Caring, professional training for dogs and their people.....
“When
I first adopted Daisy Mae, I was overwhelmed by her energy and spirit. I
didn’t understand a whole lot about training a dog and I wasn’t sure how
I was going to manage with this little fireball of a puppy. Anne’s
guidance made it easy. First, we enrolled in Puppy Pre-School, where
Daisy learned to socialize with other puppies while learning some basic
manners. From there, we continued through Intermediate Obedience and, to
my surprise, on through earning Daisy’s Canine Good Citizen Certificate
in less than a year. By gently guiding us through some frustrating
times (also known as adolescence!) Anne gave me the confidence to keep
working hard and have fun with Daisy at the same time. I feel
lucky to have trained with Anne and I’m looking forward to a bright and
happy future with Daisy Mae!”
Rose T, Manville, NJ
“My
pug, Nigel, was 8 years old when I first contacted On Good Behavior. I
was fairly certain that he was too old and not bright enough to be
trained, but I called Anne Macaulay out of desperation. Over the years,
Nigel had developed a habit of attacking my older pug, Venus, who was
now paralyzed and could not defend herself. Whenever I picked Venus up
or prepared her food or whenever Nigel felt frustrated, he ran over to
Venus and bit her. In the past year the problem had gotten worse and now
Nigel was attacking Venus several times a day, often leaving her
bleeding. I would yell “NO!” or chase him around the house in an effort
to get him to stop, but nothing seemed to work.
I was sure that,
after meeting him, Anne would say that he had emotional problems that
would take months to fix if they could be fixed at all. But I was so
worried for Venus’ health that I was willing to try anything. After her
initial evaluation, Anne showed me how to teach Nigel to touch my hand
with his nose in order to get treats. This would, she explained, get him
accustomed to the idea of training and to the idea that in order to be
rewarded he had to exhibit positive behavior.
When she left my
home the first day I was extremely skeptical about Nigel’s ability to
learn even this simple behavior. He was very spoiled and I had never
asked him to do anything for treats. Much to my amazement, within 15
minutes Nigel had learned to touch my hand to get a treat. By his next
lesson he was learning how to sit. And then how to stay. But most
importantly, he was learning that good behavior equaled positive
reinforcement from me.
It has now been only six weeks since Nigel
and I began our once weekly training sessions and Nigel no longer
attacks Venus. Instead, he sits and stays while I am handling Venus or
preparing her food. Not only does he no longer attack Venus, he also
seems happier, as though he prefers to have some self-control. All these
years I thought I was doing the right thing by letting him do whatever
he wanted when, in fact, he really craved a way to deal with his
frustration and excitement. The training with On Good Behavior has given
him that. What I like best about Anne is that she didn’t just
teach me how to get Nigel to do “tricks.” She helped me to understand
where his behavior comes from and how to understand him in order to help
him channel his energy into positive activities. She helped
Nigel become a happier dog and helped me become a much better and
happier dog owner.
Nigel and I have enjoyed the training process
so much and he has done so well at it that I am planning to enroll him
in an intermediate class with On Good Behavior this summer and then in
the Canine Good Citizen class so that he can become a therapy dog. I
can’t believe that the eight-year-old dog I thought was untrainable is
now listening to me and is actually on his way to becoming a therapy
dog.”
Elizabeth S., Princeton, NJ
Postscript: Nigel did go on to earn his Canine Good Citizen certificate. He lived peacefully with Venus until her death and he is now the big brother to Lucille the Pug (CGC) and Ivan the mini-Dachshund.
“Tiki
and I started taking agility classes with On Good Behavior thanks to a
friend’s recommendation that the small classes would give us the
individual attention we needed to progress. Anne is focused on
helping each team succeed and she gives feedback after each activity or
sequence. This kind of structured, systematic approach is just
what a high drive Aussie like Tiki and a newbie handler like me needed
to kick things up to the next level. As a result, when we do something
right it’s no longer a lucky accident, but by design!”
Lori M,
W. Windsor, NJ
“Anne’s
Canine Good Citizenship Class was awesome! Not only did we work with our
own dogs, but week by week we helped each other prepare for all the
sections of the test. Passing the real thing became a breeze.
Anne draws on a wealth of knowledge and personal experience to make
training fun for you and your dog. She keeps up with the latest in dog
training technique and equipment and she's not afraid to take your
input and try something new for the particular needs of you and your
dog. It's great to have that kind of determination and creativity on
your side.
As a timid dog, I thought Dezray would have
problems remaining on stay for a whole three minutes, but the practice
week after week really paid off. I was very proud of her!”
Toshi O., Griggstown, NJ
“Having
a puppy and a new baby at the same time wasn't the best Idea I ever had
but I did the best I could. I used to look at people with their dogs and
wish my dog was as well behaved as that. I would never take her out
because I was always afraid she would run off or I would not be able to
control her. It was like that for 12 years, and then one day she had
trouble standing up, it wasn't long before she was gone. Now when I
think about her I realize that she had so much potential and I did
nothing with it.
A year had gone by and our lives just did not
feel complete so we decided as a family to get a new puppy, we call her
Roxy. I made a promise to myself that her short life will mean something
and that she will be that well behaved dog that other people wish they
had and in order to achieve this I would need help. I called several dog
trainers and Anne was the one I thought was right for me. At first we
had a private lesson to help with just the basics and also things like
the puppy biting on the kids socks and cloths (those puppy teeth are
really sharp on little toes).
Then
we had taken Anne's beginner obedience class and Roxy was well on her
way. I did not want to end her training there so I was very excited when
Anne had her beginner agility class coming up. We had taken the first
class and we learned much more than agility, we learned kennel exercises
and the proper way to reward your dog for a job well done. Anne
not only teaches agility in her class, she also teaches obedience
and gives you the self-confidence that you need to keep going. I
decided not to stop there but to take the next class and so on. It
wasn’t long before I realized that Roxy not only had the knack for
agility but she was having fun and we became a team.
Anne has
inspired me to do more than just have an obedient dog, she has inspired
me to do something with that obedience and to have the courage to lead
my dog out in a field in front of strangers and do agility. I now
realize that the sky’s the limit. Today Roxy and I passed the Bright &
Beautiful Therapy Dog test, now her life will mean more not only to me
and my family but those who need a little companionship in their day.
Thank you Anne, thank you for your professional approach and for
your persistence. Without that I don’t think Roxy and I would’ve ever
come this far.”
Anita Q., Kendall Park, NJ
Postscript: Roxy works regularly with a pet therapy dog group. Her
agility training leads to some great tricks and you can see her here
politely holding a down stay while children practice petting and
grooming her..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BJio0f_Tyw