John K9 Dog Training, Boarding, and Daycare

You guys are the best thank you!!!

Thank you !!!

Amanda - I am sorry Teddy hurt himself during his first lesson. That is obviously never in the plan. That said, the injury to his ear tip was 100% self inflicted and had nothing to do with any action on my part in any normal sense. He is a nervous and impulsive dog and he needs a ton of work behaviorally. We started the lesson with treats, of which he had no interest. Then we put a leash on him and he refused to even walk. Instead, he decided to bite and chew at the leash. I ignored his tantrums and changed directions and surfaces and areas. I got on the ground w him. Moved backwards. Tried food again. Squeaky toys. Basically trying to motivate him to move willingly or participate so I could mark and reward any form of productive effort. But no luck. None at all. Instead, he continued to have an aversive reaction to any type of engagement or control and would lash out at the leash with any movement whatsoever. So we swapped to a leash and collar system to see if I could keep the leash out of his mouth. As we started again, Teddy, anticipated. I hadn’t taken a full step and out came his rehearsed reaction of lashing out and biting the leash again, but this time he caught his own ear tip in the process. He tried extra hard to bite the leash because we had it hooked up differently than he was used to. That is why he reached and twisted and got his own ear in the process. As soon as we saw what happened, I grabbed the saline and rinsed his ear. He had a superficial cut on the end of his right ear - from him biting himself during one of his hissy fits. As we cleaned him up, I offered several solutions to move forward with him to see if we could get a better response, rather than having his tantrum result in rewarding what he wanted, which was quitting. These ideas were quickly dismissed. Ultimately I understand how that situation could make you upset. However, what he did is a perfect example of why you need a trainer for him. He is a liability to himself and others due to his anxiety and unwillingness to problem solve the simplest of tasks. The best course of action would have been to continue the lesson, and find some success after he got through his refusal to do literally anything we asked of him. As far as the refund, we decided to refund the entirety of the program, minus his first lesson. Again, I am sorry he did that to himself, but that does not negate my time spent and equipment wrecked by your dog. Because you decided not to move forward, we refunded the remainder. I wish you the best.

Thank you guys!!!

Tara 😍😍😍