Billy five month old Belgian Sheperd dog

As experienced dog owners we thought we could cope with whatever a dog could throw at us, how wrong we were!! We collected Billy our 5 month old Belgium Shepherd (Groendael) from the breeder and all was well until he met our 17 year old daughter a few hours later. He seemed to us to take an instant dislike to her growling everytime he saw her. At first we thought this was due to her not being in the house when we brought him home and would pass, but it continued for a week and made her and us feel uncomfortable. The strange thing was he was growling but backing away with his tail between his legs, obviously afraid he was not intending to hurt her, but nothing we did could change his behaviour. After speaking to the breeder to get advice on the breed we contacted the Dog Listener. Doreen was very calm, totally empathic and agreed to visit us at the weekend. As soon as she entered the house and spoke to us and saw how Billy reacted she gave us advise regarding gesture feed and the position the dog saw himself in the pack with regard to my daughter. Doreen spent over two and a half hours with us and gave us plenty of useful tips which we put into practice. A week later the growling had largely stopped and Billy was a more confident dog. Doreen followed her initial visit with a follow up phone call a week later and we are keeping in touch with email and phone contact if we need to. He is now a loved member of the family (even if he has a liking for shoes), and we are still using the techniques Doreen showed us. Thanks Doreen we could not have done this without you, All of us.

Jet six year old Labrador Cross

We had taken on Jet from a local rescue centre and were having some major problems despite doing our best for him. He barked when out in the park, and did not like small animals or children rushing up to him. Jet had been in such a poor state that he had required feeding three times a day for five months when we first got him, so we did not want to give up on him. We contacted Doreen who, realising we were at our wits end, quickly arranged to visit. Doreen helped us understand some of Jets' behaviours in the light of his previous history, as he had two previous homes and been a stray for sometime before coming to us. He had dragged me onto a busy main road on a couple of occasions, and because he barked a lot I had been shouted at by other members of the public when taking him out for a walk. I did not feel confident taking him out, or in getting control of him. Doreen explained how his previous experiences were contributing to his behaviour, and what we could do to communicate more effectively with him. She suggested working at home on getting his confidence and only to go back to the park when we felt "happy and in control". His behaviour is improving and especially so when visitors come to the house, we feel that things are gradually improving and are very happy with the service we received from Doreen. Jet is calmer, more confident has made doggy friends in the park and has been on a self catering holiday with us, with no problems. We feel much more confident with him now.

Freddie Four year old rescue Jack Russell

I was asked to do this consultation as result of Freddie pulling/lunging on the lead, barking along the boundary fence at neighbours, sometimes growling at people/objects and jumping up at visitors. I quickly discovered that both Freddie and his owner had been through a very traumatic time due to changes in personal circumstances, which had led Freddie to believe he was Alpha. With concentration on the basic four tenets of Dog Listening, I was able to assist his owner in developing strategies to change this situation around. This involved concentrating on exercising him in the garden, and doing lead work there until his owner "felt happy and in control", with a focus on the "golden five minutes" to help Freddie see that his actions would have consequences. His owner is a lot more confident about coping with Freddie's behaviour and continues on an ongoing basis to work along with him.

Dixie two and a half year old Australian Terrier

We were concerned that our Australian Terrier bitch Dixie was going to cause an accident by running along our boundary hedge barking incessantly whenever horses went by, especially as this included young riders who might have been startled by the noise she made, and no matter what we did she just would not stop the habit. Also, when we had visitors it could be very difficult to have a reasonable conversation due to Dixie jumping up constantly for attention, and whining. Doreen arranged to see the whole family and explained clearly to us how we could successfully deal with these situations. Now when we see Dixies' body language change when she hears approaching horses before we do, we get her attention and "thank her". We find this has been very effective in dealing with the problem. When visitors come we encourage them not to speak to Dixie straight away but to wait for five minutes or so--- and Dixie soon gives up her bad habits and goes for a lie down in her basket! She even did this while Doreen was carrying out the consultation, and we have been delighted, at the resulting changes in her behaviour.

We now have a more relaxed dog that still gets loads of affection

Being a dog lover all my life, my wife and I decided to get a dog after an advert about the Manchester dogs home being inundated before Christmas with dogs that had been thrown out. We have two young children as well and decided to get a puppy. Our first family dog was named Max, later to be called Mad Max as we spoilt him with affection and the kids loved to cuddle and play with him. At first everything was really good and then slowly Max's habits started to become a problem around the house. It started with chewing carpets and the kids toys, going upstairs and pulling when going out on a walk. Now he detests bikes and anybody wearing a football shirt. We live on a corner where the school kids pass and Max's constant barking was the final straw. We have tried virtually everything, from dog collars to traditional dog training and every lead conceivable to man but to no avail. We were on a walk with Max one day at the local park when we met a lady who told us about the dog listening, Amichen bonding technique. The lady popped a book through our letterbox and we read it thinking that this was the way forward. We tried all of the methods and didn't really make much headway, mainly because my views on bringing a dog up were different to my wife's. So we looked for a dog listener to come and visit us. Doreen got back to us and after several postponements due to my work commitments we finally met with Doreen at our house. Doreen had an immediate impact on Max and we could see that what Doreen was saying made sense. After a good few hours of watching, discussing and listening to Doreen we were let loose on our own again. This time we both stuck to the principles, gesture eating and using the 5 minute separation gap when ever we saw Max again. The kids did really well and the ground we made was clear to see within 1 week. There are no more sneaky food snacks whilst we have our dinner, Max now ignores us when we have been apart and is a lot more relaxed around the home. We have to pick our moments to walk Max outside the house and his recall has improved considerably but he still barks at passers by. What we have learnt over the weeks since Doreen visited is that its not the dogs fault that they behave the way they do but more ours. Doreen taught us that Rome wasn't built in a day but we now have a more relaxed dog that still gets loads of affection but on our terms not his. We are determined to keep going with the techniques Doreen taught us as we can see that Max and our lives are happier because of it.

Doreen provided written guidelines to deal with all aspects of Bella's behaviour and a specific action plan for us to follow.

In August 2007 our family thought the time was right to take on a rescue dog, so after visiting the local rescue centre ARRC (animal rescue and re-homing) we chose Bella a lovely two and a half year old Boxer Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross breed. Although we had been dog owners in the past, we quickly found ourselves having all sorts of problems, and made contact with Doreen a local Dog Listener as we were desperate to ensure that Bella could stay with us long term.

Thankfully, Doreen volunteers at the centre and was aware of Bella's behavioural traits and could understand the difficulties we were having with her. We both work but were able to arrange a date for a consultation quickly, with Doreen coming out to our home at a date and time that was convenient .During the consultation Doreen was able to see how Bella behaved with us, and was able to tell us about Dog Listening and how it could influence Bella's behaviour for the better. She demonstrated some of the techniques we had to use, and supported and encouraged us in achieving the best we could for Bella. She recommended some useful books and a DVD to supplement the information that she gave us at the consultation. Bella is a very attractive looking female, with a beguiling expression and unfortunately that sometimes meant that various members of the family were a bit too indulgent with her, which was contrary to her best interests, and as Doreen explained this was contributing to the problems we were having. The problems we had included her being so energetic pulling and lunging when on walks that she could even pull my husband off his feet, very boisterous behaviour, jumping up on the furniture uninvited "mouthing", and the ability to open doors! Doreen advised us to implement gesture eating so that Bella would begin the crucial process of seeing us as in charge--- instead of her, and explained how until we were happy and in control we should practice stop start and change direction in our own garden and not take her out on walks. Doreen provided written guidelines to deal with all aspects of Bella's behaviour and a specific action plan for us to follow, and as well as making a follow up phone call after the consultation was available to answer my e mails when we had a problem I thought we needed advice on.

I always found my e mails answered promptly, especially when I said that Bella had unfortunately started to chew part of our sofa! Thankfully, with Doreen's advice and support we were able to cope and Bella is now a much loved member of our family, as you can see from the photo!