Testimonials

Henry had been hand reared from the age of three days old by friends of mine and I took him on at 6 weeks. from the start Henry proved to be a doting dog and you could not ask for more in the house but very fearful dog outside, and what I perceived to be his fear stage never seemed to end, he is very scared of the world and everything in it, but being such a big dog this is often misinterpreted by people as aggression.

The problem I had is that I lost confidence in myself as a dog owner and Henry needed constant reassurance, he was always looking to me for direction which he was not getting and so felt like he needed to take charge of me...

Ruth immediately identified the problems in our relationship as it is not just Henry's behaviour that needed altering but mine too. Ruth gave us very simple everyday exercises that have helped me to gain confidence and my dog now has trust in me again and looks to me for direction instead of feeling like he needs to protect me and cope alone in scary situations. Not only was the training vital, but it was also a lifeline to have Ruth on the end of the phone when ever I had a bad day as she well understands the stigma that is undeservedly attached to some large dog breeds and the ignorance of some members of the public.

I now can enjoy my dog and not be in fear for him, he really is my best friend and more loyal than I could ever ask for, my only wish is that people could have more faith in large breed dogs and that there are still responsible dog owners out there.

Meeting Ruth was one of the best things that has happened to me and Henry and hopefully we will continue our friendship for years to come as there is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to dog training! I would recommend Ruth to any dog owner no matter how big or small the problem as she has greatly improved both mine and henrys lives.

Our vet recommended that we call Ruth Owen after we said we were having problems with Barney, our recent collie rescue. We are his 4th home and desperately wanted him to be able to stay with us. His issues were not coming back when called, pulling on the lead (giving us shoulder injuries) and relentless fence running along the fence of the fields we keep our stock in (injuring himself hence vet involvement). He would also act aggressively if we came across cows and sheep on walks. Generally we felt he was happy with with his new life, but he was in control of us and saw no need to change. Ruth spent a very valuable afternoon with us explaining why he was behaving like this and showing us how we could set about changing it. This was now nearly two months ago and although he is not a complete angel yet, there is a significant improvement. Overall he has much more respect for us and wants to please by doing what is asked of him. He now walks to heel, comes when he is called ( not always as fast as we would like but he is getting better all the time) and we can now control him with stock - although I dont think they will ever be completely off his radar, he is a collie after all.

We now feel confident that if we carry on with Ruth's training methods we will have Barney under control and be able to really enjoy having the very special dog dog that he is.

Dear All At Animals In Distress

We are writing to say how delighted we are with Bobby (formerly Bubble) who we adopted in early May and to thank you.

Although he had a little difficulty in initially settling into his new home, we were able to establish and maintain boundaries thanks to Ruth Owen's guidance.

We found her advice invaluable and very effective and Bobby is now generally well behaved and quite a character as well! We can take him anywhere now and almost every day has been an experience for him. He is living a happy and healthy life now and he is an enrichment and joy to us.

Thank you!

Ruths talent with dogs is amazing! I first met Ruth when i went to look for one dog and ended up with two, Whisper and Charlie. She helped me introduce them to each other and they had to meet my feline friend. Ruth made everything very seem very simple but i am sure it takes a lot of patience! Now two weeks on and Charlie sleeps on the bed with the cat. Thank you Ruth.

I recently had reason to move back home with my Father. A rather large problem lay ahead in that my Father has a rather naughty terrier (Roo) and a cat (Baggy) and I have a small cross bitch (Bertie) and two of my own cats (William and Nora). What's the problem? Well Roo has proved many times to us in the past that cats, in his view, all cats are for chasing like rabbits. My Father agreed tot ry and adopt some training for Roo, even though this had half heartedly been attempted in the past.....in fact My Father expelled himself from dog training classes previously as was so traumatised by the whole thing!!

I remembered Ruth Owen who I knew helped at the local Animals in Distress Rehoming Centre at Ipplepen. I contacted her and she made an appointment for one Sunday afternoon to come to the house and see Roo for herself and whom we considered at the age of 6, to be an untrainable dog. Ruth told me that she saw this as a first session and had allowed four hours of her time to begin training with Roo. She started with some one to one trust "talking" with Roo and within an hour the cats were introduced to the kitchen. She placed the cats in large dog crates in the middle of the kitchen to ensure their safety and used a technique with training discs which were used every time Roo made an attempt to lunge towards them.

Incredulously within two hours the dogs and cats were walking around each other comfortably in the kitchen and Ruth announced that Roo was a "walk in the park" and with more attention and further training could be a lovely dog!! The training she had showed me would need to be continued and adhered to.......now all I had to do was pass her information to my Father and hope that he would see the advantages of having a nice Roo around the house and not a cat eater!!

Since Roo's session with Ruth, we have used the training discs she supplied us with on dog walks and have successfully stopped Roo from attacking cyclists, men in shorts, other dogs on leads, ducks and perhaps more importantly the post man!!! We have also used Ruth's techniques to stop Roo howling on car journeys!

My Father would say if he was to describe Ruth Owen to be "Two hours of Magic!"

Many thanks Ruth and we wish you well with helping more dogs with behaviour problems to get back on track.

Ruth has helped us understand why our blue merle collie behaves the way he does. We have now been able to create a routine which he is able to cope with and we have seen some real improvements thanks to all the help Ruth gave us. We still have queries sometimes with how to deal with him but Ruth is always happy to help, which makes a real difference to our lives.

We have always had dogs in our family, but when Jess, our Flat Coated Retriever, died of cancer, we said that we wouldn't have another dog. Fifteen months later a tornado, in the form of an Hungarian Viszla named Mischa hit us hard. She was a complete nightmare, and several times was on the verge of going back to the breeder. We tried a Kennel Club trainer, who helped, but Mischa had a mind of her own. Luckily, for us and her, Ruth was recommended to us. We had almost given up onthis wilful dog, but after only two sessions with Ruth, both Mischa and I were beginning to be trained. Ruth is very forthright, but certainly knows about animal behaviour and obviously loves dogs. Mischa is becoming a well loved and, sometimes, obedient member of our family. I shall continue the training with Ruth, and with her help and guidance, I am sure we shall have wonderfully responsive pet.

Thank you for the info, your advice has been brilliant. Billy is saying Toby is already calmer on the lead. We have already bought the new collar and both dogs will need to attend your training school when you are up and running

Ruth you have been brilliant, we had a lot of trouble with Claude, our Great Dane who was very disobedient on walks and you sorted him out. He is now a pleasure to have around and does not need a lead when walking on our property. Whereas before, he was constantly trying to escape to places we did not want him to go. I had to work hard with him and carry on the advice you gave me, so we are very grateful to you for your help and support.

I want to say a huge thank you for all your helpful guidelines, Bonnie is still training so we will be coming over soon to carry on with walks and maybe a bit of recall training. You have been such a help and i can honestly say without you we wouldnt be as happy and such a strong family unit as we are now. Thanks for all your help and support.

We have a long history of dog ownership, and felt we had lots of experience, but nothing prepared us for the holy terror of terriers which is Zen! Acquired as a companion for our other terrier, little did we realise what a challenge he would be.

Due to severe weather conditions during his early puppyhood, socialisation and contact with other dogs was minimal, and by the time the weather turned for the better, he had developed a severe attitude, mainly in lead aggression.

Endeavouring to be responsible and caring dog owners we elected to seek help; Ruth came to our rescue. Her attention to our plight and professional attitude instantly put our minds at rest, and, using the techniques Ruth has taught us, along with attending her walking and training sessions, has been a real experience.

We cannot recommend Ruth and her work highly enough, and we now have a dog we can take just about anywhere with confidence.

Our grateful thanks to Ruth, and also to Frankie, her helper.

I have had dogs all of my adult life, all were rescues, all came with issues and all turned out to be truly amazing. After my last dog died a couple of years ago I threw myself into my work and was dog free until, just a year ago I received a telephone call asking me to help save a dog that was due to be destroyed because he was vicious and uncontrollable. I telephoned my vet who put me in touch with Ruth who came with me to meet this hell hound and that was the beginning of twelve months of seriously hard work. The dog is Fred, then a 2yr old Parson who had spent 12 months in a cage and had 3 previous homes before that and, despite my determination not to have another dog, Fred the terrorist moved in that very day.

Nothing could have prepared me for the battle that lay ahead in trying to undo the mental issues that this little chap had, he was so dysfunctional that he was permanently on the verge of a doggy meltdown – which meant that being a terrier he fell backwards in fear then came forward like a bullet with his teeth out every time he met another dog, human, or even a truly scary wheelbarrow! But, with Ruth alongside both he and I have risen to the challenge.

Ruth truly is amazing and I know that without her immense knowledge, dedication and experience we could never have made the journey. Fred is now social and well balanced around animals and humans alike and despite days when I felt I was playing a game of snakes and ladders with his behaviour, I don't for one second regret taking him into my life and I'm incredibly proud of how far he has come. I can now take Fred anywhere with confidence but he does still have some issues and so we will continue to work with Ruth until we finally get there.

Thank you Ruth for all of your help, we couldn't have done it without you. A big thank you as well to Frankie, Ruth's hard working and determined assistant.