Loose Lead Club

11/09/2026

With behaviour issues, struggling to be still. It's because at a young age, when they're a puppy, they got brought into the house and they got taught to do things all the time: trick training, basic obedience, enrichment, more and more doing stuff. All you created is a dog that has no idea how to switch off. When you take that dog that can't switch off into the big world, it becomes even more stimulated. The best thing you can do is teach your dog how to switch off from the off.

09/09/2026

08/08/2026

Why Cockapoos and other doodle mixes end Up Reactive 🐩

Cockapoos and other doodle mixes get bred for looks, not temperament.

Add a poorly managed socialisation window, an owner who lets every dog and person rush up to say hi as a "friendly" puppy, and you've built a dog that's never learned neutrality — just overstimulation.

By 8-12 months, that "friendly" energy tips into frustration-based reactivity. They WANT to greet everything, can't, and it comes out as barking and lunging.
It's not a doodle problem. It's a socialisation problem we see across every "friendly" breed.

07/07/2026

Tag below.... genuinely curious as to the behaviour rehabilitation to ensure the dog can be safely rehomed....

05/07/2026

Why does your sausage dog lose the plot at every passing dog? 🌭
It's not "small dog syndrome." It's usually one (or all) of these:
→ Bred to be bold. Dachshunds were built to face badgers underground — that confidence doesn't switch off on the pavement.
→ Big feelings, tiny body. When everything towers over you, barking first feels safer than waiting to find out.
→ Lead tension. We scoop them up or tighten the lead the second we see another dog, and they learn other dogs = stress.
→ Under-socialised, over-cuddled. Comfort isn't training. They still need calm exposure and clear boundaries.

Comment BOSTON and I'll send you some helpful stuff....

19/06/2026

You cannot erase a dog's memory.

Your dog's reactivity is a behaviour. And behaviour has memory. That is why behaviour rehabilitation is so hard.

You can't just "delete" the old reactions. You can't wipe the slate clean. Those neural pathways exist — and they always will.

The goal of behaviour rehabilitation is to quickly, effectively, and ethically build NEW memory pathways.

At the same time, you must limit their ability to access the old pathways through management.

Make the new pathways super valuable. Make them super clear. And make it obvious to the dog that accessing the old pathways is simply not worth it anymore.

That's the work. That's what real rehabilitation looks like.

Comment BOSTON below and I will send you the full video on play and reactive dogs.

dogtraininguk balanceddogtraining dogbehaviourist reactivedogowner dogpsychology dogtrainingadvice reactivedogtraining dogrehabilitation dogbrainscience neuroplasticity dogmum dogdad dogowner dogbehavior dogtrainingcommunity

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Want me to adjust anything or shall I hold it ready for when the Instagram connector is back?

16/06/2026

Transformation of a reactive dog ...

10/06/2026

Your reactive dog started their reactive behaviour way before you saw it exploding at the end of the lead.

Those small boundary pushes that you feel when you're enforcing but you're just that side, so you're in a big big problem.

Boundaries that are very clear to dogs and enable them to have a big life.

Those dogs that have been lacking boundaries often have smaller lives than those that have very clear, very understandable boundaries.

04/06/2026

You're forever told that a long line is just a long line. However the amount of dogs that I've seen and worked with that have come to us that have been on a long line for years have this very odd gait where they walk sideways and they're often incredibly tight down one side, having not been able to run as they should be able to run as dogs.

Here is a direct comparison of what I've seen so often.