When your dog is barking, lunging, growling, guarding, reacting on leash, or showing behaviour that feels unsafe or difficult to understand, the first step is getting the full picture.
Captain K9’s dog behaviour assessment helps us understand your dog’s triggers, history, home life, training background, safety concerns, and goals before recommending the most appropriate next step.
Leash reactivity
Guarding
Barking or lunging
Bite history
Who It Helps
A Dog Behaviour Assessment for Reactivity, Aggression and Safety Concerns
This assessment is for owners dealing with behaviour concerns that feel stressful, confusing, escalating, or unsafe. It can help if your dog reacts around other dogs or people, struggles with leash reactivity, shows fear or avoidance, guards food or objects, has dog-to-dog conflict, or has a bite or aggression history.
A dog reactivity assessment or dog aggression assessment does not label your dog or assume the cause of the behaviour. It gives Captain K9 the context needed to understand what is happening and whether reactive dog training may be appropriate.
What Happens Next
How the Assessment Process Works
01
Complete the Assessment
Tell us what you are seeing, when it happens, what has changed, and what you want life with your dog to look like.
02
Captain K9 Reviews Your Answers
Kevin reviews your dog’s behaviour history, triggers, training background, daily routine, and safety information.
03
We Recommend the Next Step
Captain K9 follows up with the most appropriate recommendation based on your dog’s needs and your household’s goals.
A Quick Safety and Veterinary Note
This assessment is intended to help Captain K9 understand training and behaviour concerns. It is not a veterinary diagnosis, and it is not an emergency service. For urgent medical concerns, contact a veterinarian. For an immediate safety emergency, use appropriate local emergency resources. For urgent medical concerns, contact your veterinarian or consult a trusted veterinary resource such as the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association.
Start Here
Tell Us About Your Dog
Complete the assessment below as accurately as possible. The more context Captain K9 has, the better we can understand the behaviour and determine an appropriate next step.
Captain K9
Behaviour & Reactivity Assessment
Collect structured information about a dog's behaviour, history, environment and training needs before a Captain K9 behavioural assessment.
Step 1 of 8
Your Dog
If your dog is a mixed breed, tell us what you know.
An estimate is fine.
lb
Tell us what has been happening with your dog. Select everything that applies.
For example, describe a recent situation from the moment your dog noticed the trigger until the situation ended.
Now let's look at the situations in which the behaviour happens.
For example, does your dog react more strongly with one family member than another?
Every dog's history is different. These questions help Captain K9 understand what has happened in the past and plan training safely. Please answer as accurately as you can. A history of growling, snapping or biting does not automatically prevent your dog from being considered for training.
If you can, include what happened beforehand, whether either dog was injured, and how the incident ended.
What was happening immediately before your dog snapped?
Include what happened before the bite, what your dog did, what happened afterward, and whether medical attention was needed.
Examples might include an incident with another dog, a move, a new family member, an injury, a frightening experience or another major change.
Training is only one part of behaviour change. Captain K9 looks at four areas that influence your dog's behaviour: Training, Handling, Equipment and Management. The following questions help us understand what is currently being used and where additional support may be needed.
T
Training
What methods or exercises were used, and did you notice any improvement?
H
Handling
E
Equipment
M
Management
Behaviour can be influenced by health, routine, environment and daily life. These questions help Captain K9 understand the bigger picture around your dog.
Include anything your veterinarian has diagnosed or is currently monitoring.
If you know the dose or reason it was prescribed, include that as well.
You can include walks, meals, training, play, time alone, rest and anything else that is part of your dog's regular routine.
You've told us what life is like right now. Now tell us what you would like to change.
Think about the things you would like to be able to do comfortably that are difficult right now.
This could be a particular situation, how the behaviour affects your routine, or how you feel when it happens.
There is no perfect answer. Tell us what meaningful improvement would look like for your household.
You're almost done.
Tell us how Captain K9 can reach you and a little about how you would prefer to move forward.
A full street address is not required at this stage.
Please confirm:
Please confirm:
Please confirm:
Optional:
Review Your Assessment
Please review your answers before submitting your Behaviour & Reactivity Assessment.
You can return to any section to make changes. Your answers will remain saved while you move between sections.
Assessment Received
Captain K9 has received your Behaviour & Reactivity Assessment.
Your answers will be reviewed before the next step is recommended.
Assessment Reference
Keep this reference if you need to contact Captain K9 about your assessment.
What Happens Next?
Captain K9 will review the information you provided to better understand your dog's behaviour, history and training needs.
After reviewing your assessment, Captain K9 may contact you to discuss the appropriate next step.
Completing this assessment does not guarantee acceptance into a particular training program or a specific training outcome.
