Denise Willis Dog Training, LLC

Relish (pit mix) our e-collar/socialization board and train is making some great progress in his reactivity to other dogs!

Working with a la carte board and train Chauncy (husky/shepherd mix). This amazing boy has been giving his owners some trouble with darting after squirrels on their walks.

You can tell by the way he walks, he’s a woman’s man….no time to talk🥰 Kevin (French Bulldog), our socialization board and train has grown so much in his confidence it’s an amazing transformation. Can’t wait to run his final exam this weekend before he goes home🥰

Not me acting like I never trained a dog before while I was leaving Kevin’s (French Bulldog) owner a socialization board and train update over voicemail. When she called me back I told her I was calm now, I was just so stoked at how well Kevin had done🤣 It’s been a bit of a rough week for Kevin in terms of building his confidence and I was on the fence about doing his first outing today but I’m so glad I did! Kevin did amazing! Really proud of how far he’s come in his first week🥰

Bit of a slow start for Kevin (French Bulldog), our socialization board and train. He’s very nervous even on my quiet street. I love his bravery and willingness to rise above even though every fiber in his body wanted to run for home.

I’ve never been so proud of not completed work before🤣 Lulu (French Bulldog) is a ‘a la carte’ board and train. She’s currently in private lessons and with her owners out of town, they opted for a few days of training. Lulu is flighty and can get aggressive when she’s worried about something (which is anything). Her final test was a really nice evening at Patterson Park with all the bells and whistles going on and she was so relaxed! Was it the polished product I wanted? Not even close, but that fact that she was so relaxed and unphased by it all made me so freaking happy….so MISSION ACCOMPLISHED🥰

For today’s lesson, we switched gears to grooming because Brooks (doodle) has a hot spot on his paw from all the rain lately. He’ll bite his owner over his feet, but a little training in the sling goes a long way!

Adventure day for Moxie (Pomeranian mix) our socialization board and train! Today was all about building confidence and handler engagement. This makes for a dog who thinks and doesn’t react. Moxie is doing great as we head into her final week🥰

Moxie (Pomeranian mix) is our newest socialization board and train and we have accomplished a few things in a few days. You’ll notice she’s no longer wearing her harness. That took me a few sessions to get her to relax enough with me touching her and feeling for the clasps. This lil lady has bitten before and I had no interest in testing her thresholds. Small teeth hurt just as much as big teeth. Second thing: we have engaged walking! If you want your dog to listen to you, you must establish a boundary (heel line in this case which is her shoulder in line with my leg) and then have her voluntarily adhere to it (no tight lines). Now we have the foundation of communication, she’s paying more attention to me than the surrounding environment that makes her so nervous. Overall pretty pleased with her first days of progress, especially with her nemesis approaching storm coming and thunder rumbling overhead.

I’ve done private lessons with Disco (mini schnauzer) prior to him coming for a e-collar/socialization board and train. Disco did not like me. He wanted to attack me every time I came over (and pretty much anybody else who dared cross the threshold of his home). While this isn’t unique behavior to Schnauzers, I found with him it was because of a stress response. He was so in the habit of getting triggered that it took his owner *a lot* of time and reps to get him to calm down and that’s just exhausting. I’ve never seen this side of Disco but I am loving it! He’s sweet, relaxed, still a schnauzer and on alert but not ready to red zone at a moments notice. He’s observing not shooting first with apologies after. Can’t wait to show his owner that he can be the sweet guy she swore to me he was but just in private🤣

Heading into the final days of Molly’s (terrier mix) board and train! Some of the big tasks she’s been able to accomplish is hanging out on her dog bed with the distraction of another dog. Molly has an older housemate that she just loved bugging non stop. Since Mookie (mini aussie) has been staying with me while his parents were out of town, they became super besties. Having Molly be able to work around her bestie and still be calm and focused was the goal for during and after the exercise and she did it!

Super proud of these 2 clients! They only met 30 minutes before, both are on private lesson 3 of 4, both dogs are highly reactive. Melo (Australian cattle dog), is new to his owner who is also new to dog ownership. Like your typical cattle dog, Melo is ready to run into any situation, even if it’s not required of him. Baby (chihuahua) is crazy cool with people and an absolute rage machine to other dogs. It’s put her in some pretty dangerous situations and her owners want to make sure that she stops writing checks her mouth can’t cash. For not knowing each other, it’s almost like they are friends🥰