Hairy Tales Specializes in Behaviour Issues

Not all trainers are able to help with behaviour issues effectively. So what makes Hairy Tales so successful with behaviour cases?

What Kinds of Behaviour Issues Can You Help With?

Behaviour modification involves training to get rid of already existing behaviours that are unwanted. These can include things such as (but not limited to) the following issues:

  • Dog reactive or aggressive
  • Incessant barking
  • Biting, nipping or mouthing
  • Potty training issues
  • Low confidence

Eradicating a behaviour that is already present is vastly different than teaching a dog new behaviours.

When dealing with behaviours that we want to get rid of in dogs, your average dog trainer will often not be well versed enough in dog psychology and behaviour to help completely get rid of the problem. This is especially true when we are dealing with more intense reactivity and / or aggression issues.

Eradicating a behaviour that is already present is VASTLY different than teaching a dog new behaviours. This is why basic obedience will often not be the answer when it comes to solving your dogs behavioural woes. 

It will often take someone who is highly specialized is understanding dog behaviour issues in order for you and your dog to get the results you are looking for. 

Dog Training Toronto | Hairy Tales | Award Winning Dog Behaviorist

When I am working with a dog that has behavioural issues, I am always looking at the entire picture to see what could be causing the problem, and how WE can change to help THEM. The key word here is "WE" meaning; it's up to the owner to make changes to how they interact with their dog in order for their dog to change. 

Kristina Rapson
The Hairy Dogmother

The first most important step to any dog training, is improving the relationship with your dog. Dogs, like all social mammals (including humans), practice dominance hierarchy. Anyone who tells you otherwise has absolutely no idea about how nature works, and how social mammals cohabit.

Because dog packs are not stagnant family units like wolves, it means that they are constantly looking at the pack members around them all the time to see if they need to take a leadership / protector role in that moment. Dogs communicate primarily with body language and space, and for this reason, many people do not realize that they are sending the wrong messages to their dog all day long that the dog should be the leader / protector. When this happens, your average happy go lucky dog will likely just not listen as well to commands because, well, why should they? They are the boss not you! 

The major problem occurs when we have dogs who have fears and insecurities about things in our human world. If you have unintentionally told them that they are the leader / protector, they will be reactive and sometimes even aggressive towards the things that scare them.

This is where I come in, to help you understand what you might be doing to send your dog these messages, and to help your dog understand that it is not their job to protect themselves or you, in fact, you have their back and you are their protector. 

Dog Training Toronto | Hairy Tales | Award Winning Dog Behaviorist
Kristina Rapson The Hairy Dogmother

So what does behaviour modification look like?

01

Improving Communication & Relationship

Through teaching you how dogs communicate, Kristina will be helping you how to clarify your interactions with your dog so you are sending them the right messages.

02

Learning Techniques

You must learn from Kristina how to communicate what is and is not acceptable. Then you must apply this and teach your dog the rules and boundaries clearly and consistently. 

03

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Once you have the knowledge, skills and tools from Kristina to improve your dogs behaviour, you are to practice every single day. Practice makes perfect!

The Science Behind Leadership In Dogs

Learn more about the science behind the importance of leadership with dogs.

This is often very different than what most other trainers will try to use to get rid of behaviour issues, which is generally obedience training, corrections or counter conditioning. Without a change in relationship, none of these methods will get rid of the root cause of the behavior issue. If you have already been to other trainers, this might be the missing link. 

What kinds of training tools do you use?

This really depends on the dog and human involved. Again, we don’t use a one sized fits all method, and so each dog and human duo will need something different depending on the behaviour and how intense they are. What is for sure, is we almost always need to switch from the current tool, as most dogs come in completely desensitized to their current walking tool (harness, collar, halti, or whatever else they are on).  By switching the equipment to something new, it allows the owner to have more communication for a few days while the dog is not used to the sensation of that new tool. It’s like getting new shoes. We are always a little weirded out at first because it feels funny, and we aren’t used to it.  We always try to use the least aversive tools possible that gets the results we need to improve the behaviour.

***PLEASE NOTE: Do not switch equipment before meeting your new trainer as this could cause your dog to become desensitized to the new tool if you are not using the right methods and techniques to make sure this doesn’t happen.

Do you use e-collar training for behaviour modification?

We can, however this is not the first go to tool of choice when we are working with unwanted behaviours. E-collar training requires a lot of time and work before you can actually use it as a corrective tool for unwanted behaviour.  If its something you are interested in, it will take some time before we get there to use it in this way. More information on e-collar training can be found here.

  • Remember that no behaviour issue can be completely resolved in just one session. It takes time and practice to get over these types of issues. 
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See what people are saying...

  • I honestly cannot recommend Kristina’s services enough. As an experienced dog owner, I did not anticipate the issues of anxiety and aggression that showed up early in my chihuahua-mix’s personality. Kristina is the third or fourth trainer I have consulted with over the 2 years I have had Banjo, and I am feeling so much relief over our progress after our first 3 sessions. Kristina listens, she understands our issues, she has validated my concerns, and most importantly has given me clear, practical and actionable instructions for helping Banjo become a more confident and calm little dude. To be clear, this is WORK, but she has given me so much confidence and direction, and I’m clearly seeing it in my dogs behaviour. I have texted her between sessions with specific behaviours or concerns, and she has come back with real solutions that I can incorporate into our training plan immediately. All the stars for Kristina! She has made me feel confident for the first time in 2 years that Banjo has a much happier and calmer future ahead - and that I don’t have to live my life walking on egg shells.

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    Katie Pitts Avatar Katie Pitts

  • My family adopted a rescue this past February who was quite leash reactive. We heard about Kristina through a friend of a friend who hired her as a trainer. Kristina taught us the foundations to teaching our dog that we are his protector. From there she taught us how to redirect his reactiveness. Today he is walking by my side beautifully and rarely reacts to another dog. I have even had people come up to me saying how well behaved my dog is.

    Lorraine Webb Avatar Lorraine Webb

  • Kristina helped us with our extremely sensitive dog when he was having some aggression issues. It gave us such peace of mind to actually feel like we had control over our dog.

    Delaire Nicholson Avatar Delaire Nicholson

  • Kristina is a kind and compassionate trainer with a soft spot for international rescue. What is most impressive to me is her drive to continue to stay on top of her education. She has invested a lot of time and money into constantly learning more to help her students achieve the best possible outcomes with their dogs.

    Amber Remedios Avatar Amber Remedios

  • We are very thankful for all the useful advice that Kristina has provided to us! We were really struggling with some behavioural issues with our dog, particularly around leash reactivity. After just one session, we have noticed a huge difference! Walking the dog had become really stressful and now we have concrete solutions to help with training that have worked wonders! Thanks Kristina!

    Anne Stephenson Avatar Anne Stephenson

  • I called Kristina shortly after bringing home my new puppy, a 9 month old rescue from Egypt. When I felt overwhelmed, she helped me to better understand his behaviours (and their underlying motivations) in order to help us live a happier and more balanced life together in a new environment. I really appreciate her check-ins and detailed "homework" to keep us on track and continuing to work on our bond. Kristina's guidance and expertise has transformed my relationship with my dog.

    Valerie Avatar Valerie

  • Our rescue stray dog had a lot of behavioral issues when we first started training with Kristina, but after just one class, we already noticed an improvement. She provided us with practical tips and techniques that were easy to follow and made a big difference in our dog's behavior. Kristina often checked in on us to see how things were going and offered additional guidance and support whenever we needed it (and we needed quite a lot of it!). The homework assignments she provided were also very helpful in reinforcing the training we received in class.

    Ina Z. Avatar Ina Z.

  • We had our first session with Kristina today. She is incredibly knowledgeable on dog behaviour and helps you understand why certain behaviours are happening and what they really mean. The corrections she suggested really helped our dog in the first 90 minutes and we are looking forward to our next lesson and Marley’s progress! Thank you Kristina!

    Yvonne Yhap Avatar Yvonne Yhap

  • We rescued an anxious possessive hound mix. We knew we were out of our depths and needed help. We turned to Kristina and have not regreted. Kristina is very knowledgeable and pragmatic in her advice. She listens well and tailors solutions. She is available to us between sessions. I have hope that we can train our dog to be a great dog

    Anne Hayes Avatar Anne Hayes

  • When we first reached out to Kristina at Hairy Tales, our dog was very reactive to other dogs and animals, so badly that we couldn’t take him outside of the house at all. But after 2 sessions with her and doing the things she told us to do, we are already seeing a lot of improvements. We are now able to pass a dog park without him getting out of control. Highly recommend this place.

    Moozhan Vilkiji Avatar Moozhan Vilkiji
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