I’m a learn by experience kinda gal. Books and research are paramount to deep study but getting your hands on a difficult dog remains the best way to examine and start to change behavior.

Pictured above is my dog, Blue, an aussie/border/god knows what mix. With 20+ personal dogs and many client dogs in my past, Blue remains the hardest and the BEST dog I could have to continue learning. Everyday is a good challenge. My drastic restructure of his environment in my home was and IS the key to managing his behavior.

History doesn’t really matter; you train the dog in FRONT of you wherever they are at that moment behaviorally. But, to give you a bit of insight on Blue, he was returned to a shelter at 8 weeks. The owner brought him home, his older dog snapped at him and instead of understanding the reasonable correction, he assessed they would never get along. Policy at most animal shelters is that no animal leaves the premises intact, thus Blue was neutered at 9 weeks of age.

Fast forward to him being placed in a dog daycare situation due to a personal injury and slowly I saw some significant changes. Upon investigation I understood that his behavior with other dogs bordered on fear. He wanted to be left alone and in order to achieve that, he learned to use his mouth to ward others off. In addition, being a herder, his genetics contributed to the ease with his decisions. From an easy going, manageable pup, I brought home an unpredictable, skittery, and potentially harmful dog.

The work began. By making significant changes in his home environment with strict boundaries, Blue began to relax and rely on constant patterns and understand that the world wasn’t his alone to navigate. I had and have his back.

Let me help you make those changes in your home with your dog. The litmus test of a balanced dog is socially neutral. Blue may never be that dog I can trust under any circumstances, but now he looks to me with trust to help navigate his world.