Trouwe Hond K-9

We cannot tell our Trouwe Hond K-9 success story without sharing Freddie’s journey to first… We rescued Freddie in April of 2021 with the understanding that Freddie had “some dog issues” and the shelter asked that she be the only dog is the house. We quickly learned what dog issues she did have… she is extremely dog aggressive, any dog, any size Freddie exploded at, lunged at, and barked at. Given the scaring on her body we suspect (without proof) that she was a bait dog used to rile up fighting dogs. We reached out to trainers to help, the first trainer ghosted us after 3 lessons, the second trainer also ghosted us after the first session. We landed on the third trainer and worked with them for two years. We worked on basic obedience and niceties like walking on a treadmill and using a scratchpad for her nails, however we were not making much progress on her main issue dog aggression. We had three incidents where Freddie managed to attack a dog. 1. The first incident, the leash broke free and she charged at a couple of small dogs, fortunately the owners picked up their dogs and I was able to get to Freddie ‘s collar before any damage or injuries. So lessoned learned we got a stronger collar and leash. 2. The second incident, Freddie was in our chain link fenced in yard and a dog was being walked by and she charged at the fence with such force that she managed to get under the fence and get to the dog, the owner tackled Freddie and held her off until I could get to them, there was not apparent damage and the owner took their dog to the vet to be sure. The vet confirmed there were no injuries. We had the chain link fence upgraded to a thicker gauge wire and added a bottom rail to the fence sections to eliminate the possibility of it happening again. 3. The latest incident, a dog was walking by with its owners, Freddie charged the gate and managed to pop it open and get to the dog, again no injury just pissed-off owners. So next lesson was to replace the gate latches and assess them periodically to ensure the latches cannot be popped open accidentally. We were at our wits end and feared that we were pushing our luck, it was going to run out and given her breed (pit-bull mix) if she ever did damage, she could run the risk of being put down, enter David Ranieri - AKA The Dogman. We reached out to David for an evaluation. He is one of the most tell-it-like-it-is guys we have ever met, he took tons of notes on Freddie’s background and explained his background and training methods and set realistic goals. We signed up for two-week board and train. David’s communication throughout his time with her was amazing along with pictures of Freddie being next to a dog and not freaking out solidified to us that we made the right choice with David. Our first train the owner session was exciting for us as David introduced us to and explained the techniques he uses on Freddie. We spent three plus hours firsthand learning his methods with Freddie, and we were blown away with being able to control our dog in such proximity of another dog. Through the second week David sent plenty of pictures and kept us informed of the progress that Freddie was making. When we took Freddie home, David had set our expectations that she was going to test us, and we had to be vigilant in keeping up the training. David was spot on, we had to be on top of every interaction to ensure Freddie did not back slide. We had excellent communication throughout the week with David checking in and giving us encouragements. Our final train the owner session was excellent , all the things that David sent us pictures of that he was doing with Freddie throughout the board and train we were able to practice and perfect, Freddie was able to approach the other dogs in their kennels and sniff and get sniffed without exploding, my personal favorite was working on the dog pass by, where we passed by another dog successfully and the Freddie was put in a sit-stay and the other dog passed by her without exploding. I highly recommend Trouwe Hond K-9 and David's methods!!!

David did an amazing job laying down the groundwork with my Presa Canario puppy. He (Leo) is very stubborn he is also a huge goofball, which made training for difficult me at times. The information David gave me was just as important as the work he did with Leo. I know have a better understanding of what is needed going forward and have the tools to deal with my stubborn goofball going forward. Our training with David will continue going forward.

Trouwe Hond and David "the Dogman" came highly recommended by my neighbors. I am glad I followed their advice and sent my one year old golden doodle and myself for training with David. David has a well thought-out approach to training. Both my dog and I quickly felt very comfortable around David. I found he was a good listener as i listed my concerns. I grew to trust David's training techniques and philosophy as I first got a chance to observe, then practice what David taught. He was patient in response to my many questions and gave helpful feedback. I felt that I grew gradually in competence handling my dog and am now enjoying her company even more than before. Thank you, David, for strengthening my relationship with my dog companion and for giving me effective tools to communicate with her! Ursula Stone

We brought our 4.5 year old dog to David with hopes to correct her disobedient personality, the results from David’s two week course went beyond our expectations! Before bringing her to David, she would be walking us rather than us walking her. She would bark at cars, other dogs, kids on bikes, runners, you name it. After the two week training and the tools and homework provided by David’s expertise these behaviors have been halted. He did not only train our dog Ivy but shared his knowledge on how we can be better dog owners. She is a completely different dog now and we owe it all to David.