TLDR at the end for those of you who don't like long reviews. For those of you that do, you're in luck.
I adopted my dog, Foxy, about 2 years ago. From the little history his rescue had on him, he was a stray in baja mexico that was taken in by an animal hoarder. He had clearly been abused and did not in any way act like a normal dog when I first got him. I had to teach him EVERYTHING-how to eat from a bowl, what a collar/leash are, toys, treats, belly rubs, you name it.
Once I was able to get Foxy up to speed on the basics, I figured professional training would be super beneficial for him. Cue Petco. It was good enough for the ultra basics, like sit, down, wait, etc. but Foxy was starting to develop problems and I knew they couldn't tackle them based on our six weeks of training there. If your pup just needs polishing up, it's fine. But most IMO need a lot more.
Foxy started to get super aggressive, ESPECIALLY to other dogs. He lunges, growls, pulls on his leash like a wild animal, spins, you name it. It started to come out from what felt like out of nowhere too, so I was super upset. I only wanted him to be well mannered and normal and not feel anxiety at the thought of taking him anywhere.
Around this time, his sister's owner that I keep in touch with shared his sister's DNA results with me, and I was confused first and foremost, but disappointed next. He is a chihuahua/GSD mix, with a few others thrown in. I adopted him because I specifically did NOT want a working dog, a high energy dog, a needy dog, none of the above!
He had a vet checkup shortly after the results and I asked his vet for advice. She gave me a list of ~100 trainers in the San Diego area that use positive reinforcement and said to call a few.
Cue my literal saga here.
I called through some from the list, a ton from yelp, and a few from friends suggestions. I would estimate that I called around 50, and I was genuinely shocked at the cost of some of them. $2k for 2 hours? With a "lifetime guarantee" was what I was quoted by a few. Unless you're teaching Foxy to talk, it's a no from me.
Some of the others were more reasonable, but were still in the 200-500 dollar an hour range, with weird guarantees or stipulations. A lot of the reasonable ones had ridiculous wait lists of 4-6 months, though, so I was beginning to feel stuck.
I decided that if this is going to cost me a limb (which at TMWD it doesn't, thank god!) I was going to find a trainer that specializes in GSD's and can prove it, since it is the dominant breed of his personality.
I found TMWD on yelp and decided to call them up. Liz returned my call the following day and I let her know my struggles. She was informative but not pushy, which was refreshing. I set up a consultation for the following weekend on that call.
I live in San Diego, so I knew going into training that it was going to be a drive. It's 1000000% worth it to me. I met with Rodney and Foxy, and he was also super informative and not at all pushy. We discussed Foxy's issues and he assured me that he's not truly an aggressive dog and that we can teach him to be better. My anxiety pretty much dissipated at this point.
We settled on two private lessons, followed by a group class. Foxy going to a group class was, in my mind, next to impossible, but Rodney had no qualms.
Our first private was SO productive. I haven't even had the second yet but I was so compelled to write about my experience. We fitted and used the Hermspringer prong collar on Foxy, which he has never been exposed to before, and I have seen tremendous results. He hated it at first, but Rodney assured me that they all do and to trust the process, and i'm so glad I did.
Foxy now pays attention to ME when we walk--not other dogs, not lizards, squirrels, little kids, loud noises, me! In the same day as our first private! He has some more work to do, that is certain, but after having so much anxiety and stress over his behavior for the last two years, I can't believe how much better he is doing, and how much better i'm able to communicate with him after just one hour.
Even though we haven't completed our second private or group class yet, based on Foxy's progress now I'm confident I picked the right trainer for him and that he WILL get there.
If you're reading this and you've hit a wall like I did; tons of tries of different sedatives, watching every youtube video out there, suffering through sheer embarrassment of your dog's asshole behavior at any public place, tears of frustration, nights of no sleep, sadness thinking your dog will never be "normal" or "happy"--give TMWD a call. I wish I did MUCH sooner.
TLDR: My dog was a huge asshole, and one lesson at TMWD and now he isn't. I wish I called them so much sooner! read more