Helping Pets Behave

Mary was a lifesaver! I raised my dog Darby as part of a service dog organization and he ended up being released for reactivity towards other dogs in close spaces. I adopted him back as my pet into a home with 3 other dogs. It was clear pretty quickly that I was going to need help addressing his behavior before it escalated. In a matter of days and his first few weeks home, he snapped and snarled at each of our other dogs- all of which were seemingly unprovoked (ex. They walked near him, bumped into him or walked behind him). All of this behavior was more severe than I had ever experienced with Darby while previously raising him. My family had been using gates, crates and different rooms in the house to keep Darby separated from the other dogs and they were never left unsupervised. Within a month of my first session with Mary, I was starting to see the old Darby come back. He was beginning to tolerate being in the same room with different dogs and even progressed to being with two of our dogs in the same room. A little over 2 months after first seeing Mary and all of our dogs are living harmoniously. Darby is even choosing to play with the other dogs and lay/sit next to them. Mary thoroughly reviewed Darby’s history, our previous training methods and our current approach to managing the behavior. She shared her wealth of knowledge to help me better understand Darby’s body language, different things we could practice at home and on walks. After our first session, I was more aware of Darby’s body language and better able to intervene before situations escalated to keep all dogs and humans happy. We followed up with her at around the 1.5 month mark where she helped give us some strategies with dog greetings and some fun things to work on going forward. The whole process was and continues to be lots of hard work, but Mary gives you the tools and knowledge to be successful. She helped me better understand the why behind Darby’s behavior which helped me understand him so much better. She’s incredibly responsive for any questions or concerns that come up along the way.

I have been working with Mary since October 2022. I have been so pleased with her responsiveness, her professionalism, and, most of all, her knowledge and effective suggestions. Her suggestions were achievable and doable, and when I noted something that I wasn't going to be able to do, Mary was ready with an alternative suggestion that worked just as well. I'm only irritated that I waited so long to get in touch with a professional; Mary's advice and techniques made a difference right away in the challenges I was having with my cat. Thank you!

We reached out to Mary to help us with our dog's behavioral issues in mid-November of 2022. Our dog, Gus, is an extremely smart, sensitive, and highly active 2-and-a-half-year-old Australian Shepherd. He was exhibiting what Mary helped us identify as fear-based aggression, resulting from a lack of trust stemming from previous training methods and likely genetic predisposition as he has a littermate who also has a bite history. His main issues included barking, lunging, and biting on multiple occasions. Our issues were confined to inside or home (he is not reactive on-leash outside on walks), mostly around the front door of our home with people entering and leaving. He would also lunge at our feet if we tried to sit on the couch and bark at anything and everything passing our home. Mary worked with us to rebuild his trust by completely unraveling our previous training methods which involved corrective tools and rebuilding our foundation through positive reinforcement methods and lots and lots of patience. She taught us how to observe and decode his body language and manage his anxiety in stressful situations. We established a new routine to ensure we are understanding and meeting our highly active dog's needs. This includes more time spent on walks (4-6 miles a day!), more play sessions, and incorporating activities that work his brain. He is also now on a low dose of Reconcile, which has greatly improved his ability to recover after being pushed over his threshold. It was not an overnight fix by any means, but the incremental progress was noticeable week by week as we stuck to the plan. Mary received panicked emails and requests for more sessions to help with new or worsening issues. We met with her both virtually and in person at her facility. Slowly those emails turned from panicked to positive. Since working with Mary, we've hosted family for the holidays, have had friends come over for the evening, and recently took Gus with us to a cabin weekend with 6 other friends, all without incident. Gus still has smaller issues we are working through but I would say there has been a 90-95% reduction in his overall reactivity. Mary's expertise, honesty, and commitment to our success have been invaluable. It is important, though, that you match her commitment and are diligent in applying the plan she prepares for you. It will be frustrating at times and may seem like it gets worse before it gets better, but the payoff is worth it. We know we will have inevitable setbacks, but we feel as though Mary has provided us with the resources and knowledge to work through other issues that come our way. We also know she is available to us as a resource if we ever have questions, and cannot thank her enough for all she has helped us through. I would highly recommend Mary to others who are having behavioral issues with their dogs.