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Julia & Mushy & Shoonya,
Alana helped us with our cat's behavior. We were thinking of re-homing one of our cats because they just couldn't seem to get along with each other. Shoonya would always hiss at Mushy and she would slink away from him whenever he went near. We started desensitizing and counterconditioning them to each other and gave Shoonya treats in Mushy's presense. They are now sleeping together during the day and are becoming good friends as our picture shows. Thanks, Alana!
Janet and Angel
Dear Alana,
I want to thank you for your help with my Belgian Sheepdog, Angel and her resource guarding. I came to you because my new puppy, Angel, would growl at me when I came close to her when she was eating. I do not tolerate my own dogs growling at me and I dealt with it as I had in the past with other dogs, by punishing her and trying to "establish dominance," which is what prior trainers taught me. Much to my surprise, that only made things worse. My new puppy did not seem to be bonding with me and the growling only got worse and now escalated into snapping. When she was chewing on a rawhide it was particularly bad, with her snapping at me, and anyone else, strongly whenever approached. From a pup only a few months old, I was totally taken aback and had no idea what to do. I even considered returning her to her breeder. Now, several months later, I cannot imagine that I even considered such an option. You had such a totally different approach and it worked, while at the same time giving me new insights into how dogs think. So I want to thank you for your insights of positive conditioning - trading, rewarding and giving her food, and hand feeding her. The positive method, step wise approach worked wonders! Angel again bonded with me, and now welcomes me close to her food bowl. And the once coveted rawhide? Now, rather than growling or snapping at us when she has one, she actively seeks one of the humans to hold her rawhide for her while she chews!! Angel will turn a year old soon, and is almost full grown. I am delighted to report that she is a playful gal, very loving and deeply bonded with us. We have no problem taking anything out of her mouth at any time thanks to you! We can't imagine life without her. I feel as though you have given me the dog I always wanted!
I also want to thank you not only for help with Angel, but for the way you opened my eyes to my son's dog Joe, a dog I had lived with for close to eight years. All that time, I viewed Joe as a nice enough dog, but rather stubborn and difficult to train. To be honest, I was secretly thankful he was not "my" dog, so I did not have to do much with him. I had tried to train him in the old yank and jerk method that I had used back in the late 1970s. Every time I tried to train Joe, he would get slower than molasses in January, would yawn and look away, lick his lips, and other behaviors that I took as stubborn refusal to be trained. I gave up on him as hopeless! But in clicker training Angel, I was amazed that Joe was always there, listening and doing what I was asking of my puppy. A few treats, and he was enthusiastic about being trained. But I still didn't understand his previous behavior - not until you explained calming signals (again in conjunction with my puppy). I suddenly realized that all those behaviors I took as blowing me off and being stubborn were calming behaviors! What Joe was really trying to tell me, in the only language he knew, was that he was no threat to me and would I please stop hurting him! I knew that Joe had tremendous understanding of other dogs and never got in fights, Joe the ambassador we call him. But I had not realized he was using that same language with me. Your insight opened a whole new appreciation for that dear dog and I have integrated him into training, which he now loves! I always said that Joe was not sure I liked him. Now, I understand how he got that impression. We have a much closer relationship and deeper understanding and now, well, Joe KNOWS I love him and I do. Thank you so much for sharing your understanding and love for dogs, and for opening new channels of communication between me and my canine companions. We are ALL enjoying training now!
Thank you!
Janet
Cathy & Kody
I wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks for all the help with Kody, our 5 year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Before contacting you for a behavior consultation, my husband & I weren't quite sure what to do about Kody & his aggressive behavior. We were beginning to think we would have to give him up, but neither of us really wanted that.
He became very aggressive, especially around food, be it his or ours, especially while I was cooking supper at home or in our travel trailer. He would have a tendency to come at me & growl & sometimes try to attack me. We would put him in a stay & he would end up breaking it. He did not like it when I would put him on his tie out or try to release him. Quite often he would growl & try to snap at me. He also got in the habit of hiding under my desk while I was working. When I would get up, he would dart out at me. Kody had actually bitten me a couple of times in the above circumstances. Kody & I had attended obedience classes where a choke collar was used & after awhile Kody just refused to listen to the collar & when the collar was snapped, he would sometimes growl at me.
After the consultation with you & the subsequent lessons we have a totally changed dog! Your lessons had an immediate effect on Kody & have definitely changed his attitude toward different circumstances & us. And thanks to you I also learned how to cope with the different situations with fantastic results. I can truthfully say that I now feel more at ease around Kody than I have in a long time & best of all my husband has also noticed the change in his behavior! I definitely recommend your dog friendly training to anyone & especially anyone who has a dog with an aggressive problem. I know it sure helped us be able to keep Kody as part of the family!
Once again, thank you so very much for your help!
Cathy & Kody
Gina V. and Lucy
Meeting Alana was a blessing. As a new puppy owner, I was overwhelmed and way in over my head. Alana's warm nature and positive techniques allowed me to enjoy the process of raising a puppy. Through positive reinforcement training, Alana taught me how to curb my dog's play-biting and showed me how to prevent her from jumping up on people. Thanks to Alana, I have a well-behaved good natured dog and am a happy dog owner.
