Trouwe Hond K-9

Prior to working with David, Brody, was in charge of me and my husband. He had behavior we wanted to stop, behavior we wanted to alter and behavior we needed to create. 2 weeks of schooling for Brody and three training sessions for us, a new relationship was formed where we are in charge. Brody is a dog with manners. No more barking. He sits and lays down when asked even with situational distractions. Best part he is still a dog and not a robot. He is happy with us in charge and we are much happier. The more we work with Brody, the more enjoyable our walks become. Even other dog walkers remark on how well behaved Brody is. Not sure why we didn't explore this option with previous dogs. Our relationships with our dogs would have been so much better. David is a professional trainer and we are both grateful for his expertise.

After losing our 12-year-old German Shepherd to an aggressive form of cancer last year, we questioned whether we would be able to go through loving and losing another dog again in the future. To our surprise we were contacted by a German Shepherd rescue located in Tennessee just weeks after our dog had passed. There was a 6-month-old Great Pyrenees named Stella they were helping to rehome. She was already in transit to Massachusetts when her would-be adoptive family backed out at the last minute. Should they not find a new family to take her in, she would return to Tennessee and would likely be placed in a shelter. Needless to say, 24 hours later we returned home with a 75 lb ball of fluff who had spent most of her short life tied outside or in a crate. She was fearful, unfamiliar with living indoors, walking on a leash, or playing with toys. The harried research we had done on the Great Pyrenees breed the night before bringing her home did little to boost our confidence. Having raised only retrievers and shepherds in the past, we found ourselves faced with a completely different type of dog- independent, stubborn, and not overly eager to please with the potential to reach over 100 lbs as an adult! Though her goofiness and sweet nature had us falling in love quickly, we also knew she would become more than we could handle as she continued to grow and mature. A quick google search lead us to Trouwe Hond K9 and after reading countless 5-star testimonials we contacted Dave to ask for help. After meeting with Dave for our initial consultation we were both excited and nervous to get started. Where everything we had read online about the Great Pyrenees breed had us believing they were almost impossible to train, Dave assured us there was no dog he was unable to work with. Stella has now completed 2 weeks of intensive training with Dave including 3 interactive training sessions with our family. All I can say is, Dave was absolutely right! The changes we have seen since bringing Stella home have been just amazing. She is calmer and more confident with a clear sense of her role at home and amongst family members. She is even making great strides with our 2 cats, something we never imagined would be possible! We now look forward to going for long walks, playing off leash in the back yard, going to the beach, parks and even to stores like Tractor Supply and Lowes. Stella is well behaved and attentive no matter what the situation and is the happiest we have ever seen her! Dave has given us the knowledge and confidence we were lacking to be the best dog owners we can be and for that we are forever grateful!

Our family went to Dave when we were at our wits end and had tried everything (training, medication, etc). Our dog 2.5 year old dog Bowie loves people, especially strangers (tons of kisses),loves playing ball in the yard and loves morning snuggles. He also guards his food, growls at my kids when they walk by him and gets extremely aggressive when you close his crate door. By aggressive, I mean you can only close it with tongs to avoid getting bit. We can’t have fun toys in the house for him or our other dog. He was attacking our other dog regularly and she was avoiding him at all cost. He had made every member of our house feel uneasy and afraid. It was a terrible place to be. When we met with Dave, we spent hours talking about our list of issues, he evaluated Bowie and we discussed his dominance. To say he is dominant is an understatement. On top of that, he is 70+ lbs and as stubborn as they come. But he’s smart and Dave felt confident that he could train him. During our evaluation we also talked about what we have been doing that contributes to Bowie having the run of the house. We made a plan and I felt hopeful that Bowie wasn’t a lost cause. During Bowies two week training, we also received training on how to handle Bowie, how to work through obedience issues, and the need to continue the work once we got home. Dave has stayed in contact after we took Bowie home and continued to support us when we had challenges. An example is that when get got him home, he was still being reactive to his crate. While he stayed with Dave, he had a larger pen but was still being “crated” of sorts so we were concerned. We went right back to the sadness and the feeling that Bowie would never be ok. Dave came out, witnessed the challenges, worked through it and the encouraged us to get rid of the crate because the door was triggering Bowie and try something new. All is well now and no more reactivity when he goes to bed for the night or when we leave the house. I have spent many days crying because of the challenges with Bowie. I felt alone and with little resources. I don’t feel like that anymore. Dave has been an incredible support through this process. He has seen it all and that brings a lot of comfort to a person who feels their dog can’t be saved.