01The starting point
The starting point
Lunar came home as a rescue at roughly eight to nine months old. Outdoors she could freeze, try to move away from sounds, pull to the side, refuse to continue or stop completely — and at times her owners ended up carrying her home. Food and toys were not enough to move her on in those moments.
02What Dexter saw
What Dexter saw
Lunar was not simply refusing to walk. The important issue was that, once the environment became difficult for her, the usual tools of food or toy motivation were not strong enough to create reliable movement or engagement.
That shaped the first priority. Before increasing the difficulty of her environmental exposure, we focused on clearer communication with the handler and a more understandable way for Lunar to follow guidance and keep moving. That communication could then support manageable real-world experiences without pushing her beyond what she could cope with at that stage.
03What we built first
What we built first
A communication system Lunar could understand, and leash guidance she could follow — so she could keep moving with her handler while still being given enough space to take the environment in at a manageable pace.
04The result
The result
Lunar’s fleeing behaviour has reduced significantly. She now walks without the repeated stopping that previously occurred, including around environmental noise.
Communication created access to experience. Experience created opportunities to build confidence.
Still being built
Confidence work is still ongoing. Lunar can still choose to create distance from some triggers, so the next stage is continued exposure and proofing across more environments — without treating the progress as complete.