Baloo – a bear of a dog!

From nervous, anxious and reactive to calm, relaxed and brave (most of the time!)

Its fair to say Baloo wasn’t the luckiest puppy in some respects. Starting from a very young age, Baloo had to be removed from his mum at 5 weeks due to number of puppies in the litter and the inability of the mother to provide sufficient milk. Issues with his eyes being obscured by too much skin on his face, meant he had to wear the ‘cone of shame’ for long periods while the vets tried to correct his condition.

As a result Baloo’s socialisation was adversely affected. He missed out on key socialisation from his mother and litter and then during the key stage of development he was unable to interact with other dogs sufficiently.

As a result of his incomplete socialisation and reduced vision Baloo became quite anxious, and nervous when he was walked by his owner. At around 70KG at 12 months Baloo comfortably outweighed his owner and on several occasions he pulled her over when startled or upon meeting dogs on walks.

Baloo developed a tendency to bark (very loudly!) at dogs he encountered on walks and would often lunge towards them. He was not overtly aggressive, but due to his limited vision he was often unaware of the approach of another dog and or person and reacted the only way he knew! This made walking Baloo a real trial for his owner and meant he was only getting walked early in the morning or late at night – with his owner constantly on edge in case a dog/person/cat appeared unexpectedly – 180 degree turns and hiding behind parked cars became the normal pattern of his walks.

Non giant breed dog advice had ended up with the owner in A&E with a badly bruised nearly dislocated knee cap – she had tried to follow the advice given, to put her leg in the way of Baloo to stop him going in a direction she didn’t want him to go. He simply dropped his head and push through her leg – much to her discomfort!

Shortly afterwards she contacted D4dog – actually on NewYears Day 2022.

We discussed the issues that owning and walking Baloo created for his owner and identified the goals that she had. To be able to walk Baloo without worrying how he was going to react to other dogs etc. To be able to take him to the vets without it becoming a nightmare of stress and anxiety. To be able to walk into and around town with Baloo. To be able to go to the pub or get a coffee with Baloo without panic!

One of the issues that the owner found very difficult to cope with when walking Baloo, was the tendency of members of the public to just walk up to him, uninvited, without asking and try to pet him! This caused Baloo a lot of anxiety as he very often wouldn’t see them until they suddenly stroked him – which would startle him and often result in a loud bark and or lunge of panic. Not surprisingly this was very uncomfortable for the owner and a significant cause of stress.

After an in-depth discussion with Baloo’s owner and meeting the big dog himself, we produced a comprehensive report for his owner, outlining the identified issues, goals the owner had for Baloo, background information on the breed and potential impact of Baloo’s early experiences on current and future behaviour and how this would influence the approach we would adopt to support Baloo and his owner.

The first approach looked at control and management of Baloo, especially on walks. Advice and guidance on which leads, collars, harnesses etc. would be most effective and suitable for Baloo.

Secondly, we looked at strategies to reduce unwanted approaches from members of the public, when Baloo was being walked.

Thirdly, we looked at how we could help Baloo become less reactive on the lead, more relaxed on walks and more confident when meeting new people, dogs etc.

Finally we explored how we could support both Baloo and his owner in fulfilling the goals she had. Walking into and around town, going to the vets, walking to and then enjoying time at a pub.

We can honestly say, receiving a video from the owner in mid April, showing Baloo walking into the vets, getting on the scales and then sitting down on command, then waiting calmly was one of the absolute highlights of the year!

Baloo is now far more relaxed on walks, still has the odd grumble at a sudden darting dog – such as a cocker spaniel – that startles him. But he is great off lead, his recall is very good – except when he’s hot and laying in the river! His owner can walk him with confidence and control – no more being dragged along in Baloo’s wake!

His training and behaviour support work continues, but Baloo (and his owner) have made such amazing progress, in a relatively short period of time – to be honest, ahead of the schedule we had expected by several months!

Baloo is still a bear of a dog – but he is now a much better behaved, more relaxed and happy dog. His owner now has a dog that is a pleasure to own (most of the time!) rather than a source of anxiety and stress.

Seeing the progress that dogs like Baloo can make, is why we love our job!

If you and your dog are having similar issues to those Baloo and his owner were struggling with, get in touch with D4dog and lets see if we can help you as we helped them. 07743864373 or d4dogwalking2021@gmail.com or have a look at our facebook page.