benny

"Why did you engage Whidbey Dog Works?

Our veterinarian recommended Chris after our 4 month old, giant breed Landseer ECT began to snap and growl at times, apparently resource guarding with our grandchildren, who live with us. Since Benny's expected adult weight is 165 pounds, it was essential that all of us be able to live safely and work effectively with him; and that he become desensitized to the perfectly normal, but peculiar to a dog, behavior of small children.

Chris was able to teach the whole family- from a 28 pound four year old, to a gangly 13 year old, as well as their parents and grandparents- how to keep everyone safe, and have Benny happily listening to us all.

Was Whidbey Dog Works able to meet your training needs?

Chris's positive approach kept Benny (and his humans) responsive and engaged throughout all training sessions. We have seen a lot of progress toward our training goals of reliable and consistent behaviors, which we can call upon to calm Benny's exuberance and redirect him, even with a lot of distractions.

Some of our needs for Benny, at least for now, can only be met with careful management, and a lot of baby gates; but we feel pretty comfortable with being able to proceed safely with training and with managing the environment.

Chris has the unusual ability to relate to both dogs and people equally well; all six of our human family members felt supported and respected by Chris, and our big puppy (now 110 pounds at 8 months!) would watch Chris leave and his tail would go from happy and wagging to sadly drooping as she went out through the front gate.

It's an ongoing process, but we now have a great foundation, and tools, for continuing to teach this smart and sweet, giant puppy what is acceptable behavior, and what is not.

What feedback would you provide to Whidbey Dog Works?

The written initial assessment, and the session notes and homework, were so very thorough and thoughtful; and extraordinarily helpful in keeping us all consistent in our training practices. There's no way we could do that, with all of us, without the notes to hold in our hands!

• Your humor, and heart, were much appreciated.
• It was very helpful for you to demystify training and dog behavior- "less about the woo-woo" as you put it, and more about knowing exactly what behavior you want and sticking with the steps to get that behavior.
• We VERY much appreciated your generosity with your time! 2 long phone calls; walking to the beach with Benny and Robin; sessions that were as long as was helpful, as opposed to a strict time- really quite remarkable.
• It was so kind of you to loan us your Saint Bernard's head collar! Again, going the extra mile there.

Also we were very impressed that you could be as positive with the wide range of humans in the house, as you were with Benny. This really helped all of us to learn, and enjoy the sessions, as well.

Would you recommend Whidbey Dog Works to others who have dog training needs?

We would (and do!) unconditionally recommend Chris to anyone who needs assistance with training their dog. The stakes were high for us; and we definitely needed to commit to working hard with our dog, in order to keep him in this multigenerational household. "

- R & C