Sensitive Dog

Working with Julie has been a game changer for me and my 3-year old Aussie, Brixen. I came to her for help because he has stranger-danger and would growl at any new people coming into my house or approaching him out in public. He had a very difficult time getting comfortable with new people in the house, sometimes taking days and then usually only tolerating them but not engaging directly with them. After a few sessions with Julie, I have a much better sense of what is going on inside his brain and how I can help him to feel safe rather than feeling the need to be in guard dog mode. This last month I had friends staying at my house two different weekends- lots of new people for Brix! Applying my learnings from my sessions with Julie, not only did Brixen refrain from growling at them, he also started snuggling with them on the second day and even rolled on his back, asking for belly rubs! This makes for a better experience for everyone, including Brixen who now gets to receive love from a lot more people! I highly recommend Sensitive Dog for anyone who wants a better understanding of their dog and is willing to consistently do the work to help get their pup to a better place.

It was fantastic working with Julie. We reached out about our 2 dogs, Willow and Hazel. They had gotten in a few fights, had some issues with guarding certain areas of our house, and struggled with walking on lead. We were immediately impressed with how professional Julie was and how quickly she understood the nuances of our dog’s personalities. Throughout our training program she wasn’t just prescriptive in giving us tools to directly address the problem areas but helped us to better understand our dogs and set up an environment at home with structure so that they could thrive. Plus the dogs loved her and she quickly became one of their favorites! We now have 2 dogs that walk well on lead and that have been getting along with each other without incident. We had tried other trainers in the past and while helpful it felt like something was missing. We’d make progress until we didn’t. If you’re in a similar situation I’d strongly recommend working with Julie. Her attention to detail and customization around the dogs and family’s needs is top notch.

I’m a long time dog owner and have had dogs with various temperaments. I’ve taken a lot of classes over the years from puppy classes, to reactive dog classes at Ahimsa in Ballard, to one-off courses like leash walking skills. I adopted a 9 month old dog last year and was confident that I had enough experience that I could fill any gaps with a Google search and be fine. 5 months into ownership and I can’t get this dog trained to do anything (we’ve barely mastered sits, and no other basic commands). It’s taken almost that entire time to get her accustomed to wearing a collar and leash. When we see other dogs on our walk — dogs that may be blocks away — she’s so ecstatic at the sight and commences to hoot and holler, and acting a fool while pulling desperately on the leash. The dog isn’t food motivated. There is no value of treat high enough to get her attention while we’re out in the world. During this time she escapes from the front door at least twice and it feels a tiny miracle that I manage to get her back inside and I’m really starting to doubt if I have any business owning this dog. I’m becoming resigned to the fact that I have a dog that maybe I’m never going to successfully be able to take out on walks and adventures. That I may struggle with teaching this dog to master even the basis. Cue Sensitive Dog and Julie. 🌟Julie is AMAZING. 🌟During the first session, I described what was going on, what my concerns were, what my goals were. At the top of each session we revisited these objectives. I hate using the word holistic but during the weeks of training we’re doing what most people expect from training, but we’re also doing enrichment exercises, talking about dog health, talking about dog nutrition, talking about equipment (e.g. leash types, collars, toys), talking about how I’m verbally or physically communicating mixed or unintended messages, etc. Any question or behavior I could come up with and she’d help me navigate. She’s also available to support during “business hours” throughout the training so no need to wait a week frustrated because something doesn’t seem to be working, your dog is behaving in a new way, etc. — you take a video and send it over. I also ended up with a great stack of materials to have on hand at home. The shortest way to describe the experience is that Julie taught my dog and I how to communicate, how to listen to each other, and how to have a successful conversation. I’m not exaggerating in saying that our lives dramatically improved in just the first few weeks. I left the experience feeling that I had really meaningful tools and had learned new skills that overall made me a much better dog owner.

Julie was great! We had styled figuring out how to work with our dog Porter on his reactivity with strangers. We'd gone to several group positive reinforcement only training centers but the guidance they gave didn't seem to help. Julie was great about listening and watching his behaviors, giving us an explanation of how to interpret them, and then helping us understand what corrections would make sense. Porter has made a ton of progress in a short time with her help now that we better understand what he needs.

Our 4-year-old small mixed-breed dog, Bodie, completed eight weeks of training with Julie Forbes, the owner of Sensitive Dog, and the experience has been truly transformative. Bodie came to us as a rescue when he was about five months old. For the first year, he was so fearful that he would not even let us reach down to pet him, so formal training felt impossible until he had built enough trust with us. Over the next three and a half years, while we were focused on building our relationship with him, some difficult behaviors became increasingly hard to manage. Bodie was fearful and reactive around most people. On leash, he reacted to bikes, skateboards, runners, and other fast-moving distractions, often lunging as they passed. Pulling on the leash was an everyday challenge. At home, guests were met with nonstop barking. Most concerning, he had begun lunging and acting aggressively toward me when I approached our bed. Then Julie entered our lives. From the beginning, Julie saw potential in Bodie that we had not yet been able to bring out. Through her guidance, we learned that Bodie was capable of so much more than we realized. She showed us how to enrich his life mentally, emotionally, and physically, and how to lead him in a way that actually made sense to him. Her holistic approach helped us understand how to work with Bodie rather than simply react to his behavior. Each week, Bodie became more engaged, more confident, and more excited to learn. His enthusiasm for going to “school” was obvious every time we rounded the bend toward Julie’s house. I sensed Julie’s confidence immediately when I met her. Even though I had doubts about whether Bodie could truly change, Julie was steady, knowledgeable, and confident that he could overcome his behavior challenges. And he did. Though Bodie’s training at home continues, he is calmer, more secure, more focused, and eager to keep learning. He wants to please us, responds dependably to our commands, and is simply a happier dog. Just as important, we now have the tools to continue growing with him and supporting his progress at home. Our day-to-day life with Bodie is so much better because of Julie and Sensitive Dog. We could not have asked for more from the experience, and we would highly recommend Julie to anyone experiencing challenging issues or behaviors with their dog.