Ken’s Comments:
One of the interesting aspects regarding doing one on one consultations in people’s homes is that you really never know what you are going to face. You walk into one home, you get a bishon that wants to eat you. Walk into another, you get a over excited mastiff.
The sad cases are the dogs I meet with issues rooted in fear. Fear makes any being regardless if they are two, three or four legged, do surprising things. We do not speak dog. Dogs do not speak human. Because of this, there is usually a big break down in communication or as Jean Donaldson calls it, “A Culture Clash”. When you are dealing with a tiny dog, that clash does not seem as big a deal. However, when the dog is 100 pounds plus, it gives one pause. A trainer needs to be sure they are communicating quite clearly.
This was the case when I first met Porscha. She wanted to trust. You could read it in her body language. She just did not know how.
Fortunately she had great owners who were committed to putting the work into her. We began a program that allowed her to build her trust in them, get her desensitized to others and grow in confidence. Confidence did not happen immediately. It took time. Her owners needed to systematically work her through the fears.
The work was especially challeging when balancing jobs, family, the other dogs and new babies. Her owners never gave up though. Once change started happening, it snowballed.
Fast forward a couple of years and Porscha is the amazing dog that was hidden for too long. She has completed training, a couple of one on ones, is a regular on the group dog walks and daycare. Anyone would be hard pressed to tell that there were any issues.
Sooooo…this is Melanie and Porscha’s story from Melanie
OMG you're pregnant! Congratulations!
Now when are you getting rid of your dogs?”
If I had $1 for every time I was asked this during my pregnancy I'd be a millionaire....ok maybe not a millionaire but I'd have like $15-$20 bucks.
I also remember a 20 minute long lecture that I got from one of my customers in my office one day on how I was a irresponsible parent by bringing a child into a home with 3 dogs.
Let me rewind a small bit.
We brought porscha, a part bull mastiff, part English mastiff into our home when she was 9 weeks old. The decision to get a large breed dog wasn't taken lightly. We already had a miniature dachshund and a pug. When she arrived we knew that we had our work cut out for us. She was terrified of everything. We initially chalked it up to her being a puppy and everything being new.
We enrolled her in obedience classes at 4 months old. The first class she tried to eat a Saint Bernard. I left in tears. We kept up with the classes and she got better but was still terrified. She lunged at people, other dogs, cars, fire hydrants... You name it....By now she was getting very big and we knew that we had to take her training to another level. We turned to Ken Reid.
Ken came to our home and laid out the ground work that we needed to turn her into the dog that we wanted and the one that she deserved to be.
We started out with the group walks.
The first walk I was sick to my stomach the entire time. She lunged at a few dogs and a few people. I was so embarrassed but determined not to give up on my baby. As we continued with the walks, she continued to get better and better and less reactive.
We also put her in daycare once a week to socialize her further. The best picture that I ever received was one of my big scary mastiff who doesn't like men cuddled in bed with the daycare owners boyfriend. Melted my heart.
Fast forward to this past year. When I found out that I was pregnant, I got all kinds of questions about what I am going to do with my dogs.... My answer was simple...nothing. They are my fur babies and part of my family and they aren't going anywhere so we are going to teach everyone how to co exist.
We again enlisted the help of Ken Reid to make sure that we knew how to set everyone up for success. It's not just the dogs. We have learned how to read their body language. The dogs know their boundaries and know that they can trust us and that includes our daughter.
Our daughter, at 14 months old also knows her boundaries with the dogs. She is taught to be gentile with them. In return I believe that they are teaching her compassion and unconditional love. They are all perfect together BUT we do not ignore the fact that they are still animals.
We now have baby girl #2 due any day. Some days I question my sanity with having 3 dogs and soon to be 2 kids. It's a crazy household and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Porscha now walks with confidence. Is completely non reactive to anything while walking. Will sit patiently (with a little drool, she is a mastiff after all) waiting for a treat from anyone, children and men included.
Giving up on my girl was never an option. She's work every day but when I see how sweet and gentile that she is with my daughter, it's worth every second.
Ken, I can never thank you enough for helping us bring out the beautiful sweet softy that I knew was behind her tough, scary exterior.
