Adopting Puppies from Rescue situations

I have had the privilege of working with many families who have elected to rescue a puppy in need, Many of these puppies missed much of their early socialization opportunities, which they should have received at a younger age, and started life in their forever homes "behind" and unsure with themselves before training. I am happy to report that 94% of the puppies I worked with from shelter backgrounds in 2017 stayed with the families that originally adopted them! This is a huge credit to the shelters for high quality screening and selection for the families wishing to adopt them! Great Job Everyone!

Foggy the Rescue Puppy

Foggy is an eight week old Shepherd mix of some kind. Her family adopted her from an animal shelter in Sterling Ma. Foggy ia an excellent puppy but much more self confident and active than "Ginger" a golden retriever mix that the family owns as well. This has created a little bit of stress for this family because having a dog with her type of temperament is all new to them. Foggy enjoys learning and although she is an active puppy her focus is really very good. I think even at her first lesson her family was excited and relieved to see how quickly she responded to a new and different approach. Foggy's owner is a young women that works with special needs children. Our hope is that when she matures she will be able to accompany her to work and aid as a Therapy dog.                    

Libby The Alert Barker

Libby is a 6 month old yellow lab released from a Service Dog program. Libby was adopted by a middle age couple in Framingham Ma. that had the time and the room in their hearts for a new puppy. Libby has an alert barking problem. This type of barking is activated by surprise or discomfort to a dog that is easily startled. In the begining Libby was barking at just about everything in her new home, including people, dogs walking by, traffic, and especially noises in the distance. To teach Libby to ignore stimulation, she simply needed more socialization and a lot of work remembering to focus on her owners and not everything else in her immediate environment. Now after several weeks of rehabilitation, Libby's barking has just about stopped. Libby is now assured the forever home she deserves.

Winston the Bichon

Winston is a one year old Bichon. His owners contacted me because after the past ten months of a difficult and unsatisfying relationship with him they realised they needed help. Winston isn't housebroken, barks constantly and has growled and snapped at his owners and guests alike.

The first thing we have had to do is remove all of Winston's resources. For awhile he will have to work for everthing that is important to him. Secondly he will be receiving a lot more structured exercise. Lastly he will be rewarded with treats and praise for all compliant and relaxed behavior. Winston's owners accidently communicated to him that he was in charge of the relationship. They loved and coddled him so much that he started to have a sense of entitlement over them and everything in his environment. Winston is a very intelligent dog, I can see that he is both curious and adaptable to his new role as a submissive member of the pack. His case is fairly complicated since his owners occasionally slip back into coddling him at times. I do believe over the next five weeks that they will see that he is less anxious and more attentive, that will give them the motivation to put his needs before theirs consistantly.   

Homer's New Freedom

Homer has been doing extremely well with his off lead training. Siberian Huskies can be difficult to reliably train off the leash. Homer was a relatively easy student in this area due to the fact that his owners had done an excellent job with him in every other area. When I began working with Homer I always had the impression he knew that he should come when he was called, he just at times chose not to follow through. Things are very different now. His owners are so pleased that now they can take Homer into the woods or into an open field and he will play with them and will come back when they call him immediatly.  

Nip is a special dog

Nip has been advancing really well with his training. He has mastered sit/stay and down/stay with a variety of different distractions, he comes when called with a very high level of reliability, and is doing well learning loose leash walking. Even the young children in the home are able to give him some of the commands with supervision and he will follow their direction. Nip is now learning the "Place" command. This command will eventually enable his family to take him anywhere because he will be learning to stay put on his mat unless given a release command. Over and over I hear in my career from past clients of many years ago to present clients that the "Place command is extremely useful and practical for a family dog. Nip clearly has a very happy future with this devoted family.

Nip the Border Collie Puppy

Nip is a nine week old Border Collie Mix. His family adopted him from a local animal shelter. His outgoing nature means he obviously received excellent early socialization and care before this family adopted him. This busy family with three toddlers want him to grow up to be a well rounded and reliable member of their family so that they can include in everything that they do. We have started the process of teaching Nip to come when called, retrieve a toy, and that behaving in a relaxed and confident manner will be noticed and rewarded. Nip is very lucky to have a family that is being proactive for his future!!

Homer's Bolting

Homer is a two year old neutered male Siberian Husky. He is a very well mannered dog within the home and with the family. Homer's only major issue is that he bolts out the door when guests arrive, won't come when he is called and sometimes runs off for days at a time. Homer has been picked up by several different dog officers from as far as six towns away from where he lives!!!!! Homer is an interesting case his owners give him plenty of exercise, he is well obedience trained on lead and he gets along very well with other animals. This makes his behavior more unusual since his family have done such an excellent job with him otherwise. Homer will need several levels of learning to come when he is called. Then he will be able to be allowed the freedom of being outside with his owner while being off the leash, but under their control. His first level of training will involve using a twenty foot lead and learning what "Come" actually means. We will be using pieces of beef as rewards every time he successful goes directly to his owners when called and guided using the leash when he is unsuccessful. Homer loves food and praise and even during his first session it was easy to see that although his unwanted behavior is very rehearsed, that he was having a lot of fun learning this new behavior. Homer's owners are looking forward to being able to help Bruin master his weak area. After several weeks of practice Homer will come back indoors when called and can accompany his family on hikes and long walks in safe environments. 

Bruin The Chocolate Labrador

Bruin is an eight week old Chocolate Lab puppy owned by a local family that have never owned a dog before. Bruin has a very low confidence level and doesn't adjust easily to new people or situations. Luckily this family wanted to work with a private trainer anyway, since dog ownership was so new to them. We immediately put him on a behavior modification program and started teaching him some obedience commands. Bruin only gets special high value treats for approaching strangers. He also is getting gradual but constant exposure to new situations and novel items everyday.  Bruin also attends my group Puppy class at Klem's to get extensive socialization with new people and puppies. The positive effects of addressing his unsure nature at such a young age are very obvious already!!! Bruin is now approaching strangers happily, playing with other puppies and ignoring loud noises. Bruin was fortunate to be adopted by a family that was being proactive. In the coming weeks he will master all of his basic obedience, learn to go to his bed when told and to eliminate on command. I look forward to watching Bruin learn and become even more self confident.   

Petey the Pit

Petey is a one year old Staffordshire Terrier. He has a wonderful owner who trained and socialized him to be an excellent companion dog. Petey visits nursing homes and has changed the lives of just about everyone he meets. Petey's owner contacted me because during one of their recent visits to a nursing home he was attacked by another Therapy Dog. I would love to learn how that particular dog became certified in the first place! Petey started responding in a fearfully aggressively manner to any dog that resembled the female German Shepherd that attacked him. Luckily for Petey I have a close friend named Jackie that breeds German Shepherds. All of her dogs are reliable and friendly. We took Petey to the park with one of Jackie's older puppies. An eleven month old female named Jenga. After ten minutes of me dilgently redirecting his extremely fearful behavior, Petey relaxed and started to solicit play with Jenga! His owner was quite relieved to see that Petey still had the ability to recover from his traumatic experience. Now twice a week for three weeks we will be meeting several different German Shepherds owned by Jackie in neutral locations to facilitate Petey's complete recover. Petey will be visiting people in need very soon once again!!!!

Kaileigh The Service Dog

Kaileigh is a two year old female yellow lab trained by myself and my partners, Pat Dykas and Holly Huard of ACAP.  Steve, Kaileigh's partner became a quadriplegic a few years ago in a freak accident. He now receives assistance from Kaileigh by her retrieving articles for him, turning light switches on and off and opening doors. They are constant companions and have become a very good team. Congratulations on passing your Public Access TEST!!!!!  

Hope The Soon Certified Service Dog

Hope is doing extremely well out in public with her owner. She has just about mastered all of her basic obedience and is alerting her owner appropriately when her assistance is needed. Hope and her partner are an excellent well seasoned team. Each understands the needs of the other well before any verbal cues are given. In another week Hope and her partner will be ready to take The Assistance Dog International Service Dog Test. These guidelines help myself and my partners of American Canine Assistance Program maintain proper industry standards. Hope is a wonderful and rare exception. I test many personally owned dogs as Service Dogs and very few pass, as they need an unusual level of confidence and reliability to perform well in public places. GREAT JOB to this team!