180dog

Thanks Debbie and Eddie!

Jan, you and Mark have made incredible progress with Ziggy! Your dedication helped him go from a scared dog to one of playfulness and curiosity. Thank you for taking my advice about the 'sniffari'! It changed his world.

Oh, Cindy, thank you so much. You did GREAT with Casey! Reach out any time.

Joe you hired me b/c I am a Positive, fear-free trainer but gave me a 1 star review, sullied my reputation and slandered me because I DIDN’T manhandle your dog Buddy. You misrepresented yourself. You did not want a force-free trainer. I said I CAN help your dog as fear-aggression is a behavior I work with daily. I explained HOW to help Buddy WITHOUT pain, fear or intimidation. I was not afraid of Buddy. I 'read' his body language. He was clearly stressed, did not want to greet me, was shut down emotionally, turning his back trying to get away from me, refusing food. Instead of recognizing his fear/stress, you tried forcing him to 'deal with it' What does that accomplish? Is that helpful? There is NO WAY I caused Buddy’s fear-aggression to worsen in a 1 hour consultation. That is a slanderous and highly inaccurate statement. I have worked with many dogs like Buddy. It takes time for them to warm up to some people, especially when they’re wary or afraid. Why not give him that time to CHOOSE to trust someone instead of forcing/hurting him? You admire the company you hired after me b/c they totally disregarded Buddy's emotion & FORCED him to do what THEY wanted. The fact that you LIKE that kind of control with no care at all how your dog FEELS proves that we were incompatible from the start, yet you led me to believe you wanted force-free training for Buddy. Not true! There isn’t enough money in the universe that would get me to do what your new ‘trainer’ has done to Buddy. That causes more harm. Saddens me beyond words to know they shocked him and hurt him. So I will take that 1 star from you knowing I did the right thing. I am disappointed that you didn’t have the patience and understanding to help him using pain-free, fear-free, science-backed methods, which is what you said you wanted. Why do you think Buddy bit an elderly man who approached him? He gave a warning growl telling him to not get too close. You said it was ‘ok’, I said it was NOT ok and did not want the elderly man to approach, knowing full well that a growl often precedes a bite. After Buddy bit that man, you hit him and yelled at him. You can’t shock or hit a dog into feeling good around people. Now he won’t give a warning. Are you ready for that? Why doesn’t Buddy like people approaching him? Do you care? No. You just want him to stop expressing his fear and will shock or hurt him to stifle those strong emotions. Guess what? Those emotions aren’t going away. They’re just now buried very deep. You hired a company that uses shock & prong collars on dogs with fear-aggression. The 2 trainers you hired before me also used shock collars and you told me you did not want to use them again which is why you consulted with me, a certified canine behavior consultant and member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. We do not use force, shock collars, pain or intimidation. We help dogs overcome fear and aggression using desensitization and counterconditioning & TRUST. This takes time and patience. Fear aggression is not 'fixed' in a 2 week boot camp that implements harsh corrections on dogs who are afraid. Buddy at 4 years old has never been socialized with people or other dogs other than your second dog who lives with you. He may not have had adequate time to adjust to living in a congested, heavily populated environment. I recommended we meet at the park for a later session to go over desensitization and acclimation as we move him closer to people and other dogs comfortably and safely and most importantly, at his own pace. My suggestion to you was to take Buddy to a park to desensitize him to new people at a distance, gradually, while giving him a chance to decompress, to help him feel safe and free from the stress of having recently moved, losing his yard, being faced with having to contend with unknown dogs and people daily which CLEARLY make him very uncomfortable. If all that shocking & pronging backfires, you know where to find me.

Working with you and Lou was/is an absolute joy. Lou is definitely unique. Watching him learn and progress with you was so rewarding! Thank you for trusting me and giving me the opportunity.