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Over-excitement or excessive barking

This covers all types of problem behaviour that appears to be due to over-excitement. Examples include jumping up at visitors, barking at passers-by or the TV and not listening when out on a walk. Home visits can be undertaken throughout Northamptonshire, as well as around Banbury, Market Harborough and Milton Keynes.

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Feeling embarrassed, guilty, annoyed or just overwhelmed? If so, I can help!

 

Are you struggling with your dog:

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  • Barking uncontrollably at people, animals or moving objects;

  • Jumping up at visitors;

  • Not settling in the home;

  • Pulling on the lead and/or not listening on walks; or

  • Doing anything else related to over-excitement or hyperactivity?

 

It can be very hard to live with a hyperactive dog and both management and rehabilitation is usually needed – for both safety and to protect the welfare of your loved pet.

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I can help you transform your dog’s behaviour to look more like this by giving you the tools to manage the bad times and re-train your dog to overcome their problems:

A behaviour consultation involves the following steps:

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  • Free initial telephone or Zoom call to discuss the help I can offer and to ensure you are happy with the process

  • Completion of a detailed history form and veterinary referral - this ensures I have a full set of information and that any underlying medical problems are taken into consideration and is in-line with my professional membership bodies’ Codes of Conduct

  • In-person or Zoom-based consultation, lasting between 1 and 2.5 hours – this allows me to fully assess each problem behaviour by clarifying details with you and takes into account the whole family’s experiences of the problem

  • Immediate intervention plan, discussed and agreed with you during the consultation – this allows immediate improvements to be made while keeping everyone safe and preventing further development of the problem(s)

  • Written report and additional resources, sent within a week of the consultation – details the assessment i.e. what is your dog feeling and why, and what is the immediate and longer term plan

  • Liaison with your vet, including written report – this ensures communication with the pet’s primary professional caregiver and is in-line with my membership bodies’ Codes of Conduct

  • Follow-up support for 8 weeks, including two 1-hour in-person sessions – this allows ongoing practical training support, as well as enabling me to tweak any bits of the plan that are not working for you or need further development (such as follow-on training exercises that can only be implemented once initial improvement has been seen).

 

Package options:

 

Standard package: Up to 2.5 hour consultation, with two in-person training support visits and 8 weeks of regular follow-up telephone or video calls and email support. £450

 

Premium package: Up to 2.5 hour consultation, with three in-person training support visits and 12 weeks of regular follow-up telephone or video calls and email support. £595

 

After working with me, you should feel more confident and enjoy your dog again. No more embarrassing moments in the park, with your dog seeming completely out of control, no more madness in your home as your dog ignores all instructions! And to top it all off, your dog will also be happier and secure in their world. You have the power to make this change! And all this can be done using scientific, proven and kind methods. My promise to you includes never using or recommending prong collars, e-collars or corrections of any kind.

“After seeing our vet and again being devastated by our dachshund Frank's behaviour, they recommended contacting Victoria at Animalsenses.co.uk. Wow! She has been our saviour!! We had a fantastic first telephone consultation where she really put me at ease. She was calm and so positive about how she could help. We had honestly reached a point where we felt totally out of control. From the first visit Victoria was calm, understanding and so knowledgeable. Our 4 dogs(!) were immediately relaxed with her and so were we! Already the antisocial constant barking was reduced to almost nothing and Frank immediately responded to to each task. She really helped us to see things from Frank's point of view too which transformed how we react to him now. My daughter and I are so incredibly grateful for all the advice and practical information that Victoria has given to us. It has meant we are all so much more relaxed and happy. Being always there through email and messaging too meant she was always about to support us between visits. Thank you so much Victoria from all of us”. Rebecca, Middleton Cheney

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What should I do next?

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  • Book your appointment here

  • Obtain a veterinary referral

  • Prepare the intake questionnaire

  • After the consultation you will receive the Behaviour Modification Plan in report form, with additional supporting materials

  • Receive ongoing support to continue to progress and restore harmony!​​

FAQs

How quickly can you solve the problem? Many dog behaviour issues require careful re-training over time. Sometimes you will see an improvement straight away, just by learning about the whys and hows, but usually it takes a few weeks to months to see a full resolution. There is often some level of ongoing management needed, especially where human safety is an issue. Can you guarantee to solve all my dog’s problems? Unfortunately, there are no guarantees as every situation and every dog is different. The Behaviour Modification Plan will take a significant amount of effort on your part but I will never ask you to do anything you cannot do, whether due to practical reasons or something else, e.g. lack of time. Having worked with many dogs over the years, with all sorts of issues, I can promise you I am in a great position to help you! What’s the difference between a dog trainer and a ‘behaviourist’? Basically, a dog trainer trains dogs to perform certain tasks, such as ‘sit’, ‘retrieve’ or more complicated behaviours, such as how to run an agility course. A behaviourist will take a full history of your dog to work out what is causing a behaviour problem and work with you to understand your dog’s behaviour and modify it as necessary. However, there is a lot of overlap in the real work and it is worth bearing in mind that anyone can call themselves a dog trainer or behaviourist, since these are not protected terms in the UK. My dog has multiple issues or doesn’t quite fit the profile described above That’s no problem! I will take account of everything that concerns you in the behaviour consultation, based on your priorities, as well as safety and welfare. My packages are largely the same in layout, apart from separation-related problems, which tend to require a different approach. You can either book a standard consultation or chat to me first here if you would like some reassurance. Why is a veterinary referral needed? Medical issues, including pain, can affect up to 70% of dog behaviour cases. It is also part of my professional Code of Conduct. It is therefore essential for me to work with the knowledge and support of your vet. Most vets do not charge for this and I can even arrange it for you. Can I claim on my insurance? Sometimes, yes, but it will depend on your policy. Please check your policy wording carefully and check with your insurer directly if it is not obvious what and who they cover. Unfortunately I am unable to offer direct claims at the moment but I am happy to work with your insurer to get your claim paid back to you.

​Case Study

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Angela contacted me because her lovely cockapoo, Watty, was struggling with relaxing in the house, barking frantically every time someone walked past the driveway. He would also react to the mailman and tear up post as it came through the letter box. Angela was worried that she had over-indulged Watty and that the behaviour might be her fault, as well as finding his behaviour incredibly difficult to live with. Watty was acting from anxiety that his home was ‘under attack’ and was only acting to protect his territory. While owners can affect their dog’s behaviour, it is rarely their fault or entirely caused by them. We put in some protocols for Watty to prevent him from practising the behaviour, including moving his normal relaxation spot away from the window, and trained alternative behaviours for him to exhibit when someone walked past. Visitor protocols also ensured he understood he was safe and did not need to react adversely to people coming up to the door. We also worked together to ensure Watty had plenty of fun activities to do without the need to constantly watch what was happening outside the house. After a while, Watty was able to sit in his original spot by the window again and Angela’s life could get back to normal, without being constantly managing Watty’s behaviour. Angela said “The biggest thing for me is that I started to see things more from Watty’s perspective and stopped treating him like a human”.

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