GEORGIA’S STORY
Living with a dog is seldom straightforward. It’s full of challenges and changes and I want to share with you a huge challenge I’ve had this year with Georgia, my Golden Retriever who is now 20mths old.
In the middle of 2025, she started to show signs of worry, reactivity with novel events, things that were a bit out of the ordinary. For example, we added a weathervane to a shed in our back yard. An understated cockerel sitting atop the 4 points of the compass, but Georgia definitely didn’t see it like that. The moment she clapped eyes on it, her hackles were up, tail up and stiff, barking, lunging unable to look away from it seemingly terrified.
Soon after that our neighbour had solar panels installed on a section of roof very close to our property boundary. Georgia was in the back yard (with our other dogs) and spotted the installer, standing on the roof measuring the length of the roof as any good installer should.
She immediately arched her back and started barking, at which point the installer flicked his metal measuring tape off its anchor at the other end of the roof, causing the rattling, swishing, weird noise metal tape measures make as they recoil. The noise combined with seeing a man on the roof and Georgia flipped into a panic meltdown – jumping, lunging, barking, shaking. Her whole body was shaking from head to toe. Eventually I managed to get her (and the other dogs who were watching all this with alarm) inside where it took over 45minutes for the shaking to stop. It was sometime after that before she was able to lie down and sleep.
For Georgia, this event was soon followed by gut issues – frequent urination, vomiting undigested food, followed by projectile diarrhoea. In all it took 5 weeks for the gut issues to resolve and before we were both able to get a full night’s sleep.
I was devastated by all this. I felt so sad to see her so worried about reasonably normal stuff. This wasn’t just “a bit of adolescent shenanigans” it was a major issue. I have cried more than a few tears.
Two things stood out for me, the need to address her gut problems and training to address what was now highly reactive behaviour. She was terrified of so many things. Firstly, I consulted an integrative vet who prescribed a range of probiotics for Georgia to promote calmness and healthy gut. Then we started on a new training program of pattern games based on Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt.
This training was new for both of us, and the pattern games were exactly what we needed. Georgia was worried about any new thing – places, sights, sounds. Her “go to response” was hackles up, brain switched off, barking, lunging, jerky movements. Apart from physically dragging her away, in those moments there was no way to reach her to change her response. People talking loudly, someone pushing a pram, a noisy trolley, one day it was a man carrying his young daughter on his shoulders, all these seemingly “normal” things sent her into a panic.
The pattern games have given her a rewarding, predictable routine she can engage with while she processes the things around her. So instead of flying into reactivity, she can tell me when she needs a pattern, we do it, and she receives lots of rewards for it. She works through how she feels, acclimates and when she’s ready, we move on. Six months and her world is a much calmer place. There’s plenty of work still to do, but she is so much happier. And my world has changed as well. The patterns have given me greater understanding of her needs, and I have tools to help her. I’ll be honest, six months ago I didn’t know what to do. Anything I’d learned previously about dog training didn’t come near helping her. My relief is massive, but the biggest relief is seeing Georgia more relaxed in her world.
In 2026 I am offering training to help dogs like Georgia, dogs with big feelings about the world. I am offering sessions in person or on zoom according to your needs. If your dog barks, lunges, ignores you the moment they step outside the home, these easy, predictable rewarding patterns will help bring some calmness back for you and your dog. Click here!