Dave,

     I presented to you my 6 month, golden retriever, Champ, completely raw.    He had nothing but puppy destructive skills.   The two weeks he spent with you have changed his life and my family's lives forever.   I have more  peace of mind and have total respect for owning a trained dog.   He can go anywhere without putting any type of stress on me.   He traveled quietly in my car for 4 hours to visit my son at college in Vermont.   He slept with us in an unfamiliar hotel room and never acted up or barked.   He stayed in a down position on Church Street while we sat outside at a restaurant.   I also take him into a busy dog park daily.   He has a mutual respect for and calmness to other dogs and their owners.   He has never chewed anything that isn't his in our home.   Ever since he was trained by you, he hasn't dug anymore holes in the backyard.   At 8 months, he passed the CGC Test with flying colors..   We go into Hospice twice a week spending up to two hours at a time. He is very gentle and loving.  Your training has taught him not to be spooked by wheel chairs or walkers. He had a glance at the in-house cat for the first time during hospice.   Although curious, he stayed in his down position doing his job.   When commanded, Champ will bring himself up on the lap of a person in a wheel chair while putting all of his weight on his back legs as to not put any stress on the person's lap.   Because of the training he has received, he listens and pays attention. At first, I didn't think I could part with him for two weeks but your emails and pictures kept coming in. I would always look forward to viewing these emails.   The pictures of him in a busy shopping mall or various parks made the time go by faster.   I knew you would be training me next.   Then, it was my turn to be trained by you. Working one-on-one with you could have been grueling.   Your expertise and constant focus was directed on my every move and mistake.   It was anything but grueling.   I matured from this and gained more confidence in myself.   Almost a year later, I can always send you an email with a question and you always get back to me swiftly.   Training has been very rewarding.

You are a true blessing to me and every dog and animal owner that you take care of.
Best regards,
Paula

Hi Dave

To Readers,

Our Male Dalmatian Jake began exhibiting dominance at an early age.   He would become agitated when approached directly (face-to-face) by strangers.  He would always challenge other dogs; he would look for other dogs as the first thing out the door in the morning and his body language was always "tense" or "on guard"..  It became an effort for us to have people into the house because we always had to "watch" Jake.  He was unpredictable and if he felt he could dominate another person, he would (e.g. growl, bark aggressively).  If startled, he would react to what had startled him.   We worked with a few dog trainers and behavioral "experts", but the changes and improvements were fleeting.  Within days Jake would return to his "old ways" in spite of our diligently doing what each trainer asked of us. 

Thanks to Dave both Jake and Simone are doing great.   We had five people over for dinner last night.  As these folks arrived off the elevator, both dogs remained in a “place” position.  In fact, they remained in a place position for well over an hour.  After "free time" they went over to the people, sniffed them, and returned to their beds.  For the next 2.5 hrs they stayed sleeping on their beds and never even came into the dining room.   These folks had all seen Simone and Jake pre-training and were quite impressed with the transformation.

This is very different behavior than what they would have done last summer (prior to your training) they have maintained all the basics and advanced in a few things we have done with them in the house e.g. place to their beds immediately upon coming off the elevator, ignoring visitors to a great extent.  Dave is a true professional in his field.

Thank you for helping us with our dogs,

Ann and Tony

Dear Dave,

         Taryn and I wanted to write to you even though words can never explain how  appreciative we both are of all the hard work you put forth with our dog. Roxy, our 16 month old female boxer, came to you with numerous issues that really needed to be addressed if we wanted to enjoy having her in our life. Roxy showed some aggression towards people and other dogs, would never go in her crate without putting up a "huge" fuss, and would pull my fiancé so bad that she could no longer take her for walks. This was becoming a big problem around the house and we slowly found out that we no longer had control and needed assistance from a professional. After searching on the internet for days, we came across Dave's website and were floored by the great write-ups from others that were in a similar spot like us. We gave Dave a call and right off the bat  we knew this was the route we were going to travel down. Even though we lived about 40 minutes away, distance did not even play a part since we really needed a fix for our problems. Roxy was dropped off for 2 weeks, but we did get the chance to come down to his facility a couple times to work with the new techniques that had to be set once we got back home. I can't even tell you how much we have learned from this experience with Dave and how we now enjoy taking Roxy to the park. Once she arrived home we felt like we took the wrong dog. She would go to her "place", walk right into her crate, sit, stay,and lay down all on command. The most important part is that Roxy now view's us as the alpha and respects both Taryn and I at the same time as the leaders. We both take her for daily walks and she will follow right beside us without pulling. This is the best investment we made and created a stronger bond between us and our dog.

Thanks Dave!!     

John & Taryn

Dear Dave,

I could hardly believe my eyes when I drove up and saw Luke standing next to you in the heel position with the leash lying on the ground! I was literally stunned that so much progress had occurred after only one week. And Luke has another week to go.

In my family’s session in the training area, I was heartened by Luke going on command to his “place.” Then walking him in the heel position where every time I stopped, Luke stopped and sat …. What a miracle!

I don’t have any idea how you have been able to get through to Luke, but I can’t wait to get him back home and see him behave, unlike how it was before he came there. Thank you for your efforts. Clearly, it’s worked.

 Paul

Hi Dave -

Cobra is now 10 months old and I AM SO THRILLED WITH HER !!!!!!!!    Thank god I hung in there.   We are best buddy's and I AM her JOB!   She is so loving and intense to please.  She takes direction very well and responds easily to her commands!    She's excellent on recall and we hike daily in the woods together.  When coming across someone else on the trail......  she stops and looks at me, then barks, fiercely, until I call her to my side.  A wonderful feeling to be so protected.  Not to mention she provides fabulous companionship.

Cobra is beautiful and she now is a wonderful burnt toast color.  Her markings are great, right down to the little blaze of white on her chest.   I keep her very socialized to children (she adores my granddaughter who is almost 5) and to other dogs we know are "safe" to interact with.

Can't say anything other than praise!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for a beautiful and wonderful animal with such a great temperament.  She's everything you said she could be.

Sincerely,
Leena Newcomb   
 

Hi Dave!

Just wanted to give you an update on Soli.  Its remarkable, she is a completely different dog--any of her old bad behavior (which was probably symptomatic of her lack of respect for me) is gone.  No more chewing shoes or any other item she could find, no more getting trash and making a big miss, no more jumping on the furniture, no more begging for food when I am eating, no more running around the apartment and barking at every noise she hears.  She is so calm and besides her walks/exercise outside -- she sits or lays in her bed in the apartment.  

She also has been eating and sleeping in her crate.  I think her sleeping in the crate and "off" were her biggest hurdles.  She is finally sleeping through the night without whining.  And, she is learning the "off" commend --she mostly gets excited when I come home, but now she is not jumping up as much.  As soon as she realizes that she is not supposed to jump, she immediately sits and waits for attention. There is progress there!

As far as with other dogs, Soli is well-behaved outside until a big dog runs at her or gets in her face, which is the only time she might bark.   So I have been keeping a close eye on her and the surroundings to either correct her defensive position and/or to avoid the situation all together.  (Also, I am realizing how most dogs are not well behaved, not that I am an expert or anything!)Also, everyday we do sit/stay, down/stay, and place training.  Here are a few pictures!  

Thanks again for everything, I have learned so much and Soli is such a better and well-behaved dog!  

Lori

Hi Dave

        Ollie has been outstanding.    He has tried to test us all, but quickly responds to the correction.    He has been tested outside a couple of times but has behaved wonderfully!   It is so nice to be able to have him in the house in his place.  He barked at first in the crate but we did not respond to it, so he got over it pretty quickl

Dave,

We wanted to send you this note to tell you how impressed we are with your help in the training of our 2 year old German shepherd, “Conan”.   His improvements over the past year have been greatly appreciated by our family, especially my wife and I.  

We first tried to train him with another trainer, which failed miserably.  We were politely asked to take him elsewhere.  We were out one day and were driving by your house and happen to see the sign posted at the end of your drive way and gave you a call.    

When we first brought Conan to you, he was very unruly, out of control, hard to walk and did not listen to any commands.  After one week with you at the rein, we arrived to pick up Conan, and were pleasantly surprised to find a totally different dog. Conan and I walk every night and it has now become part of our routine, which I look forward to each evening.  He has finally learned his place in our family.  He is a great dog today.   

We just want you and your readers to know how much we appreciate your assistance with our dog.  He is a very special pet in our house, and we all enjoy his companionship very much.

Thank you,

Russell and Carla Wentworth

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Sandi & Dan