FirstBark
Our 4 year old Westie, Lincoln, had displayed very anxious and reactive behavior which began when he was around 4 months old. After enjoying 17 years with our first Westie, and loving this intelligent breed, we decided to get Lincoln. We did all the same things to train Lincoln, …Read full reviewClose full review
Our 4 year old Westie, Lincoln, had displayed very anxious and reactive behavior which began when he was around 4 months old. After enjoying 17 years with our first Westie, and loving this intelligent breed, we decided to get Lincoln. We did all the same things to train Lincoln, including crate training, socializing, etc., to ensure we had a well adjusted, obedient and friendly dog. But unfortunately, Lincoln struggled with anxiety which caused high energy reactivity that we could not handle on our own. After trying everything in the book, we decided to hire two separate, local trainers (not OLK9) to help with our puppy’s anxiety and reactivity. Unfortunately, neither of these trainers were able to help us or Lincoln control this behavior. Lincoln would aggressively bark at anyone walking by our house with a dog, fire engine sirens, garbage trucks, delivery drivers, skateboarders, or anyone coming to our door. (We live on a corner in a downtown neighborhood.) Lincoln also would react terribly to certain dogs we would pass on our daily walks. We found ourselves avoiding other dogs, by turning and going in a different direction, to circumvent an embarrassing interaction. Close friends of ours experienced the successful results of OLK9’s training, with their 5 month old Goldendoodle, and strongly encouraged us to enroll Lincoln in their two week board and train with Denise. Although somewhat apprehensive due to our unsuccessful training experiences and knowing we were going to be separated from Lincoln for two weeks, we knew this was the best thing we could do for him. Denise promised to keep us “over informed” and within hours of dropping Lincoln off, we received the first video of Lincoln happily exploring Denise‘s backyard. This immediately put our hearts and minds at ease. She continued to send us videos each day including commentary which explained her training techniques while analyzing his behavior and interaction with other dogs. We anxiously awaited the next video of Lincoln‘s progress. Now that we have had Lincoln home for almost 6 weeks, we can honestly say we are absolutely amazed at how well Lincoln is doing. Denise put in all the work and with our diligence and consistency we were able to transfer all of his training to our home environment. He no longer barks at sirens, other barking dogs or neighbors/dogs walking by. When a delivery comes and he starts to bark, we simply ask him to get on “PLACE” and he immediately calms down and barely makes a peep. Garbage day is no longer a nightmare for us as Lincoln now goes to “PLACE” and calmly stays there until the garbage trucks have passed. We love our walks and now we find ourselves looking for the opportunity to pass other dogs (instead of avoiding them) while we watch Lincoln confidently walk in “HEEL” without any reaction at all. This is amazing to us and anyone who knows Lincoln. He still wants to be protective in his yard, but we simply ask him to go to “PLACE” and he becomes calm and collected. Lincoln is overall a much happier dog thanks to Denise and her training. She is always happy to answer any questions and offer continual advice and reassurance. We cannot express enough how Denise and OLK9’s two week board and train have changed our lives.