Koda is a big boy who had a lot of difficulty with anything new in his environment. He startled easily and his go-to behaviors were barking, lunging, chasing and biting.
He was extremely wary of strangers but even more problematic, he had become reactive to his male guardian who has started experiencing age-related issues with speech, movement and walking.
All the changed sounds and motions his male guardian made meant that Koda was now charging at him and creating many unsafe situations. In fact, he had to be crated because his human putting on a jacket to leave the home would trigger a full attack from Koda.
We worked on Koda's sense of safety, built his calmness and self-regulation skills and this is the beautiful video I got. Koda bounding happily amidst the Fall leaves 🍂 and carefully approaching his guardian and positioning himself perfectly for some scratches. The joy he now feels around his guardian instead of fear and panic took months to build and the rewards are so great in the improved relationship he now shares with the family.
Team Koda has done a fantastic job and these results were achieved with kindness, fun and play. No tools (pinch, prong, choke, electronic collars) or techniques that cause pain, fear, discomfort or intimidation were used.
I am in California and Koda's family is on the East Coast. I've never met any of them in person. Koda's progress is a result of a solid training plan based on play and his family's dedication.
There is a misconception I hear often that "strong-willed", "powerful" breeds with prey drive or chasing behavior need "strong leadership" which is a euphemism for heavy-handed punishment training which includes the use of electronic collars, prong, pinch or choke collars, some form of physical control or discomfort or pain, without which the dog won't listen.
This is my dog who is learning to come away from things he wants to chase. The cat is bold and continues taunting him. Even with his trigger fully present, with his brain in high arousal, with no way for me to physically control this dog, he makes the choice to come away with me instead of continuing his argument with the cat.
This is because we have built those skills of disengagement and thinking through things even when in high arousal first, and I have a strong relationship with him. No tools needed, just games, fun, food and toys! If you can reach your dog's mind and teach him to regulate his emotions, you won't need physical coercion. It's that simple.
Sammy is a former resource guarder. He guarded food, treats, toys, his bed and spaces in the home. This meant that no one could move freely in the home and he spent a lot of time in his pen.
Outside the pen, he used to be anxious, hyper vigilant and bit family members 4-5 times a week. All his family wanted was for him to relax and spend time with them so they could love on him. But he was a bundle of barking, lunging and nerves, unable to settle outside his pen.
After multiple trainers and a veterinary behaviorist and hardly any progress, it would have been easy to give up, but his family continued looking for a kind solution. They found me and here is where we are after a few months of work.
Sammy is playing with a cardboard tube filled with food that he's later going to have fun shredding. He's tossing it around and having fun. Coincidentally, this was happening while his guardians were in their Zoom session with me.
No more fear of losing his precious food toy, no more anxiety, no more resource guarding. Just joy, fun and relaxation.
In other sessions, Sammy has chosen to lie between his guardians, something they had dreamed about but never thought possible.
Only kindness, fun, food, games and toys were used to achieve this result. No pain, punishment, prong/choke/shock collars or methods that would cause fear, intimidation or suppression of behaviors were used. Sammy and family live in Pennsylvania, I am based in California. All sessions were online, I have never been in the same room as Sammy.
A sound understanding of dog behavior, a good training plan and dedicated guardians mean a happy, calm, relaxed dog who has stopped biting and resource guarding.
Sammy came to me with severe resource guarding issues. He resource guarded food, his bed and spaces that he associated with food. He would run up and bite family members when they moved into areas that he considered important which included the kitchen, dining and living room. No one in the home could relax around him so he spent a lot of time in his pen.
His guardians describe the "miracle" they are witnessing with Sammy relaxing and not feeling the need to resource guard and them being able to enjoy his company for the first time.
Sammy and his family are on the East Coast, DoggEd is on the West Coast. Like most dogs I work with, I will never meet Sammy or be in the same room as him. All training was done over video conferencing. A good training plan and dedicated guardians have turned Sammy's and their home life around.
Kodak came to me with several issues but the one that concerned his guardians the most was his resource guarding. He often resource guarded toys from other dogs at the local dog park and that he caused several hairy situations.
Here's Kodak as he's going through my program, doing great as the visiting dog chews on his toy.
In his guardian's words:
"We started working with Mayuri primarily for Kodak’s resource guarding. After playing games for a couple months, I feel that Kodak’s confidence has gone up. Just now, he allowed his friend Kaya to chew on one of his favorite tennis balls for quite a while. He was able to stay calm and when Kaya was done chewing the toy, he took the ball gently and relaxed back on the couch. If this happened last year, the situation would not have been so calm."
I'm so proud of the work these dedicated guardians have done with Kodak. No prong/choke/shock collars or any other techniques that could cause pain, fear, intimidation were used. All of this was achieved with fun, food, toys and play!
This is why I do what I do and LOVE it!
This dog and guardian have struggled for a while getting a harness on. We started with consent behavior training so the dog could opt into wearing the harness. The dog not only caught onto the consent behavior, but he used it to ask for his collar to be put on him as well.
I'm so proud of this dog-guardian team!
Can a dog who's worried about the following things make progress towards becoming a service dog navigating public transportation? My answer was No.
Mango struggled with
❌ Going into her own crate, even with her favorite bed, blanket and treats
❌ Noise sensitivity to the point that any noise startled her and sent her into a barking fit
❌ Worried excessively about strangers and would whine, jump, bark and be unmanageable around new people
❌ Throwing up repeatedly in moving vehicles and whined and shook with fear
It took us time, a year's worth of work, dedicated guardians who followed instructions to a T and a lot of hope. Even though I started this journey with them telling them in no uncertain terms that maybe she would task at home but never become a service dog capable of moving around in public confidently, Mango surpassed all our expectations.
Watch the video to see where we started and where Mango is now.
She has now travelled in cars, flights, trains and buses with zero issues. This is why I love the work I do!
I am going to add this disclaimer below every post about Mango: Does this mean any reactive dog can become a service dog? I do not believe so. Mango's case shows what is possible with guardians that are committed and a dog that was struggling with the human world and needed the right direction. No pain, force, intimidation, or tools like prong / e-collars giving shock, "stim" or vibration, bark collars, pinch or choke collars were used in training Mango. All training was done with kindness, food, toys, games and love.
