TRUST & PROTECTION

Trust works both ways - First it must be earnt, and then be given unconditionally, both by the human and the dog.

Be PROACTIVE rather than REACTIVE

Learn to recognise your dog's body language,

Assess potentially stressful situations and manage them before they cause stress to your long-term stressed dog. Your dog will begin to recognise that you are helping him to cope with the difficult things in his life and will begin to trust your judgment more. He will gradually be able to cope with more stressful situations, certain in the knowledge that if he can't cope you will protect him by offering a safe escape route.

• HUMAN
  By acting as your dog's Parent and/or Guardian your dog will gradually begin to trust your judgment in more and more situations, and feel less likely to make "decisions" on your behalf. Your dog will learn to relax and enjoy life as a normal dog (reading the newspaper whilst out walking, communicating and enjoying the company of other dogs, enjoying quality sleep, etc) without the added responsibility of looking after its human pack. Its confidence in your ability to recognise its Calming Signals and body language will

This trust and understanding takes time, patience and above all unremitting consistency by the human as to what they expect from their dog, and what the dog can expect from them. When building this precious trust there is no room for you to keep changing your mind, your commands and signals, or your expectations of what you want your dog to do.

PROTECTION

Not putting it in situations
it can't cope with - help it to
trust our judgment and learn to
cope with the situations
we do ask it to deal with.

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