SUCCESS STORIES

3-year-old Doberman Pinscher

Diesel was a 100 lb. boy with a big personality. His loud bark scared people, and his leash pulling made it difficult to walk him without dragging someone down the block. After our assessment, we discovered that Diesel desperately wanted to socialize with other dogs but never learned how to calmly approach new friends. Jamie, our Sheltie, did a great job showing Diesel how to greet dogs calmly. Resetting the hierarchy with Diesel’s human pack also helped him take better direction. With the family’s dedication to working with their dog, Diesel has learned self-control and refined social behavior.

13-year-old Corgi Chihuahua

Baily presented a unique training challenge to our team.  As a senior with disabilities including blindness, deafness, and diabetes, Baily struggled to navigate her surroundings. Her family needed customized training that would enable the little dog to develop confidence, self sufficiency and adjust to her new environment. We devised a training strategy using sense of smell and touch that helped Baily achieve a level of independence that made her life enjoyable and less stressful for her caring family. We provided ongoing training support to ensure that Baily enjoyed quality of life in a loving home.   

12-year-old Staffordshire Terrier

Annabelle struggled to walk in public without lunging and barking at other dogs. Training sessions were held at a park, to work on reactivity and over-protection of her family.  Her owner devoted extra training time in between sessions to reinforce Annabelle’s learning consistently, using the videos we provided from the training sessions.  Adding our canine team to the walks taught Annabelle that a stroll in the park is fun, and that other dogs are not a threat.  Time spent with other dogs is now relaxing, enjoyable and free of stress. 

9-week-old Golden Retriever

Excessive growling and biting were of great concern to Lilly’s family, as they wondered how a puppy could demonstrate serious reactivity at such a young age.  Lilly also bullied the family’s older 70 lb. canine brother with toy guarding and heated exchanges.  Our training plan was designed to re-establish the family as the pack leaders, so that Lilly could relinquish her bossy behavior and respect her canine brother as well.  In addition, mastering basic obedience skills gave Lilly focus and structure to help her become a well-mannered dog.

9-year-old Border Collie/Hound

An urgent call came from a family with a newborn baby, when their dog, Sully, displayed serious signs of prey drive and anxiety with the new family member. Signs such as fixed stares and panting were red flags, culminating with snapping at the baby. Sully needed to learn quickly to respect all family members, eliminating his need to control and assert alpha behavior. We taught specialized skills which simultaneously established that the family was in charge and he must follow direction. Sully has settled into a calm routine and respect for all family members.

1-year-old Shepherd Terrier

Rae was displaying typical “teen” puppy behavior such as rough nipping, jumping on people, refusing to give up toys and reactivity on walks. Rae was at a critical age when puppy antics can become engrained in adult dogs, so we needed to take advantage of a window of opportunity to reshape behavior. We designed a customized training program to redirect her high energy. A training session at the park also helped improved her reactivity to other dogs. Rae now respects the space of family and visitors and is calmer when interacting with dogs. 

11-month-old Bulldog Retriever

Otis barked and jumped on visitors and weighing in at 85 lb., was extremely hard to manage when pulling on leash to see other dogs while walking. Our canine team, Keith and Jamie were included in outdoor training sessions, demonstrating how to interact politely and reduce Otis’ reactivity to other dogs. He learned how to control his impulsive behaviors, stay calm in new places and respect the leadership of his family. Otis stopped jumping, pulling on leash, and learned how to relax around other dogs.

2-year-old Terrier Retriever

Victory thought that she was in charge, which is never a good situation in human/dog relationships. She guarded her adoptive mom and displayed fear-based behavior, barking and nipping at her adoptive dad. Victory was also terrified of going outdoors and moving vehicles, creating stress when walking. Confidence building skills were utilized, and her family learned how to use our leadership training, to make a scared, reactive dog feel safe and confident. Victory has become accepting of men and now goes for walks without fear.  

4-year-old Chow Retriever 

Red was a shy dog living a sheltered life with his previous family.  He suffered from fear of the outdoors, particularly moving vehicles, wariness of other dogs, and lack of confidence, leaving him feeling very insecure.  We worked extensively with Red to desensitize him to outdoor sights, sounds and smells and slowly introduced him to other nice dogs.  Over time, Red’s confidence increased, allowing him to enjoy just being a dog.  Red now lives in harmony with his loving adoptive family and another dog! 

2-year-old Jack Russell Chihuahua

Bing had very serious guarding issues with his food, toys, family and space.  We worked extensively with Bing on trust issues using our training techniques to help him decompress and allow his adoptive family to take the leading role.  Essential obedience skills training added structure to his daily routine.  Over time, Bing began to accept people around his food and toys.  For socialization, we incorporated play dates with other small dogs into his training regimen.  Bing now lives a well-balanced life with his family pack.

6-year-old Miniature Pinscher Chihuahua

Unfortunately, Chip’s difficult past made him very fearful, resorting to growling or biting anyone who tried to touch him.  He was trained using our specialized techniques to overcome his fear.  For socialization, we had Chip interact with dogs of all sizes in supervised play dates.  We continued Chip’s training in his new home to ensure a smooth transition. Chip is now more comfortable with touch and enjoys walks and taking trips with his new family.  

4-year-old Bulldog  

Sebastian was very shy with a fear of riding in cars and a dislike of other dogs.  Obedience skills training gave him confidence and focus.  Play dates with other dogs, under our supervision, taught Sebastian how to interact with other dogs.  We used training methods designed to help this reluctant dog associate entering the car with a positive experience.  Sebastian learned that a jump into the back seat meant something good would happen!  Through our comprehensive training, Sebastian is now a confident, well-balanced dog with his adoptive family.

5-month-old Miniature Schnauzer 

This high energy puppy was running circles around his daunted family.  Sebastian accompanied his mom to her office where he frequently jumped up on unsuspecting co-workers.  He required training to correct this behavior, as well as demanding to be held, playing too rough, and nipping.  We designed a plan to teach Sebastian appropriate behavior when interacting with people, and to take direction from his family.  Obedience skills training improved Sebastian’s ability to focus and learn better behavior at the office and home.  Sebastian learned how to be polite, play gently with children, and demonstrate improved self-control.

3-year-old Cattle Dog Shepherd

Waverly was reactive to dogs, lunging at vehicles and nipping at people. To see success in Waverly, we decided to look to the breed’s herding instinct. We worked to desensitize her to cars and build her confidence to interact calmly with other dogs. This was achieved by taking her to public spaces where Waverly got better acclimated to meeting new people, dogs, and hearing a variety of noises. After extensive training, Waverly mastered basic obedience skills such as leave it, sit, stay and come. She was able to interact with other dogs, sat calmly when vehicles passed her by and nipped less.