Tom & Mischievous Misha

• What made you decide to start working with me, and where were you at with your dog when we first began working together?

We’d recently brought home our puppy, Misha, who is honestly just an absolute joy. But at around six months old, she started showing some reactivity—barking really intensely at other dogs on walks.

We’ve had dogs before, so we tried our usual approaches, but nothing really seemed to be working this time. It felt a bit different, and we didn’t want it to become a long-term issue.

That’s when we reached out to Helena. We really wanted to get on top of things early, help Misha build good habits, and stop the reactivity from becoming something more ingrained as she got older.

• What were some of the biggest hurdles during the process?

Misha is quite a sensitive little thing, and being small, she found bigger dogs quite overwhelming. That meant her behaviour could be really inconsistent—she’d bark or howl, then want to approach, then suddenly react again.

Because of that, the more “standard” approaches to managing reactivity—like just creating distance—didn’t really work for her.

Helena was brilliant at spotting those patterns, not just in Misha but in us as well (how we’d unknowingly adapted to her anxiety). That really helped us shift our approach and build a plan that actually worked for her as an individual.

• How did you find the support and guidance during the mentorship?

Hels was incredibly supportive the whole way through. She really took the time to get to know Misha and understand her personality, rather than giving a one-size-fits-all plan.

As Misha grew and became capable of more, Hels adapted things with us, which made a huge difference. It always felt like the training was evolving alongside Misha, rather than being something fixed.

• Have you seen any changes in your dog’s behaviour since working together?

The difference has been amazing. Misha is so much more confident around other dogs now and much more open to exploring and meeting both people and other animals on walks.

It’s also made things so much easier for us—we feel like we actually understand how to respond to her in a way that’s positive and helpful, rather than just reacting in the moment.

• What have you learned about your dog?

I’ve learned a huge amount about Misha’s emotions and what’s going on underneath her behaviour.

It’s helped me understand how to gently support her in meeting other dogs, rather than pushing her too far or misreading what she needs in the moment.

• What’s been your favourite part about working together?

Hels is just so supportive and generous with her time—it really felt like she was fully invested in helping us and Misha.

I also loved how everything she suggested was grounded in actual research. She always explained why something worked (or didn’t), which made it so much easier to trust the process.

And the video guides for each training tip were such a helpful touch—it made everything really clear and easy to follow.

What would you say to someone considering the mentorship but not quite sure if it’s the right time or investment?

For me, it’s about the long game—we’re hopefully going to have Misha for the next 15+ years.

Investing the time now to understand her properly and know how to handle challenges is 100% worth it. It’s made such a difference already, and I feel so much more confident going forward.