Peggy and Steve Kraemer of Knapp, WI reached out to me to help them with serious aggression issues that their 14 year old Westie, Keegan (pictured) was showing towards their new Westie puppy, Nori (not pictured).  The Kraemer's had had several dogs over the years and never experienced an situation like this with any of them until now.  Thus, they were at a loss.  Not only that, but Nori was an extremely HIGH energy puppy.  This is why I have a "Matchmakers - Finding the Right Dog for You" Service.  If I can help people attain the right dog at the onset, it will eliminate a vast percentage of issues that can come up in the years that follow.  Kegan was very territorial, possessive of  Steve and had become the Leader of the family's Pack due to overly lenient ownership by the Kraemer's.  The Pack Leadership had inadvertently been turned over to Kegan and the Kraemer's needed to get that back for things to  become harmonious and safe.

I set up a full protocol for Kegan over the 4+ hour Session and 3 hour session that ensued.  Nori would receive the same protocol but obviously pared down to accommodate her young age and size. This included a Structured Walk twice a day keeping Kegan at their side, exiting and entering the door before Keegan bolted out ahead, finessing the obedience commands, switching owners often so that Keegan could become loyal to Peggy as well as Steve.  Any growling, snarling or charging at Nori or Peggy by Kegan would be instantly met with a cupped hand pop and a sharp "NO!".  (This technique is not hitting).  The pop can also be administered by a quick tug and release of the leash if there is one on him.  If that did not do the job, then Kegan would be laid down quickly on his side and restrained with a hand at the neck/throat (the area of submission on a dog) and one hand on the hip to prevent scrambling out of the restraint.  Once Kegan settled down, they could release him gently with no communication.  This is not a punishment, it is a correction and receives neither chastisement or affection.  It is referred to as the Dominance Position. Also part of the protocol were dog brain challenge games found on You Tube, having feeding time as an event 2x's a day as opposed to an all day smorgasbord and being the initiators and not the obedient followers. 

I meet many dog owners that spend a lot of time telling me what a good dog they have, however, they do call me for a reason and it's not because of the good things.  I need owners to face reality and see that there is danger in what their dogs are doing, especially when serious aggression is involved.  If these owners will pursue the path of the protocol I establish for them as we work together, they will see the eradication of the dysfunctional behavior that is present in the family where their dogs are involved.  I do believe the Kraemer's have the potential to see the turn around they need to make for Nori to be safe and for the two dogs to cohabitate amicably. 

(Written by Candiss)

Breanne Waterhouse and Chris Haubrich were in need of some assistance for their newly adopted shelter rescue dog.  A 5 year old, husky-shepherd mix, Addy was exhibiting aggressive behavior towards other dogs and couldn't be trusted, which was hindering their neighborhood walks and hiking excursions.  The BHD Service definitely made an overall improvement.  It was very noticeable from the first Session to the next.  Addy was much more amicable towards me on the second visit.  Before walking her past the 3 houses who's dog's irritated Addy the most, we took her for over a  1/2 mile Structured Walk to drain the excess, nervous energy that had been pent up in her and then put her in a  Dominance Position on her side on the ground before passing the 3 yards.  It made a big difference and enabled Breanne, who had the leash at that time, to  control her much more readily.  The couple was impressed with the improvement.   I told them to keep up this protocol until they didn't need it anymore.  It would improve as they continued to  implement it.  The Structured Walk always stays on a daily basis, but the Dominance Position is only as needed and is unusually a means to an end.

I do want to address something at this point:  This couple decided to get a dog at a time in their  life when things were already gearing up with much to divert their attention.  They both have full time jobs and Chris was about to travel.  Breanne had recently started school full time at a local University and her attention was stretched thin.  A new dog is going to present some issues and need time and attention getting properly adapted, as well as confronting and eradicating the attached issues.  There are better times than others to attain a new dog and this was not one of them.  I have left these two with the protocol they need to unravel the  issues that Addy has been presenting to them.  If they make a concerted joint effort,  they will have a dog they can both trust and enjoy.

(This portion written by Candiss)

Nine month old Rocko was more of a handful than owner Christine Diaz and son Jake of Baldwin, WI were expecting.  Corgis are a herding dog and have high speed capacity, but this one lived with his new humans in the confines of a two bedroom duplex.  These owners were expecting a lap dog.  Well, surprise! Not. Soooo, we began the Session with the "Innate Make up of a Dog" teaching time so I could help them understand what made this little guy tick and how to be the Pack Leader and not the followers that Rocko had inadvertently turned them into.  He did very well on the Structured Walk and I was impressed when Jake suggested that he get his bike out and let Rocko run along beside him.  I showed him how to safely do that and Rocko picked up on it immediately, loving every step of the way.

Once inside again, we worked on corrective and preventative measures to take to eradicate the unwanted behaviors that Rocko was presenting, primarily  demanding their attention in annoying and destructive ways.  They needed to be very consistent in persevering with the Obedience Commands.  I left them with everything they needed to make it work.  

I want to make it clear that when a Dog Behaviorist or Trainer is called in to straighten out a difficult canine situation in the home it is up to the OWNERS to make it work for the long haul.  We, as professionals, can guarantee that when we are there carrying out our assignment, that it will be excellent and we will accomplish our mission.  The final outcome is in the hands of the owners to be the responsible party to carry out the protocol that was taught and left for them.  Aside from the Curriculum, the outline and the Resource Packet that I leave with them, I make myself available to the owners for trouble shooting for the lifetime of an adult dog or up to 1 year for a puppy so they never have to feel alone in the journey.

(This portion written by Candiss)

The Pederson's called me out for an overbearing Lab-Dane mix named Casper who primarily belonged to their daughter, Alecia, a soft energy young woman.  There was also a new addition to the family...a nervous, fear aggressive Cocker Spaniel named Alphie who had moved in with the family's son, Phil, after they had made the appointment.  There was some acclimating to do there, but I found this family was very focused and dedicated which impressed me and made the session a successful one.  The Structured Walks helped the dogs the most and they calmed down and fell in line readily.  We walked them separately to eliminate as much distraction as possible.  Alphie needed repeated Dominance Positioning  on his side held in restraint by Phil's, hands.  All of this aided us in draining the two dog's nervous, excess energy.  There had been resource guarding on Caspers part towards Alphie, so I showed them how to properly do the feeding time as a Food Event, keeping Alphie in another room for now, so as to avoid an incident.  By the end of the first session, the dogs were both so calm that Casper could hardly hold his eyes open and his head up!

In the Follow Through Through appointment, we did some refining and trouble shooting.  I needed to get Alecia's energy to become more confident and assertive in order to be Casper's Pack Leader/Owner and not perceived by him as a "toy".  When I came in that day, the dogs were quiet and polite as opposed to charging the door and barking aggressively when I came in the first Session. they were also getting along much better.  Alphie was notably more calm and appeared to be adapting well thanks to Phil's overseeing and commitment.  I gave the family directives to do the prescribed work as a team to get the "velcro" off of the dogs from their respective owners and expand to trusting and engaging with the other family members for a more balanced  life.  If this family continues on with the protocol that I set for them, they will enjoy the harmony that they hired me to come out for.  It's all up to them, but they do have Casper's lifetime to contact me via text, phone or email whenever they need me.  A big perk that I add on to my client's list of benefits when they hire me.

Alecia, Phil, Becky and Tom Peterson

Deer Park, WI

(Testimony written by Candiss)

Your help was an absolute gift to our family.

This BHD case was rectified by the basic 5 step protocol that I always follow:

1) The Innate Make up of a Dog Training 

2) The Structured Walk

3 & 4) Behavior problems and their appropriate corrections

5) A Day in the Life of a Dog

The off balance combination of a very calm family and an overbearing dog was the issue here.  Through the above protocol I was able to turn that around.  The Gilbertson’s 2 teens were very polite.  Their daughter, Abby emitted a gentle softness made her a target for Murray to jump up, mouth and hump her.   She treated Abby as a toy.  I needed for Abby to exert calm assertive energy, not run away like she was doing, which only increased the unwanted behavior that Murray was exhibiting.

Changing your energy and authority level is not easy, but this family rose to the occasion fairly well after the 2nd session.  They fulfilled all of my instructions, put daily Structured Walks with a dog backpack on Murray, conducting obedience commands, visits to a pond with friends who had dogs that loved water which enabled Murray to experience water fun, too, rather than be afraid of it.  All of this even transferred over to Murray being a more respectful dog able to travel in the family vehicle with much reduced anxiety and no more nausea.  She even became able to be home alone starting with short periods of the family’s absence and not suffer with great separation anxiety.  

It is quite remarkable how effective just draining your dog’s nervous energy with the Structured Walk, giving them mental challenges  and using your calm assertive energy to set boundaries that you are willing to keep will eradicate most of what they are doing that has been causing you difficulties.

~Candiss

Nova was an unpredictably dog aggressive Great Dane who was being fostered by the Drinkman's, who were considering adopting her.  First I gave the Innate Make Up of a Dog training to the Drinkman's to help them understand why it was important and so effective to use this style of Balanced Training.  This was followed by The Structured Walk activity, going in and out of the door first and a Dominance Ritual that was necessary while we were about 3 blocks away from home.  We found that Nova was so easily distracted that we needed to keep her closer to home for the first session of walking.  

As the day progressed she was doing so well that I was able to get her to make friends with the vacuum cleaner.  She had been displaying severe fear aggression towards it whenever it was being used.  I instructed them to conduct the Food Events right next to the vacuum cleaner, so that Nova could make a connection with it as a pleasurable one. They marveled that we could accomplish all of this in one day. I was able to get Nova to exhibit respect to the cat.  I also taught the Drinkman's how to challenge Nova’s mind with use of having her use a dog back pack and games that would enable her to utilize her intelligence as well as create mental draining of nervous energy.

On Session II we reviewed, refined the established protocol and got Nova walking amicably with a neighbor dog that she had been at odds with.  The neighbor dog, also named Nova, was territorial and as a result somewhat aggressive.  I had both owners walk their respective dogs on either side of the road in the same direction so they could get the feel of being a “Pack”.  Then we slowly walked them closer to each other.  With the exception of one short lived scuffle, they actually did well and could become friends if the owners continue these walks.

I told the Drinkman's that they would do well to adopt Nova.  She had wonderful potential for being a permanent part of their  family.  Since they had had the BHD sessions under their belts, I couldn’t think of anyone but them for her permanent owners.  Mission accomplished!

After much discussion with the Robertson’s I realized that Beau, a generally mellow dog, did not do well with a lot of external stimulation and activity around him. He was a more withdrawn dog and was exclusively Bob’s dog for bird hunting purposes, which put more focus on his breed than the animal/dog part of him. This kept him from being a “regular” dog as he grew up.

It was beautiful to see this transformation as the Richardson's completed both the 1st and 2nd session. I had a phone session with Patti the following day and soothed her fears as I described the dynamics behind Beau’s behavior, why things happened the way they did and how to avoid another incident in the future. We even made some video clips of the training and sent them to Bob’s daughter whose dogs are often at their house. There is much hope for a restoration of family ties once again.

~Candiss

Matchmakers Service: 

After a lengthy Phone Consult, followed up by a few more, Chris and I went out on a Saturday to a pet shop that he had found a couple of puppies that he wanted to visit with. I had coached him on how to make introductions without the high pitched excitable behavior towards the puppy. We were lead to an area for the meet and greet and I went in first to demonstrate how to do it. Then Chris came in with the pup and I and I eventually let myself out and observed. He did very well. The puppy, a Pomeranian, had very low energy, which was what we were looking for for Chris. After plenty of time to be sure, he decided that this pup was his and purchased some necessary items along with the pup, whom he named Shiro.

As it turned out the store had sold him a sick puppy, which explained the low energy. I had no way of knowing that there was an illness as they had presented us with a clean bill of health from a recent vet check. After several trips to the vet, Shiro, made it through and became a robust ball of energy and fluffy fur.

After a couple of training sessions via Zoom calls, I came out for the rest of our appointment a few months later and we set up a good plan/protocol that would help get Shiro in check and allow Chris to do his studies so he could graduate from University St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. We established the Structured Walk which Shiro loved and did well at. I showed Chris how to utilized the dog park at his apartment so he wouldn’t have to be nervous about interactions with other dogs they would inevitably meet there. We established boundaries and how to keep them in the apartment giving Shiro the physical and mental draining he needed to be a more calm/balanced dog. Chris had even set up an indoor agility set that he was in the process of training Shiro how to use.
I admire Chris’ willingness to learn from me and do what it takes to raise his dog properly. The same to Shiro for responding like a hero!

~Candiss

The Jacobson's were willing to learn and knew that they had to do what it takes for the situation to improve and be able to keep their high energy recently rescued dog, Vera who had showed aggression to visitors coming up to the house, she was very overbearing and unpolite to the family indoors and she absolutely hated their barn cats and wanted to kill them.  

I got my Papillon,  Lena, as a puppy to be my loveable lapdog, but as time went on she decided to be top dog and I let her.  Her behaviour  became so bad I was thinking I would have to sell her.  She would pull on her leash, sometimes even jerking it out of my hand. She would take food from the little grandkids' hands,  and even worse, she would bite the grandkids.  Lena would not come when I called her. She jumped up on everyone.  She was becoming impossible to live with,  but the last straw was biting the little grandkids.  In desperation I called Candiss.  If Candiss couldn't help,  Lena would have to go.  Our first session was unbelievable.  Lena no longer pulled on her leash, but walks beside me. She stays right beside my when going up the stairs and does not forge ahead, even if off leash. We are working on the "sit, down, stay, come".  But best of all, Lena does not bite the grandkids.  We had one incident where she opened her mouth against one of them, but I  put the bite on her, and there has been nothing since. 

I am amazed!  Candiss gave me hope. I will be able to keep my Lena. 

Thank you, Candiss!

Sandy Falde, Beldenville, WI

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