Balanced Dog

I have recently finished 6 sessions with Ben, and I want to describe the powerful difference that working with him has created in the relationship between myself and my dog.I got my dog in 2020 and I knew that he’d had a challenging start. At 10 months old, he was a big boy (a Mastiff x Hound) with a very sweet nature, but traumatised, fearful, and unpredictable. Initially, I thought I knew how to approach training and obedience as he was the third large breed rescue that I’ve owned but it soon became clear that this dog was a completely different proposition and that I was ill equipped. His fear and unpredictability emerged every time he encountered solitary people, loud noises, wheels, footballs, groups of people and children. It took the form of lunging, barking aggressively, spinning around on the lead, refusing to move, backing into hedges, or trying to get under parked cars. Walks were horrific unless they were timed perfectly so that we didn’t encounter any of these factors.If you own a dog that is fearful/reactive in this way, you’ll recognise the challenges. It’s exhausting and disheartening. He was not food motivated and his fear was all encompassing, so it was impossible to manage him out of this reactivity with the limited knowledge and skills I had. Emotionally I had to commit to him every day and physically it was taking a toll on my hands, arms, shoulders and back because of the lunging. I know that he is a bite risk, so it felt very unsafe, for me, for him and for other people, so I walked him with a muzzle.The first behaviourist we saw was all about the sausages which only worked when we were in an empty field, and he wasn’t distracted and fearful. While we made some progress, she concluded that he may need to be medicated in order to see a calmer disposition in the long term and I didn’t want to go down that route.I’d been learning about balanced training methods online and could see the difference this approach made with reactive dogs like mine. A bit more research took me to Ben and all I can say is how much I wish I had found him sooner. Balanced training is an owner/dog attitude alongside a set of skills, commands, and tools. Instead of me feeling sorry for my dog and how broken he was, Ben taught me how to take a different type of leadership role and almost straight away, I could see the difference in my dog’s confidence and in mine. There is so much that has changed. We now communicate entirely within the realms of obedience. My dog is delighted by this. He feels safe. He’s more confident. He is calm. He has proper recall. We are both happy. The skills that we’ve learned require practice and commitment every day, but the results are phenomenal. We’ve had setbacks and unexpected challenges along the way, but Ben was there for us with clear advice about of how to move past them.Big, reactive dogs like mine are a huge responsibility and it is so hard to find the right trainer/behaviourist who genuinely knows what they are doing. I absolutely could not have got this far without Ben’s skills, curiosity about what makes my dog tick and genuine desire to help me with the situation. It’s been lifechanging and the investment has been worth every penny. Thank you, Ben Marsh!

Cannot recommend Ben highly enough. His continued support and encouragement both during and after our sessions has been amazing. He truly goes above and beyond for his clients. My Labradors confidence is growing as is my own in how to deal with our issues. Forever grateful to have discovered Ben

We’ve recently had our last session with Ben and to say working with him the past 6 months has changed our lives, would be an understatement.Holding our hands up, we were pretty naive on how to handle a dog with such a high prey drive. And when you get a rescue, you’re not entirely sure what cards you’ll be dealt. Anything that could run, fly, hop, swim (you name it) was fair game to her and would inevitably end up in an accident.After 18 months of at home/online training, her long line getting stuck, avoiding areas we knew we’d struggle and no one really enjoying their walks, here we are today.With the guidance of Ben our relationship with Belle is in a place I never thought we could achieve. She’s a happier dog, and we are much calmer owners and are ultimately having so much fun together.So a massive shout out to Ben. His kindness, patience, knowledge and no judgment has undoubtedly got us to where we are today.

Just 4 sessions with Ben changed mine an my dogs life! An excellent trainer with an excellent understanding of dogs. Couldn’t have expected anymore from him. He’s a great guy with a great passion and I wish him all the success in the world.

Couldn’t recommend Ben more. We really were struggling with Winston ( mini Daschund ) and Ben made some small changes which helped even in just the first session and helped us to understand our relationship with him. We continue to work with Ben and it’s been the best investment for our dog and us!

The guidance given by Ben works exceptionally well which is evident in the huge positive change in my dogs behaviour and in such a short period of time. We have benefitted from every individual & group session and the attention to detail and genuine care for my dogs progress makes the training the best I've experienced yet. The main reason why I approached Ben was because of my highly reactive rescue Doberman. It's a great feeling now to have comments made towards us from friends and strangers alike, regarding how well behaved both my dogs are. I can now confidently walk both my dogs which makes walks so much more pleasant for us all. I never thought I'd be where we are today, especially with my Doberman and I certainly have Ben to thank for this.I would highly highly highly recommend.

We had help from Ben with our puppy Doberman Mochi. We really appreciated Ben's clear communication, balanced and logical approach. Ben really took the time to listen to our concerns and just as an aside we just found him to be a nice chap. Thank you Ben.

Absolutely THE BEST dog trainer ever. Ben is the dog whisperer. The end. He has helped train me, my husband (which was not easy lol) and our dog Mabel on Mabels behaviours. We got our pup in lockdown and she had some undesirable behaviours we had unknowingly reinforced. Ben was very professional, compassionate and honest with what he felt would work for us and what we could change to improve Mabels behaviour. Honestly if you’re on the fence about dog training and balanced dog training for that matter.. hop off that fence and look no further. Ben is your man. Oh and of course his trusty girls Bae and Magic. Keep smashing it Ben you’re doing and will continue to do incredible. Thank you for all you have done for us.

We came to Ben when struggling with excitement based reactivity. He gave use the confidence to use the tools that have ultimately been crucial in giving Pixel the life he deserves. The group classes after the initial 1-1 sessions are great for practicing around like minded dog owners in a controlled environment.

I wish I found Ben sooner! After wasting so much money on the wrong dog trainers and thinking I was just going to have to walk my dog on the lead forever or never be able to bring her out with me without her barking the place down, I finally found Ben who solved our issues in just a few sessions. He explains the mind of a dog so well, not patronising and just really amazing at what he does! Can’t recommend him enough, really helped me understand and build a great relationship with my dog! Forever grateful!!