Kinds of Training: Basic Obedience + Off-Leash Recall
These dogs arrived a little rambunctious but left knowing all kinds of polite behavior as well as a terrific off-leash recall!
HunterPiper |
7-month old black lab, Hunter, was all puppy. The problem was his body had gotten too big for that to still be cute!
He would rush up to people at the front door, including little kids who would cry in fear. He'd pull so much on walks that his mom's shoulder was out of alignment and some of his back yard activities included wild racing around landscaping that was more neurotic than fun. He finished training learning how to be calm and relaxed as a default state of mind. He also learned off-leash recall so when it's time to be foot loose and care free -- like at the beach!! -- his owners can call him back with complete confidence that he'll return. His owners learned about how to show him leadership which will be key to helping Hunter maintain his new good manners so they grow stronger as he grows older. 7-month old yellow lab mix, Piper, may have seemed like she needed more than basic training, but she's a great example of how a little structure, rules, and boundaries can go a long way for a dog.
Some of Piper's old behavior included pinning her 10-year old human to the wall, play biting that definitely hurt, running around the house at full speed (even faster when the kids were home), peeing out of excitement when pet by guests, and barking, jumping, and lunging to get out of the laundry room. Fast forward two weeks with me where she learned life skills of impulse control and how to be relaxed as well as developing rock solid obedience commands. Fast forward another two weeks where she returned home and she and her family went through "boot camp" where Piper learned that the commands she learned with me (Come, Sit, Down, Place) meant the exact same thing when her owners said them. Side note: that's never as obvious as you might think! :-) Trained February, 2015, Piper gets to vacation with the family, hang out in the house even when there's company, and helped welcome a new puppy brother in 2016. Since he and his family learned how to live a happy life together there was room for another dog! |