Stacie Southern
4 years ago
This company is amazing. We found them when we were at a critical point. Our dog had been chronically aggressive with my children, would bark incessantly when in the crate, etc., and his behavior was causing arguments and severe emotion ... See More
This company is amazing. We found them when we were at a critical point. Our dog had been chronically aggressive with my children, would bark incessantly when in the crate, etc., and his behavior was causing arguments and severe emotional conflict within my family. He is a small, ADORABLE dog, but was running my life and the house. We initially hired a private trainer, begging him to help us correct our dog's aggressive behavior with my children. We paid him almost 2K to come to our house once a week for several weeks to train our dog and teach us to train him. But he seemed to only want to teach him how to do tricks and not address his aggression, despite my repeated requests to address the aggression. All that time he/we spent, and his behavior was not addressed, therefore continued. Furthermore, because the trainer used treats, our dog would not even do the "tricks" he was trained to do if we did not have treats handy each time. We were so disappointed and completely defeated, and our dog was still aggressive. No internet videos, Google searches, or advice from friends helped at all. We had to consider breaking our kids' and our own hearts by rehoming our precious dog, we loved so much regardless of his behavior.
I wanted to try one last attempt at getting help, and found Sam Ivy online. From my very first contact with Sam Ivy, they seem to be a completely different experience. I told Brett upfront that if he could not help with our dog's aggression as a priority, that I was not interested. He explained to me that they are specialists in addressing behavior and assured me, they could help. I didn't believe him, but took a leap of faith. Brett connected me to Gina, and every doubt I had was immediately gone by our first session. Not only was she super understanding and tolerant of my less than hopeful attitude, but she began instructing me on how to hold the leash and perform the training within the first 10 minutes of our video call. She watched me and explained every step and answered every question I had, as well as talking me through what to do when my dog was not doing what he was supposed to do.
Before the video calls with Gina, I thought it would be useless and awkward, and was not looking forward to it at all. But the amazing thing that I didn't realize at that time, is that she empowered ME to be the trainer, the one my dog would respect. And because her training did not require treats, my dog's respect and behavior did not change based on if I had treats in my hand or not. Gina encouraged me the entire time, and taught me the techniques I needed to not just improve my dog's behavior, but also how to maintain that in a way that works for my family. She taught me there's no time schedule we have to follow to do certain things at certain times. It can be flexible because she taught me how to make my dog confident and comfortable no matter if he's with me or in his crate when I'm cooking dinner or out at work.
By the third session, Gina had my kids involved in the training also to correct any negative behavior our dog had toward them, even when they were running around his mat acting crazy. I only did a little more than two weeks of video calls with Gina, (she was willing to work with me at 7 p.m., even on weekends), and in those few weeks, my dog and my family are in a completely different state. My son can now hug on my dog or on me, and our dog is lovable and tolerant. I now can spend more time with my husband than with running my dog in and out or trying to keep him nipping at my clothes or hands or from chewing on everything. And my dog is happy and much more relaxed and content. Gina really did change our lives. I refer to her as the "Super Nanny" of dog behavior. If you are looking for help with your dog, and need more than "sit" or "heel" and other basic commands, don't waste your time and money like we did. Go to these guys first. You won't regret it. Thank you so much, Gina, and Sam Ivy K9.