About Michelle.

Being around dogs has always been my happy place.

Watching their body language, feeling my most relaxed around them but also having the best fun kicking around the woods or playing tug with them. I often find myself wondering what they must think of us humans and the crazy world we all share.

We often have such high expectations of them to fit into our lives and I’m often amazed by how well they achieve this, and I’m not surprised how sometimes this goes a little (or a lot) wrong.

Equally there is high expectation for us to be the best dog owners possible, balancing our lives with their needs. This can prove difficult at the best of times but if we are confused or frustrated by a behaviour we don’t understand or find a challenge to live alongside it can be incredibly stressful.

Whilst there will always be comical moments when we just think ‘really’ or ‘why on earth have you done that’, I am here to work with you to understand unwanted behaviour that is really affecting your enjoyment of living alongside your dog or making your day-to-day activities difficult.

So much about life is about balance, what we eat and drink to our work/life balance. Living with a dog is no different as they are such a huge part of our lives. Together we can work on a realistic and effective treatment plan, using kind and positive methods, to reduce, manage or stop your dogs unwanted behaviour, restoring balance back to your household and putting the joy back into living with your dog.

It is not enough to train a dog to stop doing an unwanted behaviour. It is my role to try to understand WHY your dog is presenting the unwanted behaviour and isolate the emotion driving that behaviour. For example, it is pointless training a dog to stop barking if we do not work out why that dog is barking and what emotion is driving the barking. There could be numerous explanations from boredom to anxiety which require different treatment plans. If we stop the barking without addressing the driving emotion the dog will likely find another behaviour to express the emotion which might be worse than the barking!

At Rascals Dog Behaviour I recognise every dog, human, and household are very different and require tailor made individual treatment plans to ensure the best outcome.

Continued learning about dogs enables me to help you achieve a balanced happy life with your dog using science based and positive non-aversive methods.