Denise Mazzola's Everything Dog

Max, thanks so much, but YOU did all the work with Mabel. You are her hero and she is so much happier for your investment in her! Great job!

Hello Peter, Thank you for your honest review. I too was and am very disappointment in Gracie’s training. Your goals of reducing her dog reactivity and car reactivity were not met. However, this was not for a lack of training and problem solving along the way. I was very up front and honest about my concern that Gracie simply would NOT eat outside of your home. I consistently asked and sent reminders to not feed her prior to my training her. It’s impossible to counter-condition a dog to the stimulus they are reacting to (dogs, cars etc) if they can’t be motivated, ie eat high value food. On August 3 I offered to hold off any additional training until Courtney could join me to see if Gracie would be able to eat with Courtney present. Courtney replied to “call it quits for now.” I also reached out with a phone call so we could personally discuss Gracie’s training. The call was not returned. Later in August I offered to add 4-5 additional hours of training, (with no additional charge) and suggested a strict no food schedule until I had trained her and no exercise (so she’d be fresh and not exhausted) and it was declined. I cannot guarantee the success of any dog I train. Dogs are living, breathing beings with their own agenda’s likes, dislikes, fears and anxieties. I use the science of how dogs learn to the very best of my ability. Gracie simply was not interested in working for food and when we were off her property she would not eat anything. Gracie is a lovely dog. She fits into your family very nicely and gets along well with Buddy which are so important. She is a lucky dog to have found her forever home with your family. My offer still stands to work with Gracie and a family member for 5 additional hours, with no additional charge, and see if we can make some progress working together. And I am open to a phone call to discuss how to help Gracie be successful. 603-499-6207.

Thanks Tracie. We really appreciate your comment.