Since September 2016, I have learned so much from various trainers, and from this beautiful dog named Ziva. Although I’ve had other dogs that I have taken through basic obedience classes, I have never experienced anything like the work we have done in these months. It’s been a roller coaster ride, but one that I would not trade for anything.

We adopted Ziva from a rescue group, which had pulled her from a shelter and fostered her for a few weeks. We met her and immediately fell in love with her sweet nature.  But somewhere in her first year of life, she had learned to deal with stressful situations by ramping up the adrenaline, because, hey, adrenaline feels good! This didn’t make her aggressive, it just made her react to new things by getting incredibly wound up. So wound up that she was unmanageable. Thus began our journey to find the right trainer, the right methods, and the right mind set — for her and for us. It has been a remarkable trip so far, and I’m excited at what the future holds for this special girl. We learn new things every day, and I hope we can share some of them with you. What works for one dog may not work for another, so it takes some creativity and persistence to find the right methods and the right trainer for you and your dog. There are many opinions about training methods, but my bottom line is that it must always be pain-free, and never fear based. Respect and learn from your dog, and she will do the same with you.