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...

  • 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 is like a medium for dogs. As a first time dog owner, I've spent hours reading, scouring the internet, and working with other trainers to try to teach my lil dude, Schnitzel. Alas, his guarding, reactivity, barking, and at times — aggression, has persisted, causing major stress and concerns for his happiness and safety. Cue Kristina — my goodness! Kristina has given me so much insight into lil guy's psyche, and the tools I need to communicate with him. Even after our first session I saw progress. A lot of trainers will apply one philosophy to all dogs — whereas Kristina takes everything you've told her about your dog, and combines it with her extensive knowledge of different breed's psyches/needs to come up with a plan that will work for them — lemme tell ya, it HAS! She just gets them, and makes the training process so much more comprehensive for owners. Thank you so much Kristina!

    Miya Strauss Avatar Miya Strauss

  • Kristina is so knowledgeable and I really enjoy and respect her approach to training. My puppy has been responding so well and I can only imagine the kind of puppy I would have if I didn’t go to Kristina. She responds to texts in case you have follow up questions, which is super helpful. I would highly recommend.

    Sara S Avatar Sara S

  • As a first time dog owner, Kristina gives me all the tools I needed to best support my pup! She is super knowledgable and understanding of my pups needs and has so many helpful resources. She is also great with humans - professional, kind, and easy to work with. She has checked in with me throughout my training journey making me feel very supported!

    Faith Gallant Avatar Faith Gallant

  • Kristina was super knowledgeable and helpful in working with me and my dog to concur her resource guarding and reactivity. Her clear homework instructions were easy to follow and she was always available to help whenever I needed it. Forever grateful for her expertise!

    Kayla Carson Avatar Kayla Carson

  • 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

  • I have a super reactive dog that has so greatly improved through working with Kristina! Now we are able to pass other dogs where she does not react (except for the very few times, but we’re still working on those lol). So happy to have found Kristina to help me and the family have a much more happy and fulfilling life with our love Muffy ????

    Said Saffarini Avatar Said Saffarini

  • My favourite thing about Kristina’s training style is her supportive/interactive nature, articulate and honest communication. I started working with Kristina on my dogs leash reactivity/aggression ~1month ago, and I have seen tangible and consistent improvements in my dogs obedience, engagement, and our relationship in general. This was previously a big source of stress in my journey as an owner, and something I have struggled immensely for quite sometime. If you are having difficulties with your dog or maybe you have a dog with behavioural issues that is above your current skill level, she’s your gal!

    Elaina X Avatar Elaina X

  • My 2 yorkies used to love each other, but two months ago they started fighting every day, it was a stressful situation at home. Kristina was the second trainer to try to fix this dog agression situation. She solved 70% of my problem in ONE DAY. Check the picture of my yorkies, they are together in the same room without killing each other!!!!! It happened literally 2 days after we started doing what Kristina told us to! I am looking foward to the next session, I am really confident that they will become the most polite dogs in the world

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    Nicoli Ueta Avatar Nicoli Ueta

  • Kristina is super knowledgeable and has helped our Benny immensely! He's amazing and so sweet but was initially very reactive to dogs and humans alike. Kristina takes the time to work with you to establish a better relationship with your dog, and gives you homework so that you have things to work on independently between sessions! Benny no longer pulls on walks and is so calm around other pups. Thanks Kristina!!

    VANRIP Avatar VANRIP
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