Dax The Puppy Who Ran Away

Dax is a 5 month old black lab puppy. His owners have always had labs and wanted another when their last one past away at 16 years old. They loved their last dog dearly but realized they made some errors with him that lasted his lifetime. They didn't want another dog who would run away and not come back for hours or that jumped all over their guests. Several weeks ago  Dax decided to run off to go exploring. His owners were terrified he would be stolen or hit by a car. When he returned home they immediately called me for help.

Our first lesson was an anxious one for this couple and I needed to get them in the frame of mind that they needed to tell me what they wanted instead of what they didn't want. I spent my first hour with them explaining that controlling a dog offlead requires hours of on lead training and proofing first. Once they understood this we started teaching him the first level of recall (Come). Dax and his owners are proving to be excellent students. Dax doesn't have months or years of rehearsed unwanted behavior. This has made training him to come when called a lot easier. His owners are surprised by his quick learning, but they work really hard with him and are extremely diligent about only giving commands they can reinforce until we see he is ready. Dax is still four levels of training away before he will be ready.

Juno the new dog

Juno's progress is coming along really well. He now follows his owner around the house and is allowing her gentle petting. He enjoys having the back of his ears scratched and has learned is name and the command sit. Juno now tolerates the sound of the TV, toilet flushing, and vacuuming. Now he will willingly take a short walk outside as long as there isn't a lot of activity close by. We are very slowly but continuously socializing him to things that most dogs normally completely ignore. He is absolutely responding to this approach.

Juno is still terrified of everyone except his owner and myself. We have not forced him to approach anyone, but he is not being allowed to hide when people visit his owner either. The first step is getting him to realize that he can trust his owner and doesn't need to flee every time he is faced with an uncomfortable situation. I have instructed his owner not to coddle him in these situations but to be neutral to his fearful reactions. Juno needs a calm, cool collective leader to snap him out of this and luckily for him that is a great description of his new owner!

Juno's Misfortune

Juno's story is very hard to tell. Juno' was owned by a single elderly man that had owned many "backyard dogs" in his lifetime. His strong belief of dog ownership was that dogs should never be allowed indoors. He insisted that a doghouse with straw inside and food and water once a day was all that was necessary.

There was a woman who lived in the neighborhood that watched this man's idea of dog ownership for 32 years! She was  nervous of saying anything to him, but made several attempts to help each one of the dogs he had owned. Time and time again she was told that he met the minimum requirements and that his dogs were always well fed. Each dog he owned, one right after the other would live tied day and night in the same place for no less than ten years. Not once were they walked, brushed or provided with toys. All they did their whole lives was bark constantly and dig holes for relief from boredom.

Four month old Juno was "adopted" by this man last fall when he was in his late 80's. His health was severely declining and it was noted that he was barely capable of his own care never mind Juno's. In the late spring of this year that same concerned neighbor noticed that Juno's owner didn't come out for several mornings as he usually did with Juno's food and water. On the third day she knocked on his door and he didn't answer. She then looked inside his window and realized the elderly man was on the floor and had probably passed away. Once the police arrived it was confirmed. This elderly man had no family but luckily for Juno the neighbor decided to adopted him! This woman contacted me to help her. Before we started all Juno used to do was hide behind the couch in her home all day long. He only came out to eat when she went to bed.  He was never socialized to anything and was terrified of all humans and mostly everything else in his environment as well.

Juno's progress will be slow. He is estimated to be around ten months old with virtually no social skills. He is frozen with fear but thankfully not fearfully aggressive. He has been neutered and treated for heart worm, now he is finally ready to learn about the world. I am grateful he understands the concept of a leash and collar (Probably from being tied up)  The first thing we are doing is keeping him by his new owners side whenever she is home by keeping him on a leash. We are having him follow her from room to room. Juno's new owner is hand feeding him little bits of dog food throughout the day while using his name to teach him to trust her. I got my first report that on Sunday when she returned from church Juno came out from hiding and wagged his tail when he saw her!!!!  He did not approach her but waited until she came to him. Progress is being made but it will be a slow and careful process. I look forward to this extreme challenge but I feel very sorry that Juno got such a poor start.

Bogey Moving Forward

Bogey has been an excellent puppy to work with. He is responding really well to his training. He can already come when called, sit/stay, and lie down with just verbal cues. He is doing very well learning how to walk next to his owners powered wheelchair and seems very natural and comfortable with the idea.

Bogey's owners need to put a bit more effort into his socialization. I have given them very specific goals now. They will keep a short journal on his reactions to the specific places, sights, sounds and people that I have instructed them to practice around. Bogey really needs to be relaxed, confident and friendly if he is ever to become a Service Dog. I often encourage people to keep a journal with younger puppies that are being socialized. It helps keep track of the puppy's life experiences and I can get directly involved if a puppy finds a particular activity really stressful. Sometimes even very experienced dog owner's need help teaching proper habituation to their puppy.

Bentley's Anxiety Has Vanished

Bentley has recovered from his separation anxiety. For the next several months his owners will continue to practice his daily exercises to ward off any reoccurrence. Bentley was a quick study which is fairly unusual for dogs that have suffered from separation anxiety. I attribute his fast recovery to his owners diligence and ability to control the environment until he was ready to actually try being left alone. I will continue to keep tabs on him throughout the summer and pay him a visit in several weeks for a quick review. It is imperative that myself and his family are certain that Bentley is capable of continuing to demonstrate relaxed behavior in both his own home and the winter vacation house his owners rent each year. This will involve two overnight stays for Bentley and his owners in hotels this summer for practice.

Meko

Meko is a 7 week old Shepherd/Akita mix. His newly wed owners purchased him from a local breeder that has had excellent success with this cross as a family dog. This is the fifth time the breeder has produced a litter of these puppies and all the people that own puppies from previous litters just adore them.

This young couple will have their first experiences with "parenting" together. Raising and training a puppy is similar in many aspects to raising a young child. Many of the same "tools" regarding consistency and management within the home apply to puppy training. This couple are dog lovers and plan on having children in the next few years. They need  Meko to have a high level of training and socialization so he will be as pliable as possible for when they start a family.

Meko's first lessons will involve the beginning stages of his socialization, crate training, learning to walk on a leash and responding to his name each time he is called.

The New Bentley

Bentley has his first week of success with no chewing within the home! For many months he had been causing some rather serious damage to his owners home whenever they were gone. Having owners who trained Bentley so diligently to follow obedience commands has drastically accelerated my ability to help his owners rehabilitate him. He easily master down and stay out of a person's sight for 45 minutes each day, although it was a big challenge the first two days. He also became desensitized easily to his perceived cues that his owner was leaving. This has made him an excellent student.

With the usage of modern technology it is easy for us to observe Bentleys behavior without even being present. This whole week there was no barking or whining and he spent nearly all of his time chewing on a fresh marrow bone which is provided each morning before his owners leave for work.

Bentley's next level of correcting his separation anxiety includes teaching him how to cope with being alone in a new place. Luckily his owners own a beach house piece of property that Bentley has never visited. They plan to start the behavior modification program from the beginning to be certain that he is successful there as well. They picked a great weekend to begin this important step of his rehabilitation, as it is going to be a hot weekend!!!!

Bogey's Future

Bogey is a three month old Yellow Labrador Retriever. His owners called me to inquire about Puppy Kindergarten for him. As I spoke to them it was obvious that he is a very easy puppy to handle and the owners are quite experienced with dogs. As the conversation went on I realized that his owner has a disability and uses a wheelchair and that material that this puppy will have to learn will be different then most of the people who contact me.

They realized my originally career started as a Service Dog Trainer and that I would be able to help. Bogey will be learning how to walk next to his owners wheelchair and to have a very high level of socialization. Potentially as a young adult Bogey may enter the A.C.A.P. Program, and have further training to aid his owner in public. He would also learn to perform functional tasks that would really help his owner. I am looking forward to meeting Bogey and his family next week.

Molly's Progress

Molly's owners have indicated that she is now eliminating outdoors with just one accident this week. The accident she did have was because her owners allowed her out of their eye view without using the crate. Sometimes when I work with a family they believe that a few days of success on a specific behavior issue and their dog is "cured." Behaviors we don't want in our dogs generally are not learned in one day, nor are they unlearned in one day. Some owners are so happy with their dog's progress that they let their guard down prematurely and experience a minor set back. This is a common error people make and happens more often when the initial improvements are so drastic.

Molly started her next level of learning to come when she is called. She understands what is expected of her now and did a superb job for me while I was there. He owners still need some work on their timing and voices but are making progress. I gave them specific amounts of time each day to practice, and instructed them to practice in a different location for each session. They are using a twenty- five foot long light line to be certain if she doesn't respond promptly that they have some control. Molly really loves chicken so we use it as a reward each time she is successful.

Molly's owners did an excellent job socializing her as a young puppy. This makes her much easier to train since she loves and trusts people and other dogs. Dogs that are properly socialized learn more easily and handle change with ease. Molly enjoys learning and it is such a pleasure to see an older couple including their dog in everything they do. 

A Blast From The Past

Eleven years ago I worked with a family from Shrewsbury Ma. They had an Entlebucher Sennehund Mountain Dog puppy. A breed not well known in the United States. Her name was Mandy and she was one of the sweetest and smartest puppies I've ever worked with. She enjoyed a long and happy life dearly loved by her family. Unfortunately she died from cancer a year ago.

Mandy's owner loves the breed so much they decided to get another one. Her name is Molly she looks so much like Mandy, but has a much more active and submissive personality. In many ways I am glad Molly is so different. I think it will help her owners treat her as the individual that she is.

Her owners had become a skilled dog handler with my guidance years ago, so I was surprised she wanted to sign up for puppy training again! Molly's owner was insightful enough to realize that all dogs are different and that she wanted the same advantages with Molly as she had with her last dog.

Molly is learning to come when called, housebreaking and walking on a loose leash for now. Her owners are looking forward to having the high level of training that she will have by them once again working with a Private Trainer. I am looking forward to getting to know Molly better and catching up with her family.

Graduating Students!!!!!

This past month I've had several successful graduates. Their family's are looking forward to the rewarding summer that they will have with their newly educated canines. Several of the dogs and puppies will now be capable of accompany their owners on family vacations and summer trips! I have sincerely enjoyed the challenges that each one of them has provided to me. 

Jett and Grace from Shutesbury Ma.

Mara from Boston Ma.

Franklin from Shrewsbury ma

Bones from Spencer Ma.

Lexi from Leicester Ma.

Chopper from Westfield Ma.

Jasper from North Hampton ma.

Jaeger from North Brookfield Ma.

Lola from Holden Ma.

Jazz from East Brookfield Ma.

Brook from Leicester Ma.

GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!!

Bentley's Destruction

Bentley is a one year old German Shepherd mix. He is very well socialized and follows basic obedience commands really well. Bentley has the misfortune of having a severe case of separation anxiety which he demonstrates by chewing and clawing doors and window moldings when he is left alone. Bentley has never been crate trained. At this point, the level of separation anxiety that he experiences would make it quite dangerous for him to begin crate training. Until Bentley has achieved several weeks of rehabilitation he has been prescribed some medicine by his veterinarian to help him relax until his owners return from work.

Bentley first level of training will begin by him learning how to lie down and stay for ten minutes each day out of his owners sight in different locations. He will also be learning that hearing keys jingling and seeing coats being put on are not cues to have anxiety, and that his owners are calm and matter of fact before leaving the home and when returning. Luckily his owners love him dearly and are willing to do whatever is necessary to correct his fear of being left alone.