Lake Stevens K9 Academy

My husband and I are doing group lessons with Barbara, puppy manners 1. We brought Bodhi, our 5 month old cattle dog/pit bull mix in for his first class and he was not cooperative or confident at all. Barking at the other dogs and people, not able to calm down. We thought we would have to leave, but Barbara encouraged us to stay and that we needed to be patient and calm so he wouldn’t feed off of our anxious energy. We stuck out the first class, we were able to get him to at least settle slightly. So then I had Barbara come out for a private lesson, she suggested a star mark collar and wanted to show us how to use it. That lesson changed everything for me and Bodhi in the best way possible. Not only did she show me how to use the collar but she showed me exactly how I should be handling him and gave me so much amazing advice in just an hour. One example is that I work from home and had him with me in my office. This was creating separation anxiety and thus if leaving him in his crate he would be barking and crying etc. Barbara knew exactly what to tell me and gave me a complete daily schedule for Bodhi and I where he would learn to be ok with being alone in the crate during the day with breaks. Within just two days after her visit I saw a dramatic shift in Bodhi. After a week he was going in his crate willingly and not making a sound. I’m happy to say that we have done 2 more group classes and he is now cooperating, no more barking and seems to be enjoying it!