TACT Success Stories

TACT Cast Study: Damon

Damon's life before TACT was full of fear and anxiety. He was afraid of people and new places. He would give people warning barks and a hard stare. If approached he would try to escape from them. There were a few people who he was friends with, there were alot he didn't like, all very knowledgeable dog people who just didn't know what to do with him. Read more...

TACT Case Study: Tula

Tula is a 6 year old akita mix who was rescued from a Brooklyn junkyard around the age of 2. At adoption, I was informed of her behavioral and possessive issues with the recommendation that she only needed obedience training and strong leadership from an owner. I was more than willing to commit to whatever amount of time and effort it would take to train Tula , but I never thought it would be to the extent of isolating her from other dogs and people. Read more...

TACT Case Study: Finch

Dan and I purchased Finch at eight weeks of age from a reputable breeder of wonderful field-line English Springer Spaniels. We had high hopes of enjoying the same dog sports and fun events that we participated in with our other dogs, such as agility competitions and long hikes in the woods. Finch was a quiet, affectionate puppy with a knack for learning. We brought him to our friends' houses and dog club meetings for socialization. He attended weekly obedience classes and caught on quickly.

Around 16 weeks of age, however, things started to change for the worse. Finch would alarm bark, first at unfamiliar dogs, then at unfamiliar people. As a professional dog trainer, I knew it was quite common for puppies of this age to go through a "fear period", during which they startle at strange things in the environment. With our veterinarian's support, Dan and I decided to keep him home for a couple of weeks in an effort to let him "outgrow" this period.

Things didn't improve. We took him to pet stores when people were unlikely to be present to reward Finch for watching dogs and people walking by. Unfortunately, many people couldn't resist rushing over to greet our freckle-faced little spaniel puppy, which only served to terrify Finch. He would respond by barking, rushing forward, and skittering backwards. His hackles would go up and his eyes looked like saucers.

Needless to say we were very concerned about Finch's reactivity, especially due to its early onset. Finch was only getting more sensitive to other people and dogs, and began barking as soon as he saw them. When he was six months old, our veterinarian prescribed Clomicalm with the goal of reducing his threshold so we could make some training progress. Read more...

TACT Case Study: Lily

When I first brought Lily home to foster it was quickly apparent she was severely under-socialized and fearful of new environments and people. She would attempt to run and hide from anything or anyone new. If she felt she was not able to run, she would bark and growl. In new environments she would literally crawl so low that her belly dragged on the ground, her tail look permanently tucked under her body. It was heartbreaking to see. Read more...

TACT Case Study: Daisy

Sue Cluff, CDPT-KA, CAP 2, CTACT

As I write this my dog Daisy lays cuddled up next to me. Two nights ago we had a small impromptu gathering at our home. Daisy accompanied me in the car to the grocery store and upon arriving home we found quite a bit of hubbub. Everyone joined in to prepare dinner and a few new arrivals showed up. Daisy was happily part of this group, this activity. She was one of 3 dogs at the gathering. She did not bark at new arrivals, she did not lunge at guests entering the house; she was simply one of 3 dogs at the gathering. Last night, as happens most evenings now, I brought out Daisy's TACT mat and she joyfully wagged her tail and had a little skip in her step as she followed me down the hallway. I put the mat on the floor and she lay down. In less than 3 seconds she rolled all the way on her side, showing me her cute belly. I pet her with long slow strokes, using a pleasing pressure and before you know it she gave a big sigh and closed her eyes. Her body was now soft and malleable, totally relaxed. I looked across the room at my husband Ben and asked "can you believe it?" to which he replied "Yes, I can, but when I think of the dog she was, I am amazed".

Daisy has lived with us since she was approx 14 weeks old. The first day we met her there were Read more...

TACT Case Study: Spot

Spot is a 12 year old Parson Russell Terrier. He was a very well adjusted puppy who lived with 2 Australian Cattle Dogs and another Parson Russell Terrier. As a family we did all kinds of training and showed in agility, flyball, and earthdog trials. Spot got along with all the other dogs in class and on our flyball team. Everyone would take turns holding him and playing with him. He truly seemed to love dogs and people.

When he was about a year and a half old, we took him to an earthdog trial. He had a bad experience which seemed to change him. He was at the start line when he realized he could get to the rats easier if he went around on the outside of the hole instead of going through the tunnels. When he did so, the judge chased him with a clipboard Read more...