www.barkbuster.ca

Behaviour issues: 

Here is the letter from the clients - and their description of behaviours.
We adopted our dog from the Humane Society in late December. His name is Leo.
He's a 17 months old Lab/Pointer mix. When we first got him, he was having accidents in the house, waking us up at 3am wanting to play or go for a walk, and other behavioural issues such as jumping up on us, barking, and separation anxiety.

Outside of these problems, Leo is a great dog. He is very submissive, affectionate, good with my son, has NEVER exhibited any aggressive behaviour, and is very social and playful with other dogs. We take him to dog parks several times a week and he plays with every dog who is willing.

In the first few weeks, we were able to work through a lot of these issues and also took some training classes. A few of them still remain, and we still need to work on some basic commands, which we haven't enforced enough because we have been so preoccupied with the more serious issue which is his separation anxiety. It is totally out of control. We are unable to leave the house. We have tried many different approaches and nothing seems to work. When left alone, he barks incessantly, and gets very destructive. We initially tried crating him and his anxiety went through the roof and he actually managed to break out of his crate.

I have experience with dogs having been a dog owner most of my life and also having worked for a vet for 4 years. I have a little bit of knowledge in regards to dog behaviour, but I have been unable to work through this problem.

Leo has been with us for 3 months now. I am hopeful that we can resolve this issue and work through whatever other behavioural issues Leo exhibits.
However, my husband, who had never been a dog owner before this and who's understanding of dog behaviour is more limited does not see the light at the end of the tunnel and his tolerance is running out. If this continues, we will be forced to find him another home, which would break my heart.

I really want to do everything I can to resolve this. I know that Leo is a good dog. He just came with a lot of baggage from his previous owners, but with the proper training, he can be an AMAZING pet. I would LOVE to get to that.

I think in-house training is what we need.

Outcome Descriptions: 

With cases that involve seperation anxiety I am always very clear with my clients that success depends on them - I can teach them what they need to do in order to cure their dog's anxiety around their coming/going and leaving but they must stick to the rules.

As noted above Leo had severe seperation anxiety, which became more than apparent when a) i saw the destruction he levelled on a metal crate and b) we did a little seperation test by simply putting him in a seperate room from his pack - he went ballistic.

What was also apparent was his seemingly ferocious door greeting behaviour - Alex had to hold him back while someone else answered the door - he was practically standing on his hind legs while being held by the collar and barking like mad when I first entered their home. Now - once i was in it was also obvious Leo was a sweetheart and not aggressive towards people at all but still a little dominant by being allowed to get away with "rude" behaviour like jumping up. They just had no idea how to correct this without being "physical", and by that I mean using their hands to push him off or grab his collar and pull him off.

I knew that first and foremost we had to cure his seperation anxiety  and then work on behaviour issues or manners, if you will.

Not even a full week into our training and through the families hard work and dedication to following the new rules they helped create for their pack they are making great changes and having amazing success! All members of the pack had to be on board - even their son Liam is helping by being part of the homework scenes and making some sacrifices that were hard for him (like no more Leo in his bed)! But even Liam @ 10 was able to realize what was best for Leo by understanding how dogs think; that these changes were good for Leo because  Leo wouldn't see himself as the leader, having to be in charge and take care of everyone.

We are now also working on leash pulling issues, proper door greetings, recall and will work on more obedience issues over the next few weeks as well as continuing with helping Leo to love his new crate so that this family can finally leave their home for a night out without worry that Leo is trashing the place while they are gone.

Client Comment / Review: 

4/7/2011

We have been working with Lisa @ Bark Busters for only 5 days now, and the results we are seeing are beyond anything we could've expected.

Our dog Leo suffered (notice I did not write "suffers") from severe separation anxiety, to an extent that were not able to leave the house. He also had other undesirable behaviours that we did not know how to address.

Lisa explained to us the situation from the dog's perspective, and equipped us with the knowledge to understand why he was acting the way he was, and the psychology behind a dog thinking he is a leader of the pack in his home. Her in-depth knowledge and understanding of dog behaviour combine with her incredible patience and people skills to work with us has made this such an amazing experience. I can only imagine the progress we will make over the span of 4 or 5 weeks. We look forward to a bright future with Leo as a member (not leader!) of our pack.

Thank so much, Lisa!

and steven's review from my facebook page! thanks to you both for these blushing reviews.

Steven Mann

""

not even finished 1 week of work with Lisa and oh my what a difference! I have a 15 month old Lab/Pointer mix who suffers from tremendous anxiety! As cute and affectionate as he is he was dominating our time and home, he was 'Pack Leader' I emphasize 'Was' :) He was crated months ago only to destroy his metal crate and shred everythin...g within reach. Now? he looks at his crate as an all inclusive sandals resort!!! LOVE'S being in there. It's only missing a beach chair and beef margarita! Lisa is highly skilled, patient, and kind. She understands your individual needs and situation and starts fixing it immediately. Can't say everyone will make the progress we have in such a short time, as all dogs and their problems are so different, but oh my things have gotten so much better so fast! Thanks Lisa, you really are wonderful at what you do.