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Testimonials
Pippa & Bentley
We would wholeheartedly recommend Sophie for anyone looking to work on their dog’s behaviour. We first contacted Sophie to help with our Cockapoo, Pippa, who is extremely prey-driven and at the time was highly reactive to dogs and sometimes people. We were at our wits end and had begun to dread walks, which undoubtedly fed into Pippa’s existing issues. From the moment Sophie arrived at our home I felt instantly confident that she was the right person to help us.
Her approach is practical and easy to follow, meaning we were able to see changes in Pippa relatively quickly. I will never forget the sense of dread I had at our first outdoor session when we were due to introduce one of Sophie’s own dogs into the mix and being blown away that Sophie was able to take Pippa close to her dog without a reaction straight away. Fairly soon we joined the pack walks and we continue to attend when we can. It’s excellent structured socialisation for the dogs and a great opportunity to practice and get feedback on your own handling skills.
We will always need to work hard on Pippa’s recall – but Sophie has given us the skills and confidence to do that work and continue to improve. So much so in fact that, with Sophie’s support and input, we decided to rescue another dog who also had some fairly severe issues. We were anxious about the prospect of introducing a second dog, especially one with a bite history. We adopted Bentley as a young dog with very few boundaries in place, resource guarding issues and awful separation anxiety, but with Sophie's help very quickly he slotted into our lives and has become a completely different dog. We would never have had the confidence to take him on without Sophie and we will always be grateful to her for that, as we couldn't imagine life without him now. By following the principles which Sophie has taught us over the years his transition was very smooth and we now have two happy and well-rounded dogs. We would never have got to that stage without Sophie.
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Dobby
We got a puppy in October 2020 (I know, who didn’t?!) and whilst we had fantastic contacts at Archway due to my husband going to school with the owner, we had no idea the relationships with the dog community that would come with it.
Whilst we initially hired a trainer to work with us one on one, we found that the pack walks and training tips that Sophie offered, far exceeded our expectations. Dobby had a lot of on lead reactivity as he was anxious around new people, especially those that wanted to stop and say hello to him. He didn’t quite understand their intentions and would lunge towards them and bark, which can be quite scary even though he’s little.
Sophie helped us to understand that we had no control with the harness and lead we were using and taught us to switch to a buckle collar and a short lead. The transformation was instantaneous, we got a different dog overnight!!! Her tips and tricks helped us to overcome some of his more stubborn traits and he no longer pulls on the lead. He’s an excellent heel walker and although still a little anxious around new people, we have the ability to control the situation and know how to deal with it. Sophie's help with crate-training has also been a game-changer for us, as it has totally resolved his separation anxiety. He can now be left at home in his crate with no issues - he's calm and happy to sleep until we get home.
If you are struggling with anything; there’s very little that Sophie “The Dog Whisperer” cannot deal with. She’s been an absolute blessing and Dobby loves the pack walks with the group! 🐾🐶🦴🧡🧡. Cannot recommend her enough!
Max
My daughter had Max a black Labrador at 8 weeks old & came back home to live with us when Max was 16 months old, neither of us had had a dog before.
Max was an extreme puller & he would lunge towards other dogs barking and growling, we were concerned he was dog aggressive. This was making me anxious so naturally I started to avoid other dogs which I knew was wrong. Max also had no recall. Fortunately we met Sophie, first of all Sophie assured us Max wasn't aggressive then Sophie advised us to change the lead which made a big difference.
Sophie taught us both how to walk Max properly, how to greet other dogs, recall & boundaries, also about being consistent & rewarding when Max is being good & about not panicking when things don't go right. Now we don't feel anxious which benefits Max hugely, if we did Max would pick up on this. When walking Max now there is no tension on the lead which makes it more enjoyable to walk him, when Max is off lead he now comes back when called and Max has lots of dog friends.
All this would not be possible without Sophie's help, advice & encouragement. In the end as the owner you need to take note of what Sophie says & put the work in & you will get the rewards.
Max is unrecognisable from when he first came home to us.
Sharmie
We got our dog Sharmie as a rescue nearly 18months ago from Egypt. He was an extreme case that had cable ties put around his neck with a 1kg stone hung off it. This grew into his skin and went septic. He was rescued and put into a kennel in Egypt where we rehomed him from.
Arriving to the UK Sharmie was all that we could've dreamed for. He was so bouncy, so caring, so loving and fun he loves to play. However, what he didn't like was people or dogs walking in front of our windows. Having been the first time in his life on a lead and not able to get away from other dogs, he would panic and go into reactive behaviour on walks. This involves barking very loudly, growling, make himself look bigger and even lunging. If we put him on a long lead and he saw a dog he would run in the opposite direction he was not aggressive just reactive. For the first eight months we had a trainer that suggested that we pull down all the blinds in our house at the front, so he wouldn't be stressed and if we saw another dog, we should turn around and walk away when we see other dogs. It worked to a point, in as much as, he didn't see any dogs to get reactive. But he wasn't getting any better, it was just masking the issues not dealing with them. In fact we ended up turning our house around and moved our front room to the back, so where he stayed was at the back of the house and didn't get so stressed.
I came across Sophie when I was contacting Archway Boarding Kennels (Also a fantastic facility for doggie day care and boarding) to see if it was possible for Sharmie to go to as we were going away. The second I met Sophie I knew that this was the person that we needed to train Sharmie!!! Within the five minute discussion with her at the kennels she had already given us pointers which helped us immediately deal with some of his issues. Within five minutes of walking into our house this issue of Sharmie being stressed and upset at the window was dealt with immediately, and has not reoccurred at all we now live with the curtains open hooray!! She spent an hour with us observing Sharmie and asked lots of questions. She then set out a plan. Taking each problem and making a plan how to fix it. Sharmie was walking on the lead and was less reactive to most dogs, started to walk to heel in one lesson. Within one month it was almost like a miracle he was a different dog outside much more chilled.
We were still having a problem with one particular dog in our village, the owner was having similar issues. He agreed to let Sophie take his dog (which was very big) and us with Sharmie. And from having to turn around every time the dogs were going to cross paths because they would get really barky and growly and lunging. Within five minutes both dogs were walking next to each other and are now best friends. We are still using Sophie for ongoing training and Sharmie adores her.
Whatever the issue with your dog Sophie is your lady, not only is she incredible with the dogs, but she's also pretty incredible with the humans, training us to do the right thing so not to confuse the dog. Trust that she will tell you the truth about what you need to do to get your dog happy. We now have the best relationship in the world with ours and its ALL thanks to Sophie. I cannot recommend her highly enough if you have any issues with your dog there's only one person to go for and that is Sophie.
If you want to check any of what I've written above let Sophie know and she will give me your number and I will be more than happy to tell you about our experience.
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