Wolfman K9 Obedience - References

Don’t take his word for it, see what Mike’s clients are saying about him.

2 January 2010 - Featured Dog - Cody

Recently retired I thought I would get my first dog. I wanted a gentle companion that I could take everywhere with me. The rescue group thought I was a good match for a 10 month old fluffy Cocker Spaniel, given up for chasing and biting children in his previous home. He was so cute, but oh so wild! Within one week he had scared all the children on my street, nipped two neighbours, and terrorised anyone who came into the house. Taking him for a walk was horrible because he lunged and barked at everything. I was really anxious – people thought he was so cute – but if you got too close he would lunge and bite.

The first thing I did was get him neutered thinking that would be the miracle solution. He tried to bite the vet and others in the waiting room at the follow-up appointments. And his aggressive behaviour continued.

The next thing I tried was pockets-full of treats, and lots of walks using a harness and a second collar on a big thick leash to control him.

I started dropping into a leash-free park to hopefully socialize Cody. Cody’s behaviour at the park was to bark incessantly at people and avoid the dogs. As I watched the other owners I was so impressed with their easy way of communicating with their dogs. Here were dogs that listened, obeyed, and had fun with their owners. One Australian Shepherd “Myshka”, owned by Sonia showed me what a great relationship you can have with a well trained dog. Sonia and two other owners had trained their dogs with Mike at Wolfman K9 Obedience. Their endorsement of Mike was enough to send me to meet him.

The first time I met Mike he asked me why I had a “horse lead” on my dog ;-). We discussed the behaviour of Cody and my goals for training. He set me up with my new training equipment and got me started right away. There I was training my dog on the lawn amongst a Rottweiler, a St.Bernard, a Shepherd, a Miniature Pinscher, and several other dogs.

At first I was afraid, I didn’t know what to do, and that my dog was defective. Mike talked to me about fear-aggressive dogs, and especially how to observe dog behaviour. He told me how obedience training would give Cody confidence and a stronger bond with me. At first I couldn’t believe I was going to do all this training without treats, and instead use gentle touch and voice praise. But Mike just asked me to make a commitment of training 2 times a week for ½ hour and put training into practice at home.

At first it was slow going – but after each training session I practiced what Mike had shown me. The sessions on the lawn with other dogs and people were a huge advantage—I was learning by what Mike was saying to me but also by observing Mike work with the other owners. On some commands we moved along quickly, and others needed review and sometimes different approaches. Mike always provided practical solutions for any problems in training. As we progressed through the obedience training Cody and I began to have so much fun. Mike was always happy to see us at training, and used humour and a positive approach in helping us. I really looked forward to our training sessions because I immediately saw results. I also enjoyed the weekly puppy parties where both dogs and owners had fun socializing.

We started our training in October and by April Cody was a confident, obedient dog I’m able to walk off-leash.

I’m continuing to proof Cody’s training by take part in Apparatus at the Wolfman’s, which stimulates Cody mentally and physically. I now take Cody everywhere—on the subway, to children’s parties, he plays with my neighbours, and we have joined a flyball club. As a result of Mike’s training Cody has become a reliable dog with a desire to please me with whatever I ask of him.

Thank you Mike for your continuing support and commitment to excellent dog training.

Liz and Cody