Brimley’s Success Story —

[Before Megan & Brimley joined the RRP,] it felt like Brimley reacted to everything. Our biggest triggers happened at night. She would react to something and pace around my bedroom barking for hours. If I could get her to relax and go back to sleep, she would start up again in an hour. I couldn’t figure out what she was reacting to or why, and I wasn’t sleeping. It felt like she would also react or be scared of everything in our home (a condo at the time), noises in the hallway, cars or kids down on the street, people in the elevator. If we went out for a walk, she would also react to (what felt like) everything outside. Kids playing, dogs across the street, the wind. It felt like we had no safe spaces inside or outside. On top of that, she had separation anxiety and being with her all the time was exhausting. She went to daycare 3-5 days a week so I could catch up on sleep and have peace and quiet. 

[Now] we have moved to a semi-detached house, and are moving to fully detached house soon. Being in a house with fewer outside noises has really helped us set the foundation for our RRP training. Brimley is on an appropriate medication that allows her to be herself, think freely, and recover quickly from a trigger. Brimley sleeps soundly through the night, even through the sounds of freight trains just a block away. Although we still have work to do on triggers outside, she loves laying on her bed and observing out the front window. Some days she doesn’t react to anyone passing by at all (and others she does). In general, she is easier to be around and to have home with me all day because neither of us are as stressed. I have a much better understanding of how to help her cope with her triggers or acknowledge and ignore them for something more fun. 

• The fact that she can lay on her bed and gaze out the window calmly makes us both so happy!

• I often now see her acknowledge or even somewhat react to a trigger, then turn herself around and find a toy or treat on her own accord. I no longer try to stop her from having the toys she loves because I was worried she was obsessed with them. She loves having things in her mouth and I do what I can to encourage and support that.

• Brimley is more willing to sleep or play in a different room than me, or even a different floor from me.

• She is much more relaxed on walks now, she can acknowledge and ignore triggers and she gets so much time to do, go, and sniff pretty much whatever she wants when we walk.

• Even at night, and through Halloween and Christmas with lights and decorations out, she was unbothered by it.

• She no longer needs to have her head in the shower when I’m in there, she can lay on the bathmat or out on my bed and snooze until I’m done.

• When we’re in the car, she sleeps so happily and peacefully, sometimes waking to stick her face out the window, but she rarely reacts to things outside, and she’s more capable of staying in the car by herself for a few minutes if needed. Sometimes she even just goes back to sleep instead of standing up and looking for me.

• When we go to the off-leash park, she often gets nervous around bigger dogs, but she knows now that she can ignore them and just carry on.

• She just seems like more of a care-free puppy!

I have more patience for her and her stressors. I understand her process better so that I have space to be more patient. I am more gentle on both of us. I am kinder to myself and to her, comforting her when she needs it, and playing with her or offering her enrichment when she needs it.

I think we both trust each other more. I find her more often looking to me for guidance on how to react, and taking my guidance that she doesn’t need to. I encourage and permit Brimley to do and have what she needs to be happy and calm, whether that’s sniffing something for two or three minutes straight on our walks, or offering her something to put in her mouth for comfort. In general, it just feels so much easier and less stressful to be around her.

She rarely goes to daycare anymore, and if she does it’s because I have things to do and I can’t leave her at home, as opposed to because I just can’t handle her. I think she trusts me that I won’t force her into situations where she is telling me she is uncomfortable, whether that’s a new groomer, who had dogs barking at us from the moment we walked in, and I took her back outside, or at the park around new dogs, not forcing her to play or engage with them if she doesn’t want to. We build boundaries together and I help maintain and protect them for her. We cuddle harder and just have such a powerful, trusting bond. 

I do believe I have the knowledge and skills to continue forward and for us both to have a fun, peaceful life together!

I realized that it’s still up to me to do things in a way that works for me and Brimley, and that might not mean doing everything the same way everyone else is. I appreciated that there was space for that, to customize our own experiences while still being connected in to Jenna and the other teams. Just because I wasn’t working on exactly what everyone else was, we still had wins and challenges that were worth acknowledging and working through. It helped me to see that it takes time and commitment to support our dogs and to do so in the right way. 

It was incredibly helpful to have videos of past teams doing the techniques with Jenna’s voiceover and input. As a visual learner, I really want to just see how it’s done. I also appreciate that the modules are set up in a way that you can pick and prioritize what you need when you need it. 

I think the fact that it’s online is really great, actually. We did a six-week in-person group training locally over the summer, where we went to a facility, had to enter one-by-one so we didn’t set off any of the dogs, and were locked up in cages where we couldn’t see the other teams, just the trainer. That made it harder because it felt like such a tense environment that I couldn’t just let my dog be a dog, say hi, sniff around, consider greeting another dog, and go at our own pace. It didn’t feel very real-world. Another program we took was outside, but I had to leave Brimley in the car for the first part, when she has separation anxiety and car reactivity and would be just far better off coming with me. There was ironically no consideration for that in a reactivity course. And while the RRP is online, and therefore may not feel very real-world either, it actually is, because you watch past teams do these activities in environments that are similar to yours, which makes it easier to replicate and play around with.

The RRP is also a much more expansive program, with consideration for a variety of scenarios such as car reactivity, living in a condo, etc. Jenna has thought of everything, and is always adding to the repertoire of information and techniques. 

Jenna is a coach! And she’s not coaching your dog, she’s coaching you, which is an important distinction to understand. That means that, as infuriating as it may be at times, she doesn’t just give you answers. She coaches you through your win or your challenges to help you understand your own unique situation better. Jenna is kind, compassionate, empathetic, thoughtful, and brilliant. She makes you a better person, so that you can be a better guardian and caregiver to your pup. 

It’s a big commitment! Things won’t be 100% solved, even after six months. You have to be open to the experience that the program is, not just the training you’ll learn. There really isn’t any other program like it, that I’ve found anyway!