Harley has been fantastic. The difference in her is incredible. I no longer dread taking her along the street!

She is so good at making eye contact with me and looking for instruction as to what to do when a dog approaches. I have been practicing turning her round and sitting down and rewarding her when the dog walks past her with no reaction. What a result!

I am now able to walk past dogs ( still with some space for Harley) without any reaction by getting her to look at me and focus.

She is so clever that now when she meets and greets a dog politely on a walk or if she sees a dog in the street she will nudge me for a treat as a reward for no reaction. Clever girl.

We are still practicing so see if we can maybe get a little closer to a dog in the street than we have been. There are still times where she is a little anxious on the lead but all a working progress. She is now walking through the Hermitage with no reaction at all to cyclists, joggers or people with big bags or unusual objects.

Thank you so much for your help.

- Sarah

This is quite an emotional story to write, now that I am thinking about it!

We decided to add a dog to our family and I spent a long time researching dogs which would not stimulate allergies which some of us have and would be a suitable temperament and size for the kids to walk. I had had dogs in my family all of my life so was keen my kids had the same experience. Having spoken to lots of breeders on the phone and spent hours reading up, we welcomed 9 week old Luath (a show cocker spaniel) into our home. She was great and was socialised with lots of people of all ages. When she was 12-13 weeks old she started showing anxiety and became reluctant to interact with new people or dogs.

Puppy classes were really stressful for her, she wanted to hide behind the chairs the whole hour and wouldn't go out for a walk for 2 days after each class. Visits to the vet were difficult and I was told to 'get on top of her behaviour'. Hmmm!! An animal behaviourist was recommended and on meeting Luath for an afternoon, informed me that I needed to do three things - cover over the windows in the living room so she couldn't see out; not let her near other dogs and not let the kids walk her on their own. By the time he left, I was fighting back the tears - our lovely dog so affectionate and loving with us and struggling with her fears which we couldn't really understand was condemned to a life of being unable to interact with anyone else but her close family (and had to stay in rooms she couldn't see out of!!) We tried reactive dog classes - no help.

After a period of feeling quite sad, I decided to have another try for help. I was looking for another dog trainer closer to where we live and with experience of anxiety and reactiveness when I found LInnea and Gregor's website.

The first time Linnea came round, I immediately felt that she understood the issues we had and had a sensible approach to managing them by looking at the emotions behind the behaviour rather than the behaviour itself. Initially, she and Luath had a 'tussle' on either end of the lead but after 2 hours, Luath had learned an automatic sit, dog parkour and was walking beside Linnea and taking treats from her!! It was magical to watch and be part of.

We have had 1:1 sessions at home and in the Meadows as well as play sessions in our garden with some of the daycare dogs. All of these have taught my family and I how to manage Luath in different situations and allowed her to gain confidence.

The Sunday morning social walks have given Luath the chance to gain trust with other dogs - all of whom have their own issues. She has learned that nothing awful is necessarily going to happen with other people and dogs around. She will now walk and play with the others - even giving one larger, boisterous dog a kiss on the ear last week!! She will approach the owners too now and does not have a meltdown if something happens which she was not expecting.

I read Walk & Train reviews before contacting them but did not really believe that our dog would achieve so much that I would ever be writing this!! Luath still has lots to learn - so do we - but she is able to enjoy being a dog now which wouldn't have happened without Linnea and Gregor's support and knowledge.

Oh yes and if anyone says 'Linnea' in the house, Luath runs to the window, tail wagging and looks for Linnea!! Positive conditioned response, I think they call it!

- Alison

We cannot praise Gregor and Linnea enough for the amount of help and advice they have given us and our dog Crazy Maisie.

Although Maisie looks very cute and innocent she can be very nervous and aggressive around other dogs. This reaction was a result of being attacked a few times by other dogs while out on walks.

Maisie’s behaviour was so unpredictable it made walking her something we dreaded rather than enjoyed, which is not ideal for a very hyper Spaniel who needs lots of walks.

After trying lots of different techniques and reading a lot about aggression in nervous dogs, we felt like nothing was working. We would see some small changes, but they would never last.

We first contacted Gregor and Linnea about 8 months ago and have noticed a massive improvement in Maisie’s behaviour already. So much so we have been able to hire a dog walker, who takes Maisie out with other dogs and hasn’t been aggressive with any of them to date.

Gregor and Linnea taught us that Maisie isn’t a bad dog and that it is other owners who do not have control over their dogs when running at Maisie. This was a huge relief to hear.

We had one individual consultation with Gregor, who taught us how to try to keep Maisie calm outside so that instead of being at 100 when she is out, she starts the walk a lot calmer and can now sit and stay outside.

We also attend the Sunday group sessions which are a life line for us. Maisie gets to socialise with other dogs whose owners are in control and her confidence has grown massively. She now very rarely reacts to dogs and is starting to become calmer outdoors (which for a Spaniel is the impossible)

The class is also very good for us, as it not only gives us a chance to catch up with Gregor and Linnea, who are always on hand to help and give us tips, but it also makes us feel like we aren’t the only ones and that other owners face the same challenges as us.

Linnea and Gregor clearly have a passion for what they do and they are amazing at it. So much so, when Maisie wasn’t well, Linnea was on hand to offer advice. They really do love our dogs as much as we do.

We can’t thank them enough for helping us make walks with Maisie something we love doing again.

-Laura

When we adopted our first dog, she was just under 6 months old, and came from a very different home in a rural location, to live with us, in a city. As Lily is our first dog, we decided we would like some professional help just to make sure that we were doing the right things. Linnea helped us learn how to read Lily’s body language, understand her better and respond appropriately. We have been very fortunate and never had any real difficulties with Lily, but there were lots of everyday behaviours we wanted to improve. Lily used to constantly pull on the lead and whine as she became frustrated about this, which still happens occasionally, but now, if I get her in the right frame of mind, we can walk through a busy park, or past birds/cats in the street, without even having a lead on! We have done lots of work on calmness and frustration, which I don’t think we even understood was the issue before working with Linnea.

Friends and family often comment on how well behaved Lily is, which is lovely to hear, and reminds us how hard we have all worked! It’s often easy for us to forget how much Lily, and we, have learned and changed over time, and how things we now take for granted are behaviours and skills that we have all worked on. There are lots of behaviours that we want to continue to improve/work on, but we now feel comfortable in how to achieve this.

Linnea is so generous with her time, often spending extra time with us and always being available for extra support or guidance if we needed it. It’s reassuring to know there is someone who will understand, and most likely have a remarkably simple solution, to any issues we face with our dog. We first made contact with Walk and Train Edinburgh in 2015, and still have contact and support from them now!

Walk and Train Edinburgh has also allowed us to access a whole other community of dogs and their people, new walks, different management techniques and advice about anything and everything dog related! Although our initial intent had just been to make sure we understood the basics, thanks to Walk and Train Edinburgh, we have a happy, relaxed dog, who we can understand and effectively communicate with. We are always recommending them to anyone who is thinking about getting a dog, and genuinely think getting in touch with Walk and Train Edinburgh is one of the best decisions we made since getting a dog!

-Frankie

Fergus was a nervy, anxious puppy who was always hyper & never calm.  Although things like bikes & cyclists didn't bother him when he was wee, once he reached a year old he became very scared of anything on wheels - which manifested as barking, growling, lunging and trying to nip.  This behaviour escalated until there were certain dogs he didn't like, as well as all other animal types & this was beginning to transfer onto humans too.  Although always a challenge, due to him pulling on lead and running away when off lead, walks became extremely stressful.  360 degree vision was required to keep him and the rest of the world safe.  The final straw came when he lunged & tried to bite a lady who had patted him whilst he was sitting on lead with my husband, outside a shop.  To be fair to the dog, the lady came out of nowhere & literally pounced on him whilst ruffling his backside - I wouldn't have liked it much either! She was quick to apologise as she realised it had been her actions that had caused Fergus' meltdown.  However, we realised we couldn't go on like this & that there was a real possibility of Fergus hurting someone.  I was also suffering from sore shoulders and a painful neck, partly due to the stress and partly due to his pulling.  We decided to look for a behaviourist/trainer to see if we could turn his behaviour around.  We didn't want to think about the alternative.   

I came across Walk & Train on a Google search & explained our problems.  Linnea replied very quickly & was so supportive in that first email - suddenly we didn't feel we were all alone with a problem dog.  She set up our first meeting which would be followed by several one-to-one sessions.  

Linnea arrived on one of the wettest days we had last year - in the summer!  She observed Fergus on the walk whilst asking questions & getting his history.  She made several suggestions which we could put into practice straight away - one being, to feed him whilst out on his walk & using his food as a reward rather that buying special treats.  This worked very well for Fergus as he just loves using his nose to sniff out his breakfast & tea.  She also showed us how a slip lead would help to control him and get him to walk without pulling.

She also explained how to handle Fergus when he didn't respond after being given a command such as 'on your bed'.  Linnea also suggested changing Fergus food.  We opted for a lower protein food, which we think has helped.

Linnea left us to put the new regime in place & then did an enormous amount of work putting together worksheets which were completely relevant to our problems - in other words, totally personalised.  This all came with suggested video and web links - the amount of work she did should not be underestimated.

Then the hard work began - we were to implement the new regime, whilst doing things like having Fergus on a lead as my husband rode a bike at a distance Fergus was comfortable with, getting closer over a period of time.  We walked past joggers at distance, then got closer to them over time, we walked past hundreds of buggies, around the outside of playgrounds etc.  We got him to jump over low branches, onto tree stumps, wriggle under low branches, anything that would build his confidence.

We had several meetings with Linnea building on what we were doing with Fergus - then she decided it was time to walk him at heel through a busy environment&chose George IV Bridge - Fergus responded excellently - & that was our turning point - you could see him think that actually, he could manage this.

We are still a work in progress - does he still pull?  Yes, but I know the fault lies with me. Do I still suffer with my neck & shoulders?  No, because he only pulls occasionally during a walk & I can get him to stop.  His recall is excellent, he can walk past bikes & joggers whilst on lead, although we are still cautious when he is off lead.  He never does his old barking/growling/lunging routine - not even when he sees a cat!  Walks are no longer fraught with fear & we can once again take him with us if we go for a coffee.  Yes, he can still be nervous sometimes, but we have been complimented on having such a calm dog!  People have noticed that he seems to be a much happier dog & he now actively comes to us to be petted, which he never did before, preferring his own company.

Life was hard last year, but Linnea was with us every step of the way, between our sessions and email back-up & life is so much rosier this year.  She works exceptionally hard for her clients & gets brilliant results!

- Liz

First got in touch with Linnea as we had reached the end of our tether with our 2 year old lad Dexter. He really struggled with walking on the lead and would constantly stop, put the brakes on and refuse to move. We had recently got another puppy, Daisy, and trying to walk them together was a nightmare. Linnea suggested we change them both to slip rope leads, and take charge of the dogs. Focus on where we were going and don't stop regardless! Four months on and both dogs are walking perfectly on the leads. We also focused on eye contact and how important that was. The dogs are now really attentive, are good off lead and respond really well to our commands. They both get on really well and its now a real joy to be out with them. Daisy is a confident 10 months old now and Dexter has vastly improved in all areas. Linnea gave us great advice and lots of training tips to be going on with and is still in contact to see how the guys are doing. We can't thank her enough for her advice and time. We are now more relaxed and confident as owners too and I think the dogs really respond to that. We are really enjoying our beautiful dogs. Thank you so much Linnea.

- Helen & Blair

I contacted Walk and Train Edinburgh when my 6 month old Cocker Spaniel Oscar started to develop separation anxiety when left in the house alone and also to help us with recall training when out on walks.

In our consultation Linnea spent time observing and speaking to all the family to understand the way that we were interacting with Oscar and the circumstances that were causing his behaviour. She identified that Oscar never made eye contact with us which I hadn't noticed and explained the importance of him focusing his attention on us both inside and out of the house.

She talked us through what we should be doing to build his confidence in being left alone, firstly by stopping him following us around the house and building up the time he could hold his position in the crate. Following the consultation Linnea sent us detailed notes. She contacted us after a few weeks and provided further training ideas.

We saw a nearly immediate improvement on Oscar's recall by engaging his attention throughout a walk and this has continued to improve over time. Oscar responded well to the separation training but this took longer to see results. Now at nearly 9 months Oscar calmly goes to sleep when we leave him.

Linnea is extremely knowledgable about dog behaviour and is good at explaining the reasons behind it, as well as giving specific guidance on what needs to be done. I would highly recommend Linnea for dealing with dog behaviour issues and training.

- Lorna

It is just over a week since you spent a very informative and enjoyable afternoon with Monty and his "gang of owners". We have tried hard to follow your guidance and the results, certainly in my opinion, are remarkable.

Monty now realises that there are three parts to his life apart from eating, sleeping and the "other". 1. Exercise, walks etc (including down time during walk): The long line works a treat and has meant that walks have become fun for all (including Monty) without any concerns about getting him back on the leash at the end of the walk. Monty's recall is improving again and just about all the time, during the walk, he will return to our side and allow immediate contact with collar (or whatever). The long line is not really needed during the walk, At the end of the walk sometimes it is still necessary to utilise the long line but not always - a definite improvement. Walking on and off the lead to heel is also becoming easier. 2. Mental Stimulation / Structured Activities: Really seems to be working - trying to do a lot more in the house - Monty is calmer during these activities and it is fun for all - again a big improvement. 3. "Downtime" / Passive time: All I can say is thank you. Monty now seems to realise that both he and us need passive time. He is far more content to sit or lie quietly about the house and not always be having to "do something" or look for attention. We have followed your guidance regarding "his mat (and now including a basket)" however he does like to get off "his mat" and find his own spot to lie and have downtime. We will keep working on this but in truth the main thing is we all now have quality downtime.

Linnea, It was really good to meet you and gain from your experience - definitely worth it - once again a big thank you. Monty would send his best wishes too, but he is asleep at my feet and has not interrupted once while I was emailing you. We will keep in touch re progress and will not hesitate to use walk and train again. We have also highly recommended you to other dog owners.

- Douglas and "the rest of the gang"