18/01/2026
When I say I can help you and your Border Collie with Reactivity or Car Chasing (among other things), here's why I mean it.
I've been thinking about this post for some time, before writing, as there's a risk that what I say might make people feel less confident in my skill and ability, but it's a risk I'm willing to take and I'm nothing if I'm not honest!
In a completely unregulated industry there are no specific standards that we are held accountable to. It's literally, a minefield out there. I'm a very firm believer in education. Studying and understanding canine behaviour truly matters in this field and I keep my knowledge up to date in as many ways as I can in order to provide you with the best support possible.
With that said, the basic truth is this:
Reactivity - I've lived it. I know the feelings of:
Shame
Guilt
Embarrassment
Frustration
Even anger that you feel, every single day, when you take your dog for a walk at 5 in the morning or 11 at night, to avoid meeting other people or dogs.
Sometimes at the dog, sometimes angry at other people for their insensitive comments, or judgments about your dog being 'out of control' or 'should be muzzled'.
How much you wish other people could see the dog you see at home.
I never say Oskar is 'cured'.
Why? Because it's not something that ANYONE can ever tell you will be 100% 'cured' in all environments, contexts or situations, for the rest of your dogs' life.
Reactivity is such a vast, umbrella, term that covers a multitude of behaviours and, to the dog, they're perfectly proportionate to the level of worry, fear, anger or excitement they feel.
Oskar still doesn't love men with beards, glasses or baseball hats, except my dad and my brother-in-law, but he manages those feelings in much healthier ways and comes to me for support now, instead of running, screaming and snapping, at the end of his leash.
Did I make him that way? No
Did I do something wrong with his training as a puppy? No
Is it my fault he was that way? No - although our anxiety feeds to the dog, so we can be a contributing factor. That doesn't mean I created it.
Did nature make him that way? Possibly
What about trauma? Also possible as he was attacked twice, by adult dogs early in his adolescence.
A single traumatic event can, quite literally, change the brain chemistry of a dog if it has a significant enough impact.
Honestly, we often never know what triggers it. What's important is getting to understand which emotions are driving the behaviour, and working from there.
If my son or daughter go upstairs wearing one thing and come back down wearing something different with a hood up, or hat on, Oskar barks.
Border Collies are notoriously sensitive to Sudden Environmental Changes.
This means they can get very upset when something in the picture changes without their prior written consent!
✨️The bins are out, and they weren't earlier...trigger
✨️A black car is parked where a red one usually lives...trigger
✨️Children are out playing, because it's the weekend...trigger
Then there's Zac, bless his heart. When family came to visit and then stood up to leave, he ran around the living room whining and started to bark.
You know, that high-pitched, glass-shattering sound that only comes from a Border Collie or Elaine Paige??
It was a sudden change and he's a rescue with a very traumatic background. I now have things in place to help him process the changes more quickly and he settles much quicker than he could before which means our ears no longer bleed when it's time for my family to go home!
This may always be an issue for him, I honestly don't know, but he's making progress and that's what counts. The important thing is, I know how to help him feel better and it's working.
Chasing Traffic - You guessed it, I've lived with that too! NOBODY who hasn't lived it, can describe that feeling in your stomach when your dog, apparently, out of nowhere, lunges forward in front of a car for the first time.
The truth is, it doesn't come out of nowhere but if you don't know the signs to look for, how could you possibly be expected to know it didn't just start happening out of the clear blue sky?
Even if you did know, and had begun working through it in advance, as I had (not far enough in advance as there were still few cars on the road after lockdowns), you couldn't have known the dog would try to dive out when they didn't the day before.
I live in a town, in a cul-de-sac with cars going by all the time, right outside the house, just like many of you.
Trying to manage it, while working through it, hiding behind parked cars while moving ones go by. Running into the driveways of perfect strangers, just to get enough space for the dog not to start screaming and lunging at the passing car, or even holding a tennis ball in one hand so the dog focuses on that, rather than the moving vehicle on the other side of you! I've done it all, which helped me develop the methods I use now, to help your dog feel better, and they work. They've worked from my own dogs, and many client dogs, so I know it wasn't a fluke.
There is no magic wand and the length of time the dog has been practicing for the Doggy Diving Olympics may impact how much progress can be made and how quickly.
The one thing that holds true in all cases is this: Your progress will go more smoothly if you are able to avoid putting your dog in situations where they have to deal with traffic too close to them, while you work on it. That may mean putting your dog in the car (oh the irony isn't lost on me!) and taking them somewhere to start your walk, away from the roadside. Even if it's 30 seconds drive, it will be worth it.
And then there's Bailey. My only girl and my adorable Lab x Lurcher. She has a pretty bomb-proof recall but I still don't let her off lead in public spaces. Not because she's reactive, or rude. She's none of those things. In fact she's a sweetheart and has been a willing participant in some of my training sessions with clients.
She does, however, have significant Sighthound traits and small furry things are VERY exciting. We also live in an area where there are often livestock in fields. Will she come back if I call? Probably but I'd rather not take the chance on a personal wildlife safari I hadn't planned, or my girl getting shot by a farmer.
I'm responsible and she lives a happy, fulfilled life with appropriate outlets for her natural behaviours that are safe. She absolutely does get plenty off lead fun, just in places that are secure.
Do I make them sit, patiently, while I open the gate to a secure field? Absolutely not! When we go to those places, my dogs explode into the field like fireworks because they're excited, and I don't want to make them anything less.
I do, however ask them to wait while I open the front door, or the boot to the car.
So, now you know the truth. My dogs are far from perfect. But they're dogs and I adore them!
They are independent, thinking, feeling beings. They wake up some days full of the joys of Spring, and other days feeling like they want to go back to bed (well, maybe not the Collies, lol) just like we do.
Some days they have more tolerance and other days they have less, just like we do.
Some days they can cope with anything life can throw at them, and other days, a load of Magpies chirping in the garden can cause an apparent meltdown, just like ME...sorry I meant US :-)
There are trainers who believe (and are willing to shame others) that a trainer's dog should behave perfectly, or they shouldn't be teaching other people.
There are also trainers who don't have personal experience of any of the above issues, and are still fabulous at what they do but, like I said, it's a minefield.
I just believe it's easier to understand how you, the human, feels, because I have lived experience of some similar challenges.
With reactivity, in particular, there is no way to explain how utterly soul destroying it feels, in only a few words to someone who has never had to deal with it themselves.
That doesn't make them a bad trainer, and I'm not suggesting that for a second. A psychiatrist doesn't need to have had a mental breakdown to be able to help someone who has.
What I'm saying is that it makes it easier for me to see where YOU are coming from and how YOU feel. The human component is sometimes overlooked when we work with dogs and it's so important that you feel heard and understood.
Education helps me to understand whether it might be anxiety, fear, genetics, or trauma that underlie the dogs behaviour, and if it's severe I'll refer you to a suitably qualified Behaviourist, but my lived experience with Oskar and other dogs I've had helps me understand how it actually feels for you and how small your world becomes because of it.
I'm here to help. If you do need support please get in touch 💛
