KELSAY'S K9 - Training Through Leadership & Love
All Dogs Deserve A Chance!
Just over a year ago, my boyfriend and I adopted a 5 year old 110 pound lab from a neglectful home. Part of the neglect our boy "Skip" endured was having never been walked on a leash! Whenever we would prepare to go for a walk Skip would become almost neurotic with excitement making it next to impossible to even get him on leash let alone have a productive walk. By the time we would get outside he would be so overwhelmed with excitement it was as if we didn't exist. He would continually pull on the leash regardless of what type of collar we used. You can imagine what an exhausting challenge this was given Skip's large size! Despite our best efforts in working with him over the last year, we were unsuccessful in changing this behavior and had almost given up hope of ever being able to take Skip for walks. After just one session with Anna Kelsay from Kelsay's K9, Skip was happily walking on leash with no tension. I could literally drop the leash and have him walk beside me! Anna was able to find what motivated Skip and show us how to break down the process of getting ready to go on a walk into "baby steps" while continually motivating Skip so that the overwhelming excited energy was no longer a problem. We will most definitely need to continue to work with Skip, but thanks to Anna we now have the tools to be successful! ~Chelsea D. Wood~
Chelsea with Skip & Mocha
Diesel's Story:
Diesel’s first day of obedience class was, well, a very traumatic event for him. He was absolutely terrified, shaking from head to toe and stayed that way for the entire class. Dogs explore their environment by smelling and associating those smells with what’s going on around them, but Diesel wouldn’t use his nose and would go immediately into “attack mode” always feeling the need to protect himself. The plan to rehabilitate Diesel was to let him know that his owners, Rudy & Pamela, i.e. pack leaders would protect him and that there was no need to be afraid anymore. Pack leadership coupled with a lot of positive reinforcement at the right time, proved to be a successful combination. At first it was tough for Diesel, he growled at every new sound and everything & everyone that came near him, but over the six week course we saw small, but steady changes in his behavior from week to week. Gradually, he began to realize that using his nose to associate with new environments is how a normal dog explores and was able to figure out that the world wasn’t out to get him. Thanks to the dedication of his owners’ hard work in rehabilitating Diesel, he is now happy & well-adjusted and finally, truly enjoying his life as a dog J
Rudy with Diesel & Pamela with Frankie
E-mail From Phoebe's Mom:
Hi Anna!
All I can say is WOW, what an improvement already. Everyone is off the furniture, off the beds, eating on schedule and the barking has come way, way down. Plus, Phoebe really seems to enjoy the bike rides with me. There's nothing greater than bringing her back into the house panting and smiling. She usually takes a quick drink of water and flops down in a cool corner and takes it easy for a few hours. Brought the overall vibe of the house down to a nice mellow. We were even able to have dinner without being swarmed by dogs! With such amazing results after just a few days, we can't wait to see what they're like in a couple of weeks. It's definitely going to be a whole different household.
Aloha,
Desiree
Phoebe
