dogs who's owners were perfectly ok with Ben and new how their dogs would react, knowing there was someone there who was more than capable of sorting out any problems if there had been any, hearing similar stories with happy endings, getting tips about my handling and behaviour ( I did not even realise how tight I had the lead till Shona pointed out it was wrapped round my hand about 7 or 8 times, and as she pointed out she could walk Kaos on lead holding the lead with only 1 finger - so there was no need at all to use my lead like a glove ) and also meeting everyone and their dogs.

I have always had treats but mainly used my voice but Ben really responded well to food in fact you'd think he hadnt had his breakfast - greedy we sod!!! But Shona gave me some good advice my voice commands were a bit lacking aswell like I needed to say things (good and bad) like I meant them. And to see how someone else could work with Ben rather than me who works against him was inspiring.

I am sure I will be posting about long happy stress free walks in the summer

how brill! well done Shona! & Gang! & lynne & of course Ben