Ken’s Comments:
Sometimes I deal with big issues when I visit homes. Other times, I deal with normal routine stuff. The normal routine stuff can be quite frustrating for the owner and while it is generally not complicated to address, requires a lot of pain in the butt work to occur.
Such was the case with Tash and Nova.
Nova was a typical goofy puppy. He had however developed a really bad habit of peeing all over the house, not listening and generally destructive behavior. Tash was at the end of her patience.
I went into the home, met Nova and Tash and devised a plan to help Tash deal with Nova’s issues. According to Tash, it worked like a charm. Nova has not had an accident in the house since the one on one. He is currently almost finished basic obedience training and is a rockstar in class. The progress has been amazing to see. The happiness on Tash’s face as she interacts with Nova is beautiful.
This is Nova’s story from Tash
I've always been a dog person, sadly i've never had my own.. until July of this year. Let me tell you a little about my girl Nova.
Nova is my happy go lucky, full of energy loving lab. When Nova first came she slept through the night, had no problems in her kennel. She did great with potty training. She loves people, and other dogs. Everyone told me having a lab would test my patience and I would have tons of " kijiji ad moments ". Initially I couldn't understand what they meant. I took advice from many people who had labs in the past. I didn't think i needed much help considering she was such a walk in the park.
Just a few weeks ago my walk in the park ended. You know all those things people say about labs? Well those things were more than true with my puppy. It was like I had taught her nothing over the previous months. She would not sleep through the night, let alone in her kennel. She developed a hatred for her kennel and sleep. She chewed up everything, ate anything and everything. If it was within reach it was fair game to Nova. Walking her was a complete nightmare. She did not listen to anything.
This became a huge problem when she ate a part of her toy. She ended up staying overnight at the emergency vet clinic. Thankfully she passed the toy on her own and within 2 days was able to return home and back to her normal behaviours. This dog mama was sadly mistaken.
Novas behaviour continued to get worse and worse, I had tried everything to get her back on track with her potty training, and chewing. I tried almost everything possible to deter her from the constant barking. I was guilty of having a kijiji moment at this point and needed reinforcements. I had my hands full!!
I sent Ken an email and set up a one on one session. I needed some training advice. Ken came to my home and we went over all Nova’s issues. Anyone who's had a one on one session knows how it works. By the end of it i had my work cut out for me. With very little patience left i started retraining Nova from scratch.
We started that day and within 24 hours i noticed a huge change in Nova’s behaviour. She wasn't peeing in the house near as much. She was responding to not only old commands like " sit " but she was responding very well to " off “ and " come ".
I started taking nova to daycare a few times a week. She has done great. They worked with her in the areas she was struggling with.
She is also enrolled in obedience classes and is doing great.
I can't thank Ken Reid enough for the advice he's given me. Nova is not where she needs to be as far as training goes yet but she has come a long way. I will continue to work with Nova in the months to come to continue the progress she's made.
This isn't only Nova’s success story, it's Kens as well.
We wouldn't be where we are without his guidance.
