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...

  • Kristina offered really practical and useful advice for training our 3 month old sheepadoodle puppy. More importantly she was able to explain how a dog may actually interpret our attempts in preventing unwanted dog behaviours. This "dog thinking" has proved to be key in his (and our) ongoing training.

    Kathy Bleyer Avatar Kathy Bleyer

  • I had a great experience working with Kristina to train my puppy Alfie - she was thorough, king, patient and incredibly encouraging! She was flexible with the spring weather and sent extensive follow up emails to help with my training at home. She could even check in on how things were going in between our sessions, and always answered my random questions as well. Couldn't recommend her more! Such a great help to me.

    Julia Bennett Avatar Julia Bennett

  • 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

  • Milo and I are so lucky that we have found Kristina. She is very knowledgeable and helpful. Milo ignored me all the time and always pulling me on the walk. Now, after two sessions, he has no pulling at all. Walking has never been this easy and relaxing. More importantly, the training sessions help me a lot to understand Milo’s behavior. Will definitely recommend Kristina to everyone who is seeking for help with your pup! And we will keep our sessions with her!

    Kailin Zhang Avatar Kailin Zhang

  • A perfect trainer to fit our needs as we raise our beautiful Bouvier

    Myriam and Roland Levasseur Avatar Myriam and Roland Levasseur

  • If you have an ANXIOUS dog with NO FOOD DRIVE, please try Kristina's method!!!!! I wish I could give Kristina more stars, and let her training service be known by every rescue organization in the city. We went to our first training session 12 days agao, and we are amazed at how much our rescue dog, Yara, has improved. Here's Yara's story: We adopted Yara about a year ago. She is the sweetest girl at home! However, she is extremely anxious. She is also NOT food-motivated AT ALL! We have found no dog treats or human food that can grab her attention when we're outside, even when she is not in the barking mode. We believe this is why all the previous positive-reinforcement-based training attempts FAILED, even with anti-anxiety suppplements/ CBD oil/ pheromone collar. We cannot communicate with her what we want her to do, since she can't be bothered with the treats or the high-pitch baby talk. When we contacted Kristina, we explicitly requested to train with no food reward at all. After using the method Kristina taught us for just the 12 short days, Yara has stopped barking at random dogs on walk completely. She has also stopped pulling on her leash. She now exhibits much less guarding behaviour in the dog park towards dogs outside. She plays with us more at home, and she is less anxious in general. The most important part is we think she starts to trust and understand our instructions more! She's still have some issues to work through, e.g. she still barks if the elevator door opens, and another big dog magically appears right in front of her. We are confident that we can work with Kristina to help her overcome all her issues! We were on the verge of giving up before we contacted Kristina, but we're so glad that we did not! If positive-reinforcement-only methods are not working for your dog, please try Kristina's method. Thank you, Kristina! We look forward to our next session.

    Ceci L Avatar Ceci L

  • We are so very happy to have found Kristina, for us and our very exuberant boxer puppy Lucy ! Walking her has been a challenge because of her endless energy and love for everyone. Kristina has helped us correct our reactions to her and encouraged us how to respond correctly ! After two sessions we have seen a huge improvement with Lucy, even with the 2 week quarantine after her spay. ! Her professionalism shines, she is a competent and most reliable trainer, I would and have highly recommended Kristina as a dog trainer .

    Judi Frost Avatar Judi Frost

  • 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

  • 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
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