This once peaceful country house...
DOG SNARLS
This is our life.
...is now a special place.
Back! Back!
My house smells of his wee.
...for those at the end of their tether.
I'm frightened it's going to kill him.
DOG GROWLS AND BARKS
DOG BARKS
He has pulled my arm out the socket.
If she could get off that lead, she'd be hanging off their face.
This is make or break for us.
Here, a team of expert trainers...
Down. Back.
They look like SAS geezers.
...take on...
Stop it!
...some of Britain's worst behaved dogs...
Wow! No, not good.
Oh, my God!
...and their humans...
How much training do you guys do now?
None.
What's this?
She's lost trust with humans.
...at an academy...
This is your opportunity to move forward
and we're going to give you those skills. Yeah.
...unlike any other.
We need to get that muzzle off you.
Oh, I love your face!
Wheyyy!
That has never happened before.
Can you believe that?
Bah-bah-bah-bah.
It's like he's a different dog.
DOGS BARK
Come.
Good lad!
With me. With me.
At the Dog Academy...
Touch.
...it's busier than ever.
Let's go! Good boy!
From deafening dachshunds...
...to burgling beagles,
the trainers have their work cut out.
Twist. Good, wait.
TOY SQUEAKS
But there's always time for a quick tea break.
Give me your best Chihuahua bark.
HIGH-PITCHED BARK
OK, good.
This is a Jack Russell bark but... Oh! ..after the doorbell goes
and it's the postman.
Rgh-rgh-rgh-rgh-rgh!
Spilled my tea!
That is a typical Jack Russell.
Being delivered first class is a new pupil.
I always say to you, don't I, once you go Jack, you never go back?
Four-year-old Jack Russell, Bertie,
and his owners, Andy and Rich.
What's Bertie like?
Like a kind of dressed-down Elton John. Yes! Right.
Maybe without the spectacles or the sequined cap. Yeah.
If he smoked, he'd have a cigarette holder, wouldn't he? Yeah.
On his best days,
Bertie can be the most loving dog.
Hello, you. Hello!
People keep baby teeth of their children.
I decided to keep his baby teeth from when he was a puppy,
so I've got them at home in a little jar.
It was your theatrical side coming out, wasn't it? Yeah.
Cos you just wanted to play the role of the tooth fairy. Yeah.
On standby for their new student - trainers Nanci and Joe.
Here they come. Hey, welcome to the Dog Academy, Bertie.
BERTIE BARKS
I've got some magic stairs for the lads.
Oh, fantastic.
What's going on here?
BARKING CONTINUES
OK. That's not good.
Shall we do Dobby first?
Sherlock!
Oh, boy!
This is Dobby. He's a Jack Russell.
And then, you've got Sherlock,
who's also a Jack Russell.
And then we have Bertie the Jack Russell
and Gizmo -
he's sort of a Jack Russell but he's actually a shih-tzu.
It's almost like a stag do
with the amount of lads we've got coming in. Oh, my gosh!
Right, you go down.
There you go, there's one.
CONSTANT YAPPING AND YOWLING
Right, come here, Gizmo.
Oh, wow!
Come here. Come here. Good lad.
What do you call a trio of Jack Russells? Is there, like, a term?
A mistake?
Oh! That was loud!
Come on, you lot.
Who let the dogs out?
Hello. Hi. How are you? Are you OK?
You're falling for me!
Take a seat, take a seat.
Come on, boys. You've brought a herd?
Yeah, a circus.
Three Jack Russells?
Three Jack Russells and a shih-tzu.
Right!
Of an evening, we'll all sit down on the sofa,
all six of us, um, and relax and watch TV, don't we?
And they do actually watch the television.
"Are You Being Served?" or Dad's Army.
Favourites. Classics.
They've each got their own personalities.
Gizmo is, well, he's more laid back, isn't he?
Yeah, if he was human, he'd be lying in a hammock
with a... a spliff, I think. He's a hippy dog.
Dobby is definitely Scrappy-Doo.
Sherlock, well, he's just a cuddler.
Bertie tends to be the loud one.
His barking is very ear-piercing.
SHRILL BARKS
Bertie's a problem dog. He's very, very highly strung.
Ooh! That's not nice. That's a bit of a cheeky muzzle grab.
Look at all the stress yawns from the other little doggy.
Ooh! BERTIE GROWLS
Oh. Bertie's growling.
Bertie's being quite pushy with the other dogs.
DOGS YELP AND SQUEAL
Oof! That's a lot of yelping.
I could not listen to that noise.
Bertie's set them all off.
Oh, that's stressful.
This is not fun.
None of these boys are very happy.
Gizmo!
Oh, we've...
Oh, I'm so sorry. We've got some...
You're OK!
It could've been worse. We could've had a number two.
Could've been a lot worse.
Uh-oh, Dobby!
Don't worry!
I'm so, so... I've got...
Don't worry. I've got bags, so...
These dogs are almost like feral dogs.
The thing is, as owners of four dogs,
the question you get asked the most is, do you let
the dogs sleep on your bed? Mm. And, of course,
the answer to that is no -
they let us sleep on theirs. Yes.
So I would normally be on this side of the... Come on. Show me.
So, I'll lie down here. OK. And then...
Oh. Just like that.
That is right! That is exactly right.
This is basically right, yes. And then, sort of...
Here we go.
Brilliant!
And this is... this is basically
the first ten minutes of us being in the bed of an evening.
This is bedtime.
I think he's been watching too many raunchy films.
Kisses!
This is chaotic.
Oh!
I think he's got pee on his bum.
Oh, my God, he does!
You've got pee on your bum. I'm sorry, Rich.
The Jack Russell, of course, we knew they were feisty,
we knew they were full of beans and quite a handful
and so we thought,
well, let's not just have one, let's have three.
Ah! Oh, my goodness! Hello! One, two, three, four.
Have we got everybody? We've got four, we've got four. We're good.
And then we've got five... Hello! ..and six.
Hi! Hi, guys. Hi.
Welcome to the Dog Academy. Thank you.
How are you?
Four dogs. Yes.
And are we stopping at four?
At the moment. At the moment. Yes!
That was a... There was a definite pause there.
I think you're going to have to open a doggy day care. Yeah.
So, tell us what is going on with Bertie?
So, what we think is, obviously, Bertie came to us first.
And then, as we introduced the other two Jack Russells,
I think Bertie felt the need to stamp his,
his mark, if you like as the... the top dog but also,
there's the jealousy. For instance,
if I were to come and pick Sherlock up off... off your notebook
and started to give him a lot of affection,
he would be extremely jealous.
Even if I was giving, like, cuddles... OK. Do you want to show me?
Come on, Sherly. Yay, you come to me.
Who's a dog!
There's a good boy!
BERTIE BARKS REPEATEDLY
That was a very mild reaction.
When Bertie, who is the ring leader,
starts, it's like a chain reaction.
That just explodes into... into mayhem.
Bertie. If we could control him,
that would then also would filter through the pack.
When they kick off like this, how does that make you guys feel?
Nervy.
Um, anxious. The fear is,
if they were left alone unsupervised,
that they might harm each other.
Hopefully, with being here,
we can stop it before it gets to that stage.
The fear in sort of, the depths of our minds is
that if... if we don't eradicate the behaviour
and there's bloodshed etc, then...
...we've got to make a realistic choice.
Can these dogs actually stay together in the unit going forward?
It would break me if we had to break them up. Yeah.
Right, we'll start with Bertie first. Oh, my friend!
Enjoy the peace and quiet.
Good boys!
I hope we don't come across as being bad parents.
MELEE OF BARKS AND YELPS
Oh, Jo, you've a lot of training on your hands today.
Wow.
Like, we have 16 paws.
Can we get the barking to pause?
Oh!
Come here, Bertie.
I think all four dogs are really going through the similar issues
and similar kind of behaviour problems,
so everybody's suffering here.
Everyone needs training.
Come on! Bah, bah, bah!
Good lad.
Wait.
Lie down. Good girl.
At the Dog Academy, classes are in session.
Lexie, here.
Lexie!
And as Jo gets to grips with the scale of her task...
Don't start singing. Don't start singing. Good boy.
...another pupil is on his way.
So, if Freddie was a kid at school, what type of kid would he be?
The one that get the teachers mad.
Cockapoo, Freddie -
accompanied by his parents, Ken and Debbie.
How did you meet?
We met when we were in university in a Christmas party.
About 20 years ago.
And was it love at first sight?
Er... I would say yes!
That's definitely, that's the right answer, Ken.
Have you had many cockapoos in the past?
No, he is the first dog that we've had as a family.
We've got two kids and, to me,
it completes the family, having a pet.
So, this photograph was when we got him home.
So this was when he was eight weeks on his first day at home.
That was the first time the boys saw him, as well.
They instantly fell in love with him.
That moment was so magical. It's just pure love since day one.
Welcome to the Dog Academy.
Thank you.
Right, you ready, Freddie? Let's go.
Come on, Freddie. Good boy. Yes.
Look at him. Here he comes.
Aw! Look at Freddie!
Come on.
Look, look, look. Did you see? He just sort of stopped and like...
A bit of an avoidance there. Yeah. He's avoiding those two statues.
Welcome! Hi!
I'm Grace, welcome to the Dog Academy.
Lovely to meet you. And this is Freddie.
Hello, Freddie.
Oh, someone's looking pretty handsome. He's gorgeous.
He's cheeky. Is he?
He's a traditional cockapoo. Yeah.
Cheeky, aren't you?
What brings you here today?
One of the things that we really want to do,
is, like, go to parks and things.
You know, like, normally you see, like running with the dogs,
playing ball with the dogs
but, because of his problems, we... we can't do it.
FREDDIE BARKS AND GROWLS
Oh, he's reactive towards other dogs -
very stressed, very uncomfortable. Yeah.
That's bad. Right, is there something there?
Yeah, there's a dog that's going past. Oh, look at him.
So, see how he made to pull away that time. Yeah.
So, he's fearful. Nervous, yeah.
This is going to be a hard one.
Once his paw's out that door, he's en garde,
his back is up, lunging, biting, growling. OK.
And then, the whole family is then really tense and anxious
because we're trying to calm him down. Make sure he's happy.
Oh, I see.
When we go to the park, the boys, we have a code,
they use a code word and they say, "Dog alert! Dog alert!"
It's almost like brace, brace. He's lunging,
we're pulling, the boys are like, "Come on, Freddie, let's just go."
We've got four humans trying
to stop our dog from having such a bad experience.
Oh, what did Ken...? Ken just flinched, didn't he?
I was just about to say the same thing.
Just took his hands up. He looks quite nervous.
Is he wary of him?
It's not unusual for people to be wary of dogs
but to be wary of your own dog,
it's like Ken's watching every move that Freddie makes.
Look. There, look, shifting away.
Oh, no, he really is. He's not comfortable at all around him.
Ken, was it your idea to get Freddie?
Nope.
Straight away. Yep, straight away. It was all my idea.
Ken, why were you reserved about getting a dog, were you a bit...?
I... I have a fear.
Really?
Ah! Yeah.
He's got a fear of dogs.
INTERVIEWER: I feel like you couldn't be sitting further away
from Freddie now, if you tried.
Uh, yeah, I...I need to know where he is every minute.
I think it's the biting thing that I'm really wary of
because I think they are so much quicker than us.
I don't want to move in case that he's going to bite me.
How does he live in the home with them?
There's a lot, there's a lot to unpack here. Mm.
Right, ready.
Sh. Sh. Sh.
Good girl. Well done.
INCESSANT, HIGH-PITCHED BARKING
Oh, jeez! Come on, guys!
Two hours in, trainer Jo is still trying
to tame Andy and Rich's unruly pack of dogs.
What's going through my head right now is that these dogs
are too stressed to train. I'm seeing all kinds of yawning,
head turning, licking of lips, barking.
I think all of those things are
a symptom of the stress that each individual dog is feeling.
Sherlock!
Gizzy-Giz, Gizmo!
I can see that they are quite bewildered
and quite anxious.
Bertie, who the family think is the ringleader
and is causing the problems,
he's actually the most stressed dog of all.
This is probably one of the most difficult things I've done,
as far as dog training's concerned.
Very hard.
As Jo struggles with Bertie and his brothers,
Nanci is hoping to make better progress with owners, Andy and Rich.
Tesco's will be open until about half ten.
Unless you just want to see about getting some cheese and biscuits
and having that when we get back?
I mean, I must admit I'm not really that hungry, really, at the moment.
No.
I think I'm stressing a bit, to be honest.
Hello. Hello. Hi.
How are you guys?
Good. I'm nervous.
Why are you nervous?
I don't know. I mean, I think, you know,
because of the way they are, I mean, I just see them as my boys
but they can be, for other people they could be annoying.
Once one starts, they all... It's like a chorus, isn't it?
We experienced it. Yeah. Yes.
The hysterics make both of us anxious... Yeah.
...when that kicks off.
If you didn't know the situation,
people would probably think
there was, you know, a dogfight going on.
How much training do you guys do now?
None.
Can I take you guys back to when you guys were much younger
and in school, OK?
Wow! Picture, picture when you would have been
maybe seven or eight in school.
What would have happened in that classroom when the teacher leaves?
You'd probably find they'd misbehave.
OK. Personally, I probably wouldn't unless somebody coaxed me.
Well, you went to a posh school. The one I went to, they just...
It was like that when the teacher was in the room!
So, what I'm thinking, is that,
a lot of the time with the boys,
it's like a classroom when the teacher's left.
I kind of feel like when the teacher leaves the room,
Gizmo will kind of sit in the corner and watch what's going on.
Yes, yeah. I think that Dobby's just having a laugh.
A little bit of a class clown.
That's Dobby, yeah, definitely Dobby.
I think that Sherlock isn't really sure
about what's going on. And feel like Bertie's running round saying,
"Guys, get back in your seats!
"I don't know why everybody's out of their seats,
"and please be good, and I don't know what's going to happen next,
"and, jeepers! If the teacher
"comes back and the room is a mess, there's going to be war!"
Oh, God! That sounds like Bertie.
That definitely sounds like Bertie.
And I feel like, a little bit, your household
is like recess and there's no teacher.
Sounds about right really, doesn't it?
That makes sense.
It's not that he wants to be in control.
He's not trying to rule the roost, he just can't cope.
I can feel for him in that sense. Yeah.
And it's not nice. No.
It upsets me because I would never want to see him distressed,
that's the thing.
I've never saw it like that before, so...
Yeah. A lot of the behaviours
that we thought were naughty
and him being bold,
and it was just him crying out for help. Mm. Mm-hm.
I think that all of them are having a really tough time.
It's not just Bertie. The classroom needs a teacher.
Yeah. Yeah.
Not in a way to boss these dogs around
but everybody feels better when someone's in charge. Yes.
Takes the pressure off.
So, here's a question, if I may, then?
If you were to recruit that teacher...
We've got two.
Yes. Do you know, it's...
It's like a light bulb's gone off.
Yeah. After everything you've said, it's like,
it all... it's all coming together, it's making sense.
It upsets me to think that I've done something wrong,
to make them, you know, the way they are.
I feel like you're feeling quite guilty about this.
I am, I am.
You shouldn't.
Every single thing that you have done
and that you have done for these boys
was purely out of love.
They are an important part of our lives, aren't they?
I want to make sure that, you know,
that they are happy.
That's all I've ever wanted, is just for my boys to be happy.
DOG BARKS No.
Hi. Oh, that's OK.
Feel free to grab a seat.
We'll just come round this side. We'll just move nice and slow.
You just keep him back,
you stay relaxed. Yeah. But don't let him come up right now
because he's too nervous right now. Yes.
So, all I'm going to do is just flick a couple of titbits.
What I want to try and do is get
the food on the floor so he has to sniff. Mm.
Getting him to sniff,
even in an unfamiliar environment, helps him out.
So, it just slows him down and just relaxes him.
So, you see the training's already started.
Oh, I love it!
Brilliant.
So, tell us, what is life like with Freddie?
Very different in and out the house.
So, at home, he's... he's comfortable.
We'll step out that door,
he just sees a sight of a dog and he's...
...his aggressiveness starts, his reactivity.
Before I take Freddie out for a walk,
I get anxious. The pressure builds up in me.
I'm anticipating the worst.
I'm expecting this to be a horrible walk.
And it's like that all the way out until I get home.
How is this impacting your life?
SHE SIGHS
Quite a bit.
Is it?
I've cried many times
because it's something that I can't control.
I think it impacts everyone,
including the boys. And to be honest...
...it's hard.
We shouldn't have to go through that.
I'd like to get to a point where
I can go to a park with the kids
and know that he'll have fun,
my kids will have fun and just be happy. Yeah. That's all.
I am wary of Freddie but I believe he's part of family
and I...I do love him
and that's the important bit - to make sure he... he's happy.
What would it mean to you if we can... if we can help?
It would change our life completely.
Woof, woof, woof. Woof, woof, woof. Woof, woof.
What are you doing?
You've caught me!
Do you want to see? Give it a woof.
Woof, woof.
Why is it...?
You're barking mad, you, like!
Get back, get back, get back.
Up-up-up-up-up.
Get it.
Wheee!
While some pupils are passing with flying colours...
Good boy. You did well.
HIGH-PITCHED BARKING
...others are yet to prove themselves.
Let's go inside!
Hello, boyos. Ahhh!
Ah, good boys. Did you miss Dad?
Yay! Hi! You all right, Bertie?
We've got four unruly toddlers...
...and two teachers who seem to be taking a lot of time off.
So we need to get you guys back into the classroom. Yeah. OK?
Before Bertie and his brothers can begin their education,
they need to go back to basics.
What we've had to do is actually
a lot of stress management.
So, what we've set up is a sensory garden,
and this is somewhere that your dogs are going to go,
where there are different smells, different flavours,
things to climb on, go through, step over.
This just brings their arousal level right, right down
and allows them to have a nice, clear head
ready for learning.
Think of it as a canine kindergarten.
Off to school, boys. Off to school we go!
Oh. Dobby found the sensory smells.
Look at his little nose working.
Come on, then. Come on. Ooh!
Look at that! Yeah! Look what's going on!
Who's behind me? Oh!
But notice what we're doing? All of us are interested,
all of us are exploring, but none of us are shouting.
Yep. So just chill with your dogs.
Bertie is getting really stuck in. I'm loving this. Oh, yes.
This is a very different Bertie from the Bertie we first met.
Have you noticed there's no jealousy from Bertie? Yeah.
So much better.
So they're calmer
because they are using all of their senses. Mm.
They're feeling with their paws, they're looking at different things.
They're climbing over, stepping over,
and there's no barking. Mm. Ah, I love this.
We don't get much calm, do we?
No, no. We got calm.
When they get home after today, they get a ball pool.
They get a sandpit.
They do, yeah. And loads of sensory toys.
Yeah, dotted around the house.
Yeah, it's a shopping spree.
It is. That's what it's going to be. It is.
It's going to be expensive.
It is, but worth it. But good. Yeah.
So, now we've got the class calm,
we're maybe going to try and teach some things. Yes. Yeah?
Are you two ready to be teachers?
Yes. Good. Brilliant.
Yes. We're ready to learn.
Clever boy!
FREDDIE BARKS AND GROWLS
As Adam begins his work with reactive cockapoo Freddie...
I'd love to see what Freddie's up to now.
...Victoria is turning her attention to his owners, Debbie and Ken.
Hi.
Freddie is interacting and working with Adam
but this is going to be a hard one.
So I want to spend some time
to sort of delve deeper into why he's behaving like this. Mm-hm.
When did you first notice his discomfort outside?
When he was younger, when he came across a dog,
he did the nose to nose, when you meet a dog. Yeah. OK.
But the other dog bit him on the nose. So then...
So that was his first real encounter with a dog - he got bitten?
Real, first encounter, absolute encounter.
And then from there, it was reactive every single time.
So, now he's in defence mode.
Exactly. When it's really bad, he'll start shaking.
I took him to puppy class when he was younger.
He was violently shaking so much that he threw up
and that's how nervous he was around other dogs.
Ken, I did notice when you were in
the reception, that you moved away from him when he came near you.
Yeah.
So what does your fear of dogs come from?
I've been afraid of dogs since, I think, six or seven.
I think when I was younger,
it was just like, I think there was a bigger dog lunging.
It scared me.
I think that's the bit that I still can't deal with.
I do fear them. I get away from them if I can.
Our next door neighbour has a big... Is it a husky? Yeah, husky type.
So, last time, I now remember when she climbed on to me,
but I couldn't move, I was frozen.
The owner had to come and pull him, pull her away from me.
So, why, why did you want to get a dog?
Because I don't want my kids to have the same experience as me.
Ah. Because not having positive experience,
you're not going to help them.
Yeah. You're a good dad.
Thank you.
So, the sacrifice you're making, by having a dog in your home,
is admirable.
So, there's two parallels in your family.
You see, Freddie is like Ken.
Ken had a bad experience.
You and Freddie are going through the same thing.
It just takes one trauma.
You experience that - one... one incident - for a lifetime of fear.
FREDDIE GROWLS
To help Freddie overcome his fear of dogs,
Adam is using a simple device...
CLICKER CLICKS ...a clicker.
The purpose of the clicker is really just
to tell him that every time he's heard that noise,
a good thing is about to happen.
So, all I'm doing here is
a nice, simple exercise of listen to the clicker...
CLICKER SNAPS
...expect the food to arrive.
CLICKER SNAPS
So, all we want to try and do now is
transfer that skill from being calm around me
to then being calm around another dog.
CLICKER SNAPS
For this exercise,
the trainers are bringing out...
...the big guns.
CLICKER SNAPS
So this is Dennis, our stooge dog, best-behaved on site.
With Dennis, it's great to create a foundation -
a safe, calm foundation -
where we know Dennis is not going to respond,
he's not going to react,
and Adam's doing all that work to create that positive association.
As soon as Freddie notices the fake dog,
Adam clicks and rewards him...
CLICKER SNAPS
...so he begins to associate seeing other dogs with receiving treats.
What we are looking for is
that he understands that dogs present is a good thing.
CLICKER SNAPS
Oh! What's this? What's this?
ADAM WHISTLES
FREDDIE GROWLS
CLICKER SNAPS
ADAM CLICKS HIS TONGUE
Oh, what's this?
FREDDIE GROWLS AND BARKS
This is a serious case that we're working with here.
It's almost at boiling point, where everybody's walking on eggshells.
I think he needs a lot of work on generally keeping him calm.
If we can't do that, the worst case scenario would be a re-home.
FREDDIE BARKS
Such a fine threshold.
Yeah.
ADAM CLICKS HIS TONGUE
FREDDIE BARKS AND GROWLS
What kind of relationship would you like with Freddie?
The only thing I really, really hope
that I can do is do the walk without Debbie.
At the moment,
all the burden is on her.
I feel bad because I can't help
and I don't know how to, to be honest.
How does it make you feel, seeing your husband go through this?
Yeah, it's not great.
It's not great. I think...
I think I feel I have to try harder...
...so that everyone around me, including Freddie, is happier.
I just feel so helpless that I can't change it
for the better for everyone.
But if I told you you could, how would that make you feel?
Ooh!
I'm hoping you would say that,
because I feel like I've tried almost everything.
With me. With me.
British weather, eh?
I feel like we're stood in front of the class now.
Yeah, welcome to class.
So, look how calm they are.
Yeah, it's nice.
This is much easier - to work with a class that is calm. Yeah.
And ready for learning.
So, we need to take all four boys right back to basics. Yeah.
With Bertie and the boys settled,
it's time to see if Andy and Rich
will make the grade as teachers.
What I'd like is a sit. Right. Right.
Let's see if we can get all four dogs sitting at the same time,
then it'd be a successful day in the classroom.
Teaching four dogs to sit does not sound like a big deal,
but what we're really doing here is
we're teaching these dogs how to learn.
If you put a treat to his nose and lift it,
a little and slowly above his head.
Make sure you don't reward until they've sat.
And with that ability to learn,
the owners can carry on
to teach them loads of different, new behaviours.
Sit. Right.
Right, sit down. No - sit.
Sit. Sit. Sit down.
Sit down. Sit, Bertie. You're not getting it, are you?
Sit down. Sit.
Sit. JO: Try not to push.
Sit. Sit.
Good, Sherlock. Well done, Sherlock.
Sit. Sit down.
JO: Oh, I thought he was going, then. I thought his bum was going.
Sit. Got three out of four, we need a full house.
Dobby. Sherlock, sit.
Are you going to sit down for me?
Bertie. Let's keep trying.
Dobby. Nothing there.
Right, sit down. Bertie... See if you can get their focus now again.
There's been a bit of a distraction,
normally this would cause chaos.
See if you guys can bring
calmness back to the classroom.
So, just like we would in school,
we're rewarding all the boys who are being good
for their good behaviour.
No, sit down.
But the boy who's not doing quite what we need to... Sit.
Sit. ..we're making sure he doesn't get any good stuff happening.
He doesn't get a reward if he's not listening.
Sit, no.
Now or nothing.
Dobby. Gizmo, sit down.
Dobby, sit.
Everybody stay still!
Sit. Dobby?
Don't breathe.
Dobby, sit.
There you go, Dobby.
Dobby. Well done.
They may not all be facing the same way
but we've got four dogs sitting. Absolutely beautiful!
Well done. You got all four of them sitting.
You've done really well. And you've got calm dogs. I'm loving that.
The energy now, compared to the energy
when we first met in reception. Yes.
Chalk and cheese. And I like this better. Two different things. Yeah.
This maybe feels like a small step,
but I think for this gang of dogs, this little family,
I think this is really nice. Yeah. I think it's good progress.
Are you all right down there, Gizzy? Really well done.
To get all four dogs sitting at once, that doesn't happen. No.
So, that was actually a big thing for us.
It's made it more clear that
a structure is more important than anything when it comes to dogs.
Come on, chaps.
We came, we saw and we conquered. Yeah. In some way! Yes.
What's this? What's this?
Are you coming? La, la, la, la, la, la. Wow, wow, wow!
Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!
How are you feeling? I'm excited.
You are? You're ready to go.
All right.
Ah, who's this?
Come and see. Who's that?
Look at that. You can say hello.
Yay!
Hi!
Reunited with Freddie...
I've had a lot of fun with him.
He's done really well.
...it's now time for Ken and Debbie
to get to grips with clicker training.
So, this helps him understand that
as soon as he's heard this sound,
good things are about to arrive.
You're then telling him two things.
One, that behaviour is perfect,
but also, whatever he's just looked at has given him that reward.
Wouldn't it be great if he could look at a dog
and go... A dog is a precursor
to something good happening to him? Yes. Yes. OK.
With an important new technique under their belt...
We're going to bring Sean in with his German Shepherd, Caesar.
Ken and Freddie are about to be exposed
to their biggest fear -
another dog.
Ken, are you going to do this?
I'll try.
We've got the big, bad wolf.
Oh, this is a big one.
Let's do it.
If you guys want to come this side, that'll be good.
How are you feeling?
Really nervous.
KEN: Anxious, as well.
We've got fenced areas, we've got leads on,
we've got loads of degrees of safety.
Ken and Debbie must walk Freddie towards Caesar.
We're just going to gradually bring him closer and closer
and we're just going to see how we get on. Mm-hm.
The moment he looks at him, they must click and reward.
As soon as he looks, that's the click point.
Timing is everything.
If they click too late or when he isn't looking,
Freddie won't associate the dog with the click and reward
and could revert back to his aggressive behaviour.
CLICKER SNAPS Brilliant.
Nice, well done.
You see he's looked at. Good boy!
Freddie's never had a positive experience
with another dog - and I say that...
I mean, never is a strong word, but it's never.
If we could fix Freddie's issues,
it would make a massive difference to our family.
CLICKER SNAPS Don't give him too much time
to look at the dog. OK.
Literally, let him look and then work him.
FREDDIE GROWLS You need to be faster.
Debbie, just remember that as soon
as he looks at the dog, now click.
Get him engaged.
Keep going.
This way, this way.
Keep going. This way, this way.
This way, this way. Come on.
Come on. Come on.
Come on. Good, let's go this way.
Let's go. Come on. Take him out.
So, you see how delicate this is? Yeah.
Delicate. Yeah. You all right?
Did that hurt your hand?
OK.
Just come over here with me.
Tell me a little bit about, like, how that felt?
Well, he just got a bit overwhelming.
That last minute was...
That's the problem that we've been dealing with. Of course.
And it just felt like we're back to square one.
Just sometimes it's just...
Just a lot. Yeah.
It's a lot because you've lived with it for a long time.
He's working it out. As you are.
This is not going to happen immediately,
but you will be able to do this, I promise you.
Settle. Good.
Settle. Clever girl.
Come on, Whisky.
Now, got to go to work.
This is the big one. Let's do it. Are you ready?
With reactive cockapoo Freddie's
behaviour not proving a quick fix...
That's it. Wonderful timing.
...Debbie is persevering with clicker training.
So, Sean now, come forward a step.
- CLICKER SNAPS - Perfect. - Very good.
Sean, a bit closer.
Caesar now is in the gateway.
Good boy. Nice work.
Very nice. Yes!
The fact that he can do that
when there is another dog so close
is a breakthrough.
Come on, Freddie.
We can do it. Listen.
CLICKER SNAPS Brilliant.
Nice. Good boy, Freddie.
Are you feeling a bit more confident, Debbie,
to deal with these situations going forward?
I feel at one with the clicker now.
CLICKER SNAPS OK, good.
Yeah, love it. And I think you're reading him really well.
Have you seen him react like this before?
No, never.
Seeing Freddie walk so happily was just amazing.
And then, as the other dog became more visual for him,
we were still able to break that focus
and he was able to come back to me.
It... it was amazing. An amazing feeling.
He's not really conflicted now.
He wants to move away.
He doesn't want to react to this dog.
You did it!
Fabulous. Perfect.
Ken, you've had a little bit of time to watch now.
Are you happy to take over? Yep.
How are you feeling? You look a bit worried.
I'm just worried about I can't control him.
I'm worried that he might jump on to me.
When I'm working with somebody that's fearful of dogs,
I like to use what I call social learning.
When you watch somebody else doing something with a dog
and you watch the dog respond,
it empowers you with knowledge.
That person then has the confidence to do it themselves.
You know what? I absolutely know you can do this.
You know that he's scared.
You know how he feels.
You need to be more confident.
Yep.
Ken, this is your moment.
Whenever he starts to look in that direction,
click, treat. You've got this.
Freddie.
All right, so, Ken...
That's it, click and let's move him back.
Let's sort of unmuddle you a little bit.
There you go, perfect.
Remember, you've got to work on your body language.
Relax, breathe. OK.
Even if you have to act... OK. ...that calmness goes down the lead.
Let him look.
CLICKER SNAPS Now, that's it.
Really nice. Good.
Now, that could've been a potential for a bark there.
You could just seem him tense, see the tail raise. That's it.
You caught that just at the right spot.
CLICKER SNAPS Well done and move.
Brilliant. Beautiful and he's moving with you.
Your timing is excellent.
All right, you're going closer, closer.
Let him just see. Good, mark now. CLICKER SNAPS
Really good.
Ken, come on! That's brilliant.
Even you must think this is pretty great.
Yes, it is. You're so close! I'm surprised that he stayed with me.
Debbie, have you ever seen Ken with Freddie like this before? No?
No. Definitely not.
Do you want to try that once more?
Are you feeling a bit more confident with him? A bit, yeah.
Yeah, I think he's calm, as well, because that makes me calm.
You've already surpassed my expectations,
so look how far you've come.
CLICKER SNAPS
Yes, brilliant!
One man and his dog.
Today's been a big step,
I guess, to learn how I can interact with Freddie.
Even though I have a fear of dogs,
I can deal with Freddie,
so hopefully, I can look after him a bit more.
I was so, so proud,
seeing Ken working with Freddie today.
It's beyond words
to describe just how brave he is. Yeah, well done.
It's been one hell of an experience.
I do feel that I am one step closer
to a day out in the park,
with the children and he can just run
and play, worry free. Tail up, wagging.
Take it away.
See you. Thank you. Good luck. Bye. Bye.
Good boy. Good boy.
Nice.
To me, that is the perfect family picture in my head.
You were very good today. Yeah.
Weren't you, Freddie? Yes, you were, Freddie. Good boy.
Are you going to sit down?
Good boy. Dobby?
We've gone from off-the-scale mayhem
to a reasonable sense of normality.
Right, Bertie, sit down.
Bertie still vies to be the centre of attention.
I don't think that's something that's going to change.
PIERCING BARK
But Bertie is a lot quieter,
a lot happier these days.
We are definitely happy families.
Seeing the bond between Ken
and Freddie grow
has been phenomenal.
I've been more comfortable.
I can take him out for a walk by myself.
Now, I can help out a bit more.
We've been trying to, obviously, work on the reactivity.
There has been a few times where there was a dog,
he did see the dog but he was like,
"Nah, not bothered." And kept walking.
I swear, if I could pause that moment,
I would have stopped and danced
and, you know, set of fireworks.
It was... That feeling was amazing.
He's moved on leaps and bounds.
Next time at the Dog Academy...
She'll just lunge at him.
And she'll just grab clumps of hair out of him.
Careful, careful.
No, no, no. Let's move him away.
Marvin. Stop it.
I know that if we don't fix him,
he'll bite someone and he'll get put down.
Guys, I honestly think we really need to call it.
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