So glad that I found them online! I read reviews and reached out to several dog training programs. Susanne is one of the trainers who responded right away. When we spoke about their program, I felt at ease and was excited to begin program with them. Not only did she explain their program thoroughly but she also answered my questions during our telephone consultation.
I ended up taking the training package with - 4 private classes and 4 group classes that came for free.
The private classes were amazing! On the first day, she spent almost 1.5 hours with our small dog. Our young puppy barked throughout an hour because he was that guarded and scared with new experiences and people. Despite the non-stop yapping, Susanne was able to redirect and introduce new obedience cues. More importantly, she also focused on engaging me, the owner! Like our lil' pup, I also needed the training and information. Consistency and reinforcement by the pet owner will make future training easier and better. The next two private classes focused on reinforcement of cues like, "sit, stay, wait, break, in place, and touch/focus." Our smart pup has mastered some of the cues and is continuing to learn consistency with the other cues.
As a pet owner, I learned so much about how to manage the concerns that I
brought up like triggered non-stop barking, zooming out of the door when it opens, and how to foster a healthy relationship with our pup by setting boundaries and learning how to redirect and reward positive behaviors. Before I put our pup in training, we would put a mussel on him to make him stop barking. Yaiks! I learned that redirection and rewarding "quiet" moments are what I should be doing.
Today was the last day of private training! Our pup would not stop
Showing affection to Susanne. Before, he was guarded. It was so nice to see our pup lick, get close and be cuddled by Susanne :-) Almost seems like he knew that today was his last private training.
Fortunately, he will still get to see her at the group classes! I plan to continue weekly group training. Now that our pup has shown so much obedience, we'll focus on socialization. Our pup is still very guarded about other dogs. On his first group class, he kept hiding between our chairs and legs. The other dogs in the class intimidated him. Despite his fears, he still obediently participated in the group exercises. Seth is the trainer. Susanne is also present at the class. Seth is funny and is very knowledgeable. I felt very comfortable asking questions and just being there. At first, I was worried for my dog safety. He is small and just few months old. There were quite a few dogs on the first day BUT the trainers controlled the room without a doubt! On the first day, I noticed that there was someone in the class (other than Seth and Susanne) keeping an eyes on the dogs. Perhaps because they had quite a few dogs on that day. That eased up my fear for my dog being attacked. During class one dog kept going to our pup space, our pup didn't like that and became very guarded. Seth caught on a possible escalation that he directed me and my pet owners to get up from our chairs to give the two dog space. We saw our pup show A LOT of teeth as if he was ready to fight if the other dog got any closer. Seth then took the other dog away and brought him/her back to the owner. We were told that in general when a dog continues to invade another dog's space, politely ask the other dog owner to leave to avoid a dog fight.
SO far, I've attended 3 group classes. The next two classes were as fun and informative as the initial one. We saw a big difference with our pup. He now walks around the class w/o being too fearful. He was able to play with the other dogs!
I love the program and it's definitely worth taking!! The group classes are inside the Pet Supplies store. When we go in for the class. The staff are so friendly :-) read more