The Art of Dog

My wife and I have a rescue mix who we have had for about three and a half years. She’s a great dog, but has a high prey drive, and when she’s in hunting mode, it’s like nothing else in the world exists. We were concerned about our ability to communicate with her when she’s like this, and the fact that at 70lbs, she could pull my wife over on a walk if she wanted to. She’s also a bit of a bully to our cat. We knew we’d be traveling around the holidays, so we began searching for a board and train program for her. My wife reached out to Dave, and he was very quick to respond. We discussed her issues, and he was pretty sure he could help her, even when we said that she can be very sassy and a bit stubborn. His rates were very reasonable, too. We dropped her off with him and began our trip. He was very open to texts from up with updates and letting us know how she was doing. He sent us pictures as well. When we arrived back in Buffalo to pick her up, he told us that he got to see the stubborn side, but she worked through it and knew what was now expected of her. About six months later, I believe I speak for my wife and I when I say that taking her to Dave was the best decision we could have made and was absolutely worth it. She now knows listening to us, even when she’s focused on something else, isn’t optional. She knows “place”, and her recall is much better than it used to be. She doesn’t pull my wife on the leash anymore, and my wife has said that this is one of the smallest things, but the biggest change in her routine. It makes her walks so much more pleasant. The biggest change for us, though, is being able to have people come visit us without constant barking. Our dog would bark at my mother incessantly anytime she was in the house and we could not figure out how to help her understand that she didn’t need to do that. After spending some time with Dave, we were able to have my other come over, and she was able to pet our dog for the first time. Being able to tell her to go to place really helps her “work through her stuff” and calm down to a moment where she is able to interact with the world around her again. It’s been an absolute game changer. Overall, I cannot say enough great things about Buffalo K9 and Dave. We have friends who we’ve referred who have worked with some of the other trainers he has on staff and they’ve been extremely impressed too. Although Buffalo isn’t exactly near by for us, it’s well worth it, and one of the only places we trust to take our girl. Definitely check Dave out!

Our experience with Dave and Art of Dog was crucial being first time GSD owners. We chose to do private lessons starting when Basil was only 10 weeks old. Dave taught us the training knowledge and introduced the proper tools at appropriate stages. We can completely trust Basil off leash from the time she was only about 6 months old! If you want to give your dog freedom, structure and overall a happier and healthier life, train with Art of Dog.