Helping Pets Behave

With the help of Mary, and our veternarian (Dr Lisa), we have had an 80-90% positive turn around in an escalating case of bullying in our home. We have well over 20 years 'cat parenting' experience, but this was the first time we have had cats that have behavior issues. We currenlty have 4 cats, ranging ages 7 years to 2 years old. One of the oldest has always been anxious and shy. Over the past year, we noticed the youngest slowly (at first, non aggressively) pushing her out of all her favorite sleeping places, leaving her little to no 'safe space' to feel happy. Then, the youngest cats' behavior began to escalate ( a little bit each month), posturing, cornering, and intimidating the older cat. Eventually, the older cat became very scared, extremely defensive (hissing, growling, swatting...even injuring my husband at one point) all the time. We started to realize we needed help, especially when she became too scared to eat meals. We made an appointment with Dr Lisa and she agreed that a behaviorist may be able to help us. Working with Mary was very easy! She gathered information from us. We provided her with written descriptions and historys of the cats and the behaviors, and sent her several video snippets of the unwanted behaviors in action. Within a short time, she provided us with some easy to understand language on what was likely the root cause, and other potential contributing factors. She gave us a step by step plan to give the older cat a safe place in the home, while training the younger cat- redirecting her unwanted behavior. She did explain that the bullying behavior she had seen appeared signifigant and could take a long time with consistent work and reenforcement. She made it easy to reach out with a quick question, and sent follow ups routinely. We are beyond happy to say that after just 3 months, all 4 of our cats are now living in the home, crossing paths, sitting in the same spaces, and even eatting meals in the same room without constant; staring, cornering, attacking, hissing, or growling (which was previously every interaction). Granted, we have the occasional hiss (maybe 2 times in the day, if that). And, I must add, that after a lot discussion, 2 months into using these behavior modification strategies, we added anti-anxiety medication as part of the care for the older cat. We are hopeful, now that our cats can live out the remainder of their days with us, cohabitating peacefully. Thank you

I came to Mary for help with some aggressive/possessive behaviors my 6 month old terrier/lab mix had been presenting on our walks. Every time we would be outside, my pup would stop to chew on a stick, which was fine except she would stay there forever if I let her. In an attempt to move her on so we could continue with our walk, she would get possessive of the stick and would snap at the air between my hand and her newfound favorite toy. Walks were becoming an ordeal that would last 45 minutes to an hour, leaving us both frustrated by the end. After contacting Mary, she was extremely helpful from the first consultation phone call all the way through to our six month follow up conversation. She was patient, understanding and professional. She took her time in explaining what it was that I was doing incorrectly during training that was causing this type of reaction in my pup. After the initial video call, she wrote out a very detailed follow up report of what we had discussed and a reminder of what changes I should be making to my training techniques. After sending me on my way, she made sure to stay in contact and make herself available if I had ANY follow up questions at all. She never made me feel like any of my questions were silly, or that me reaching out was a problem for her. I am very happy to report that after a lot of work, a ton of patience, and a marked loss of income to the string cheese companies, my pup no longer gets possessive over her sticks! With Mary's help, we were able to turn sticks into a toy that my pup now knows she can bring to me for a good time. She LOVES playing fetch, and even happily shares her sticks with the neighbor's dog. After a long session of fetch in the yard, they like to settle down with the biggest one they can find and share it as a chew toy with each of them taking an end, which is something I never thought I'd see. The difference my puppy has shown in the six months since my first session with Mary has been mind blowing. Without her help, I'd probably be stuck forever out on a walk, too afraid to upset my pup by taking her precious sticks away. Now our walks are only 45 minutes if we want them to be! I cannot express my gratitude for Mary enough. She has completely changed my outlook on training a puppy, and has given me a ton of tools to keep in my back pocket should that behavior present itself again. And if that doesn't work, I know she will be more than happy to help out with anything new in the future. I highly recommend Helping Pets Behave if you are having any sort of concerns with your pet's behavior. Mary is easily one of the best!

I was referred to Mary when my 5 month old mini Doodle was lunging at me on walks and at home, tearing holes in my pants and biting my leg. She also resisted close contact -- leash, brushing, holding. I was so distraught I thought I might have to give her up. After 5 weeks and just a couple of zoom sessions I had my lovable puppy back. Mary knows dogs and gave me simple tips (and some not so simple) that changed everything. She responds promptly and cheerfully to followup emails and always has more helpful tips. We also met in person for other related issues with equally successful results. Molly is now almost a year old and is the sweetest, friendliest, most lovable companion I could hope for. She still acts out on occasion (she's a puppy -- that's her job!) but I now know what to do to nip it in the bud. I'm so grateful to Mary for helping me to shape the dog I always dreamed of and for teaching me to look at things from a dog's point of view. And I love having a dog therapist on call when I need one : )

We came to Mary to help with our concerns about our dog's increasingly aggressive behaviors. She worked with us in person, over zoom, and through email to advise and model positive reinforcement training to correct the unwanted behaviors. She helped us to understand why our dog was responding the way he was, and equipped us with the tools and knowledge of how to train him ourselves. She was very responsive and patient, and answered all of our many questions. Our dog has made a lot of progress in the last 5 months and is showing significantly less aggression. He is more relaxed and comfortable when taking walks and so are we! We would definitely recommend Mary to anyone looking for support or guidance with their pet training.

I could not walk my one-year-old Lab mix on a leash. She got so excited and anxious every time we passed a human or a dog. Lunging, pulling, whining. One session with Mary and I can comfortably walk Coco anywhere. We are working on a calmer, happier dog thanks to Mary's extensive knowledge of dog psychology and behavior. She tactfully and kindly helped us interpret Coco's behavior more accurately. I went from tears to smiles.