Nellie the Staffy

Before we’d spoken to Sally we were 3 months into owning our 5-year-old rescue Staffy, Nellie and were getting very frustrated and stressed out with our training regime. We’d watched countless videos, read countless articles, even had a trainer come in to enable us to help Nellie with her behaviour. She had signs of anxiety, was very excitable, always on high-alert and basically ruled the roost. We thought we were doing everything right, we were following advice from trainer(s), from reputable websites and videos but her improvement seemed to stop after around 2 months and we were beginning to pull our hair out. We’d heard some negative things about Sally’s techniques, but decided as she was providing a free video call that it couldn’t hurt to get a second opinion and thank GOD we did.

Our phone call with Sally completely flipped our perceptions of dog training and ownership on their head. We were overwhelmed that what we were doing (and what everyone is told to do with their dogs!!) was actually causing most of Nellie’s anxiety issues.

The improvement we’ve already seen after only 2 days is incredible. Nellie could never relax and she was always on high-alert, but now she’s sleeping right through the night, relaxing and snoozing in the day-time and her lead walking in the flat has already massively improved. She physically looks so much more relaxed, not tense and not worrying about everything we/the neighbours/the crazy dog next door are up to. This being all due to boundaries, diet and working her in the correct way.

Getting in touch with Sally is the most serendipitous and life-changing thing we’ve done since adopting Nellie. We can't recommend taking any of your dog issues to Sally enough. We're so excited for the bond we're now building as a family to grow and it's all thanks to Sally.

Ant

UPDATE: Sometimes the all too human feelings of self-doubt can creep in without you even noticing. Unfortunately you can’t explain that to your dog. They will mirror your energy and if that’s anxiety - you’d better believe they’ll also feel it. In fact, they’ll know you’re anxious and begin to mirror before you’ve even felt the embers start to burn.

Today we took things back to basics; we decided against a longer walk and stuck to working with Sally in a much smaller area. The bonding that ensued was ineffable; the dog we came out of the house with was completely different to the one we brought home. I really felt the conversation between Nellie and I; I was receptive to what she needed from me and she felt protected, relaxed and happy to be out with her pack. The tail that was tucked between her legs was confidently out and the pulling of the lead dissipated as her whole body relaxed; she was proud, confident and beaming with joy.

This, all because of a shift in my thinking; I gave myself permission to feel like I knew what I was doing, because (spoiler alert) you DO know what you’re doing when you’re working with Sally. Just be confident in yourself and your dog will believe you.

Ant Lightfoot