Cleo and I have been attending Unleashed Potential since April, 2010. Cleo was 5-years-old at the time and was becoming increasingly aggressive towards other dogs, was not recalling very well when off leash, and was food-aggressive with other animals (both cats and dogs). Although she was never aggressive towards our children, I was fearful that an incident may occur and wanted some concrete training to correct her existing problematic behaviour and prevent future aggressive incidents.
I was satisfied after my initial consultation at Duke’s straightforward and common-sense approach to dog behaviour. His experience and knowledge immediately came through as we discussed a plan and what was expected of myself as her owner. As a mother of 2 young children aged 5-months and 3 1/2-years, and completing a MSc at the same time, my time was limited, but I could do a lot of mini-training sessions at home in my “spare-time”. I could also attend the Stratford obedience group every other week to reinforce our training sessions at home.
She responded well and adhered to commands. With time she got better, and we did drills with food and other animals to modify her behaviour and reduce aggression.
Although we have advanced a great deal, there is always more to learn. I enjoy the group sessions as I continue to learn ways to improve her behaviour and train myself to train her. There are ample opportunities to ask questions specific to Cleo, and they are answered or addressed in classes or sooner in an e-mail or phone call.
I am thrilled with what I’ve been able to do with Cleo. She now enjoys regular walks, often off-leash as I have confidence she will come back. I know Duke’s classes have also fostered a better bond between Cleo and I. I fear that if I had not gotten assistance soon, Cleo may have had to been euthanized as her aggression may have escalated. I am fortunate that I was able to prevent that possibility, and enjoy a great relationship in the process.
There is no deadline and perfection is not the goal. This is a life-long process for dog and owner that focuses on on-going maintenance. I truly look forward to each group-session and walk with Cleo.
Aleida Tweten
Stratford, PE
Jen and Derrick recently sent Coco to be trained with Ted from Unleashed Potential – Halifax. This is the e-mail that followed after Coco returned home.
After training with Unleashed Potential, the difference in our dog is amazing. We don’t use the leash to take her out to use the bathroom and she doesn’t bolt and take off like she used to. She was out to play with her doggie friends today and everyone was taken back to see her not on a leash. When I called her and she came to me, and their jaws just dropped (because they would help me chase her for 45min to an hour), lol! She didn’t jumped on anyone, not even my Dad, and she would go crazy with excitement over him. No one can believe it is Coco. We can actually call her Coco now and not CooCoo, LOL! To say we are happy about the training you did with her would be an understatement. You saved her life (by her not getting hit by cars when she would run away) and our sanity. We can enjoy her now; we look forward to taking her to play fetch instead of getting prepared for an hour long chase. Ted, She will be excited to see you again on Saturday at group class!
Thanks again!
Janice, Derrick Schultz.
Dartmouth NS Canada.
I am writing to provide a testimonial for UPK9′s Puppy classes which
are held weekly on Thursday evenings for puppies 8 – 20 weeks old. I
have been in the puppy class now for 7 weeks, and I look forward to
attending each week. My puppy, who is a small-breed dog, and by
nature, very sweet, has the usual puppy foibles (chewing, nipping,
pulling on the leash, etc). I have noticed a marked improvement since
the start of the classes. I would highly recommend this class to
anyone, whether your dog is a strong-willed larger-breed or a docile,
soft natured smaller breed. All dogs need socialization, and this
class is the perfect way to do it. The dogs are exposed not only to
other dogs, but to other people. And, the best part, the class is lots
of fun both for the dogs and their humans!
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