This is a review for Bonnie Brown-Cali and Kristin Castro: Thinking you need help with your dog? Look no further! We adopted a new dog (Jojo, a pointer doberman mix) after our 14+ year old pointer left us. I am ashamed to admit I instantly regretted it. We adopted him on a whim…Read full reviewClose full review
This is a review for Bonnie Brown-Cali and Kristin Castro: Thinking you need help with your dog? Look no further! We adopted a new dog (Jojo, a pointer doberman mix) after our 14+ year old pointer left us. I am ashamed to admit I instantly regretted it. We adopted him on a whim and immediately realized we have a dog that knew absolutely nothing, was super reactive with dogs, barked at everything, always wanted to bolt out the door, chase every single thing that moved and was impossible to walk on a leash. It was very stressful! I felt very alone. I knew he was not lacking in the love department and I felt he had potential. I did NOT want to give up on him. That is when I contacted Bonnie. She helped me train our last dog to hike off leash. I knew if anyone could help it would be her. I worked with Bonnie for 4 sessions. She helped us get started with some obedience training. Walking leashed, waiting at the door and beginning 'place' command. Bonnie is super understanding and very knowledgeable with many tricks up her sleeve. If one way doesn't work, she will find another way using her decades-long knowledge of dog training. Amazing! We then sent Jojo to the Board and Train program for 4 weeks with Kristin Castro. Kristin has an incredible ability to understand how each individual dog tends to think and navigate life. When Jojo returned to us, he was a much better version of himself. He now acts less like an individual and more as a partner/family member. I can now walk him by other dogs without lunging and reacting. He rarely barks, he waits at the door until I release him, walks well on the leash and now has great recall while hiking off leash and playing outside. Kristin also assessed him with other dogs and, to my relief, he loves them. She also taught me how to interact with Jojo using a flirt pole and a tug toy. So fun! Kristin also improved Jojo's 'place' command, which is a super convenient command to have! We now use 'place' when people come to the house to do work, when it is time to settle for a bit and when having company for dinner. The photo below is Jojo with Kristin practicing environmental agility (another great tool Kristin taught me). Thanks to Kristin Jojo is now living his best life! We continue to do the work together while having fun at the same time. We love him so much! Their support is fantastic and I am so incredibly grateful!!!
