Ruby is a 3 year-old Chihuahua who sadly had unpleasant start in life in her first home and as a result became highly fearful, and was ultimately returned to her breeder. Shortly afterwards she was found a loving home with someone who took her on promising to do their best to repair the damage and who, very usefully was also a dog trainer.
On adopting Ruby the new owner found that whenever she was frightened, which happened quite a lot, she would respond by shaking violently, then by hiding under or behind furniture, where she continued to shake and also bark hysterically. Ruby’s new owner worked hard on building her trust in those first crucial weeks and months, training her with positive techniques to look to her when she was alarmed. While she was still a reactive and nervous little dog, Ruby quite happily came to accept that any situation was safe if her owner told her it was so.
Ruby’s owner began feeding her on Breakthrough™ about three months ago and reports that it has made a very noticeable positive difference to her. In particular, she is now generally more relaxed and far more attentive and is now able to stop and think about things without being nearly so reactive, which has meant Ruby’s owners have been able to teach her that people aren’t all a threat and coping strategies for when she might feel fearful, and ultimately calms down so very much quicker.
It is really difficult to believe from her early start that since she has been fed breakthrough™, Ruby has advanced so much further that she has recently taken on a very public role! Ruby is now acting as the demonstration dog for her owner’s hydrotherapy school! As long as her owner is on hand to introduce her to new students, she is very confident and happy to greet them! But the most welcome improvement so far according to her owner is that Ruby is simply able to play and act like any normal dog. Out on walks she now really enjoys scampering around and exploring where previously she would only walk timidly behind her owner. Ruby is now playing with her toys and showing herself to be an extremely affectionate gentle little soul who is very willing and able to share her affections with others.