MKE Puppy Pal LLC

This was my first experience with a rescue dog and I had no idea what would happen. After having my new dog for five minutes, she ran away with her leash on, literally ran for an entire week all over Milwaukee. Once I had her back, I worked Justine and miraculously my dog. Karma, can finally trust me and I’m not anxious with her trying to run again. She fully understands « dog talk » and listens to simple commands. Bravo to Justine!

Justine is a miracle worker! She is so knowledgeable about dogs and taught us so much about the hard wirings of dogs, what they do, and why they do it. Her inherent love for animals is very obvious. I brought my 4.5 year old rescue mutt in who I raised from a puppy and had developed severe anxiety. He was becoming reactive on leash and was uncomfortable with any type of change. After five weeks, he is very confident, walks like an angel, and the two of us have built more trust between us than we ever have in our 4 year relationship. I know if I ever have any questions from here she’ll go above and beyond in teaching me what to do. I will absolutely bring any dog I adopt to her in the future!

In early January we decided to add another dog to our family. He was just under a year old, potty trained but had NO other training. He was very hyper, impulsive and nippy.  We thought it would be a good idea to have a trainer to come in to assess him and make sure the interactions between our 9 year old dog and the new guy were appropriate. His interactions with our toddler were also good. Justine requested that both dogs be on leash when she arrived, I assumed this was a personal safety preference. At no point during her hour visit did she allow the dogs off the leashes. Because they were on leash in the house they were very anxious. Her only suggestions for our new dog were more exercise and sock balls to help keep him from nipping. Justine came back the next week and again requested that both dogs remain on leash, although neither dog had showed any aggression or concerning behavior during the prior visit. At this point Justine wanted to go over our options. Option 1- (for the younger dog) For at least 1 year- vigorous exercise 3x a day, exercise until he had no interest in toys. Change to homemade wet food. And tethering him, tethered to a wall unless he was exercising or eating. Option 2- Foster him until he could be rehomed. She explained her point of view as the difference in age between the dogs and that we have a toddler in the house. Frankly, this scared us. We consulted with WHS behavior specialists, Pitbull Advocates of America and had another trainer come to assess (suggested by WHS). All of the other professionals we consulted assured us that they saw NO CAUSE FOR CONCERN! The second in home assessment with the new trainer was 3 hours, no leashes and lots of great advice. ALL OF THE OTHER PROFESSIONALS HAD GREAT CONCERN about Justine's advise. It has been 3 months since Justine's assessment and we are happy that we did not rehome this beautiful boy. He needs more training but is progressing well. And has NEVER BEEN TETHERED TO A WALL!