Wild at Heart Dogs Reactive Dog Specialist

Wild at Heart Dogs Reactive Dog Specialist Calmer walks for reactive dogs & the humans who love them | The REGAIN Method | Force - Free teaching

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Apparently it’s not just humans listening to my episode on Canine Dialogue Dynamics 😂. Little Ronnie here is watching me...
14/06/2026

Apparently it’s not just humans listening to my episode on Canine Dialogue Dynamics 😂. Little Ronnie here is watching me and getting prepped for our first meet up tomorrow 💜

I did the thing 😂🎙️I sat down with Bethany from Canine Dialogue Dynamics on Rewriting The Rules podcast and honestly it ...
14/06/2026

I did the thing 😂🎙️

I sat down with Bethany from Canine Dialogue Dynamics on Rewriting The Rules podcast and honestly it was a blur but the best kind 💜

We talked about why I do what I do. Why behaviour isn’t something to fix or control. Why the dog AND the person beside them both need support. And why I refuse to work in a way that leaves either of them stuck.

This one’s for every guardian who’s been told their dog is “too much.” They’re not. They’re just not understood yet. 🐾

🎥 Watch here 👇
https://youtu.be/zvY1YWIu568?is=TXvUo4saL6gA74Fb

🎧 Or search Rewriting The Rules on your favourite podcast platform



💜

Your dog isn't ignoring you. They've already gone past the point where listening is possible.By the time you're repeatin...
13/06/2026

Your dog isn't ignoring you. They've already gone past the point where listening is possible.

By the time you're repeating their name, asking again, waiting for a response that isn't coming… their nervous system has already made the decision for them.

Not out of defiance.

Not because they're being stubborn.

Because the thinking part of their brain has gone offline.

When a dog tips into that overwhelmed state, the cues they "know" at home become unreachable. The recall. The sit. The look at me. All of it sits behind a door their body has temporarily closed.

That's not a training gap. That's a regulation gap.

And no amount of repeating yourself, raising your voice, or adding more pressure will bring them back. Pressure only confirms what their body already suspects, that this moment isn't safe enough to think in.

What actually helps is something quieter.

Creating distance.

Lowering the load.

Letting their nervous system catch up before asking anything of them.

Because dogs cannot truly learn while overwhelmed. They can only survive the moment.

So the next time it looks like your dog is ignoring you, try reading it as information instead. Their body is telling you they've reached capacity. They're not refusing you, they're asking for help.

Calm has to come first. Listening follows.

If your dog is struggling and you're wondering what the next step looks like, message me REGAIN 💌

Tomorrow I’ll be joining Bethany Canine Dialogue Dynamics on her podcast and to say I’m a little nervous would be the un...
12/06/2026

Tomorrow I’ll be joining Bethany Canine Dialogue Dynamics on her podcast and to say I’m a little nervous would be the understatement of the year! 😅

We’ll be talking all about The Regain Method—what it is, why it’s different from traditional dog training, and why it gets such great results for the dogs and guardians I work with.

If you’ve been following my content, thinking about working with me, or you’re just curious about what makes my approach different, this will be a great opportunity to learn more.

I’ll be sharing the philosophy behind the method, why I focus on the emotional and nervous system side of behaviour, and why I believe lasting change comes from understanding your dog rather than simply controlling them.

Keep an eye out for the link tomorrow! 👀

What’s one question you’d love me to answer about The Regain Method? Drop it in the comments and I might cover it on the podcast! 🎙️🐾

🎉 It’s Friday! 🎉I’ll be at the FREE Dog Support Group tonight from 6–7pm in Jarrow, and it’s your last chance to catch m...
12/06/2026

🎉 It’s Friday! 🎉

I’ll be at the FREE Dog Support Group tonight from 6–7pm in Jarrow, and it’s your last chance to catch me before July!

If you’ve been thinking about getting some support with your dog, this is a great opportunity to meet me in person, have a chat, and see whether I’m the right fit for you and your dog. No commitment, no pressure—just a friendly conversation.

The group is also a fantastic place to meet other dog owners who genuinely understand the ups and downs of life with dogs. If you have a reactive dog, you’ll know how isolating it can sometimes feel. Having a community of people who “get it” can make all the difference.

Come along, ask questions, share stories, make new friends, and talk dogs with people who love them as much as you do. 🐾

Thinking about coming but feeling a bit nervous? Send me a message and I’ll happily answer any questions beforehand.

Drop a 🐾 below if you’re coming!

If your dog "knows it" at home but completely falls apart on a walk… they're not being difficult.They're overwhelmed.And...
12/06/2026

If your dog "knows it" at home but completely falls apart on a walk… they're not being difficult.

They're overwhelmed.

And dogs cannot truly learn while overwhelmed.

This is one of the hardest things to sit with as an owner. Because you've practised the recall. You've worked on the loose lead. You've done everything the videos told you to do.

Then a trigger appears, and it's like none of it ever existed.

That isn't your dog ignoring you. It isn't stubbornness. It isn't a gap in their training.

It's their nervous system tipping into survival mode.

When a dog moves into that heightened state, the thinking part of the brain goes quiet. The body takes over. Barking, lunging, freezing, pulling, scanning… all of it is the nervous system shouting "I don't feel safe right now."

And in that state, learning is biologically off the table.

You cannot teach a brain that's busy trying to survive.

This is why so many reactive dogs look "trained" at home and "untrainable" outside. Same dog. Different nervous system state.

It's also why pushing harder, repeating cues louder, or adding more pressure rarely sticks. You're asking a dog to learn in a body that hasn't been given the chance to feel safe yet.

Real progress takes safety first.

Lowering the trigger load. Widening the recovery window. Letting the body soften before we ever ask the brain to work.

Because calm isn't something you force into a dog.

It's built underneath them, slowly, until their nervous system finally has room to learn again.

If your dog is struggling and you're wondering what the next step looks like, message me REGAIN 💌

A quiet dog isn't always a calm dog.Sometimes what looks like progress is actually a dog who has learnt it isn't safe to...
12/06/2026

A quiet dog isn't always a calm dog.

Sometimes what looks like progress is actually a dog who has learnt it isn't safe to show how they feel.

That's not calm. That's shutdown.

Suppression and regulation can look similar from the outside. A still body. A quiet walk. No barking, no lunging, no scene.

But underneath, they're worlds apart.

Suppression is a dog holding it in. The nervous system is still in survival mode, but the behaviour has been pushed down through pressure, correction, or learnt helplessness. The reaction is gone. The stress isn't.

Regulation is a dog whose nervous system has actually settled. Their body feels safe enough to soften. They're not performing calm, they're feeling it.

One is a dog who can't react.

The other is a dog who doesn't need to.

This is why behaviour that's been suppressed so often resurfaces later, sometimes bigger, sometimes in a completely different form. The cortisol is still there. The unmet need is still there. The dog just stopped telling you about it.

Real calm is built underneath the behaviour, not on top of it.

It comes from a nervous system that finally feels safe enough to rest.

That's the work. That's what lasting change actually looks like.

If your dog is struggling and you're wondering what the next step looks like, message me REGAIN 💌

To the owner who feels like they're failing…You're not failing. You're just working with incomplete information.No one t...
11/06/2026

To the owner who feels like they're failing…

You're not failing. You're just working with incomplete information.

No one taught you to read a nervous system.

No one told you that barking, lunging, freezing or shutting down isn't your dog being "bad" — it's their body shouting that something underneath doesn't feel safe.

You were handed a lead, a few training tips, and a quiet expectation that if you just did it "right," your dog would be fine.

So when the walks kept going sideways, you blamed yourself.

You read more articles. Tried more methods. Bought more equipment.

And still came home with that knot in your stomach, wondering what was wrong with you.

Nothing is wrong with you.

You've been trying to solve a nervous system problem with behaviour tools. That was never going to work, no matter how hard you tried.

Your dog isn't giving you a hard time. They're having a hard time.

And once you understand what's actually happening underneath the behaviour, everything starts to look different. Including how you see yourself in this.

You're not a bad owner.

You're an exhausted one, working with the wrong map.

If your dog is struggling and you're wondering what the next step looks like, message me REGAIN 💌

We are allowed to say “No” FULL STOP We are allowed to say “No dont touch my dog”We are allowed to say “ No my dog does ...
11/06/2026

We are allowed to say “No” FULL STOP

We are allowed to say “No dont touch my dog”

We are allowed to say “ No my dog does not want to meet yours”

We are allowed to not let children stroke our dogs

We are allowed to cross the road and not push out dogs through uncomfortable situations.

Our dogs cannot speak so we have to do our best and speak for them 💜

Yesterday I went to meet a this lovely girl Zena who has been struggling with reactivity and a bit of aggression due a ...
11/06/2026

Yesterday I went to meet a this lovely girl Zena who has been struggling with reactivity and a bit of aggression due a variety of events happening at the same time

Her owners described barking and lunging towards dogs, finding outside environments difficult, and becoming overwhelmed when things happen when dog’s get to close to her.

The interesting thing is that at home she’s actually quite settled.

Which tells us something important.

This isn’t about a dog who is being difficult.

It’s about a dog who is finding certain situations hard to cope with.

When we looked at the bigger picture, we could see that lots of little things may be contributing to how she’s feeling. Dogs, movement outside, busy environments… each one adding a little more pressure.

That’s why we’re starting with RESET.

Not focusing on the reactions themselves, but looking underneath them.

Reducing stress load.

Lowering trigger stacking.

Supporting recovery and decompression.

Building emotional safety.

Helping her nervous system spend more time feeling regulated and less time feeling like it needs to be on alert.

Because in the REGAIN Method, we don’t start by asking “How do we stop the behaviour?”

We start by asking “What is the behaviour telling us?”

Behaviour is communication, and when we listen to what’s underneath it and why she reacts the way she does, we can start supporting the dog in front of us rather than simply focusing on the behaviour itself.

I’m really looking forward to starting this journey with Zena and her owners, helping them better understand each other, build confidence and connection, and creating the foundations for lasting change through the REGAIN Method. 💜

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