Ruby came in last week for a 1 week board and train...no, that's not something we usually offer. However her rescuer was told she was "feral" and we weren't sure what her real story was. She needed a good assessment to see how bad she really was and what we were really working with. She knew she had been a property dog for the last 2 years, living outside. So in 1 week, we took this feral (totally not feral) GSD and taught her sit, down, place, implied stay, kennel protocol, threshold protocol, leash manners, gave her a bath, brushed her and introduced her to a dozen new people in a positive manner. Is this normal? Not really. We had a dog who had lived outside and discovered indoor pet life is kind of awesome. She was super eager to please and super eager to work. She obviously wasn't feral, just fearful and undersocialized. We are pretty proud of how far Ruby came in 7 days and are confident that she can be successful and have a very happy confident life.
Iggy took a little field trip to Petsmart today... did she love it? No. Did she look to me for leadership to get her through it? Yep! The more she focuses on the training, the less she worries about the world around her. This is a much more confident dog than the the one who came in a few weeks ago and needed to back herself against a wall to be comfortable enough to sit.
