I have loved animals for as long as I can remember. However, dogs were not always “my thing.” In the great debate of cats versus dogs, I fell on the cat side. We always had dogs in our home growing up, though, so I certainly was no stranger to them. It wasn’t until I was 18 and got my first personal dog that I realized what the rest of you already knew- dogs reign supreme. Unfortunately, due to things that were completely beyond my control, I had to rehome that puppy just shy of his first birthday. He went to an amazing family who I still consider very dear friends to this day and he lived a wonderful life until the day that he crossed the Rainbow Bridge. In the time since Cruiser, I learned so much about what it means to be a dog owner. I have read about nutrition, enrichment, common health issues and prevention, research and arguments for and against spaying and neutering and when, whelping puppies, early mental stimulation of puppies, socialization, fear, aggression and training.

Then I got Bronx. Bronx is a backyard bred disaster of a Great Dane- and the true love of my life. With him, I took the information and knowledge I had learned over the years and decided to take the plunge and get my certification in behavior and training. I did a lot of research into different training schools before landing on one. I knew that I wanted something that only used positive reinforcement but that I also wanted something that wasn’t super strict on things being done exactly a certain way. While all dogs can be taught using the same methodology, those techniques might be slightly different from dog to dog. I ended up going through The Victoria Stilwell Academy for Training and Behavior and used Bronx for most of the skill set videos that I needed.

I had some health issues in the middle of all of this, which halted everyone’s training and brought Bronx right into adolescence, bringing on a whole new set of challenges. All of a sudden my perfect puppy was incredibly reactive to other dogs and people on walks, as well as animals on the TV. He was suddenly jumping all over me and anyone who walked into the house. He began resource guarding me, digging in the backyard and overall turned into a nightmare dog. During this time, we also rescued an older pit bull puppy with no intention of keeping her. The plan was to get her out of her current situation, build some confidence in her, give her some training, get her healthy and then find her a great home. Well it wasn’t long before she just became a part of the family. So now I had a nightmare adolescent dog, a scared, unhealthy older puppy and am in the middle of health issues that ended up culminating into spinal surgery in May of 2021. After surgery, I easily finished my certification and got to work on Bronx’s issues with a little bit of help from The Pet Connection, who provided me the assurance I needed that what I was doing was correct. He has made huge improvements in all areas now and our pit bull girl is eager to please, listens well and no longer pees if you look at her.

During my certification process, I started offering dog training at no cost, then at a very minimal price, while I put into practice what I’d learned on dogs that were not my own. I have worked with dogs on everything from basic manners to fear-related behaviors and reactivity. I put a lot of focus into enrichment because I believe that a dog, like people, cannot be truly happy without appropriate enrichment and mental stimulation.

I have learned a lot from Bronx and reinforced things I had already known (i.e. there is a difference between well-bred and backyard bred- we’ll do a post on this another day) but I can honestly say that he changed my life. He brought me back to my true roots and love of animals and rekindled a passion I had lost long ago when life and tragedy stepped in and got in the way. There is nothing better than helping a family and their dog live peaceably together and I am so happy that I can help others accomplish this.

Introductions

Alpha/Dominance Theory