Daisy testimonial
In the winter of 2009, my husband and I welcomed our dog Daisy into our home. She is a corgi (beagle,hound) mix who I fell in love with immediately after seeing her on an internet dog rescue site. After adopting her, little did I know the work that was ahead of us!
Daisy showed signs of aggressive behavior from the start. She growled and ran after anyone that tried to walk by our property. She was mean to people who knocked on the door. On many occasions she nipped at the heels, ankles or calves of our friends and family. Knowing I needed help, I took her to a six week dog training class. Although it was a nice social time for Daisy, it did not improve her behavior. One day I was walking Daisy on the rail trail when she slipped her collar, ran after an older lady on a bicycle, and bit her! She bit her hard enough on her calf to draw blood. It was a horrible event. I came home thinking that Daisy was just too much for me to handle. Since I had already gotten attached to her, I was feeling overwhelmed and didn’t know which way to turn.
In steps Kyle! I heard about him from the workers at Emmanuel’s Pet Agree store in Stone Ridge. My husband and I set up our first appointment and anxiously took Daisy to training. Right away Kyle worked on bonding with our dog. He set limits and expectations not only for Daisy, but for us as well, right from the start. We started with the basic obedience commands and practiced our new way of handling Daisy. Kyle was great in explaining why Daisy behaves the way she does, how to correct it, and how to reinforce the new behavior with praise, not rewards. He was very clear in demonstrating to us exactly how to do each new idea. Then it was up to us to practice each new concept with her. When we got in the car to go home after our first session I remember feeling a sense of relief. With Kyle’s help we were going to be able to help Daisy become a better dog!
We worked with Kyle for several months. I even went out and bought his book Stay. Come. Heel. Every time. to reinforce everything that he taught us. The thing I learned the most in working with Kyle is that it’s really not that much about the dog, it’s about the owner. With Kyle’s help we were able to get Daisy to the point of sitting quietly in the kitchen when guests arrived, walking on a leash without pulling and over all just being a calmer, nicer dog. We can’t imagine our home without Daisy and thanks to Kyle and his fantastic training methods, we are a much happier family.
-Kay Sutka
Stone Ridge, NY
