We can’t say enough positive things about our experience with Donna. Donna started working with Ollie, our Welsh Springer Spaniel, when he was 10 months old and busy trying to find his way in the world, often not in the most positive of ways. He was reactive with dogs, cats, hares, squirrels, ducks, and geese as well as people, especially joggers, walkers, youth, and small children. He was constantly vigilant and reacted to any small sound or movement of people, dogs, or other animals on our walks. It was my daily nightmare to take him for walks and I prayed that we would not meet anything that would set him off, often leaving me in tears and Craig and my son frustrated. Ollie also got into mischief at home and it made working from home very difficult as he was constantly wanting attention. It was so sad as Ollie is a lovely boy and has a gentle, loving demeanour.
Donna uses positive reinforcement techniques that are gentle but also firm. They immediately resonated with Ollie, and it was amazing to see how quickly he responded to her methods, showing improvement in behaviours that had been challenging for us. Through her animal behaviour training she taught us to read Ollie’s body language and that of dogs that we came across on our walks to help us understand what Ollie needed. She also gave us help with alleviating Ollie’s boredom when he was home and seeking attention, by exercising him physically and mentally to expel excess energy.
Donna’s knowledge and experience showed on her one-on-one sessions teaching the basics of how to walk Ollie properly and how to read and handle Ollie so he could succeed. She followed this up with individual sessions patiently assisting us with walking Ollie and teaching us that for him to become more confident and succeed we needed to take the time to let him know his neighbourhood. She encouraged us to take him on sniff walks knowing that this would help distract him from outside stimuli, like dogs, so he would have fun on walks. She also gave us places to walk Ollie to help him overcome his challenges with people and experience different environments.
Donna’s patience and encouragement has made all the difference and slowly Ollie to growing up to be a happier, confident, less rude, and better-behaved dog. Not that Ollie is perfect, but he has made huge strides forward now that he is 17 months old. We also now have the experience and knowledge to recognise when Ollie has become stacked with stimuli and needs to come home or have some downtime, although we are still also learning and make mistakes. Donna is willing to answer our questions and every interaction with her shows her passion for dogs and commitment to their well-being. We were so relieved when she told us that Ollie’s reaction to dogs was not aggression but purely an urge to play and have fun with other dogs.
Emma Clowes and Craig Thompson