Mary Beth & Mayday training Success Story
The Situation
The Client:
Mary Beth
Meet Mary Beth & Mayday! Mayday was adopted from a local animal control shelter and about a month after adopting mayday, he began to show warning signs of aggression by barking and growling at anyone he considered a stranger. At almost 90 lbs Mayday was becoming increasingly difficult for Mary Beth to control. In addition to his outbursts Mayday also began chewing on anything he could find and was very active at night whining, pacing and barking.
The Challenge
Any signs of aggression should be handled seriously and with professional dog training assistance. In Mayday’s case his size and breed makes him particularly strong so we needed to get to the source of his issues right away! We needed to observe Mayday in his own home environment to quickly identify any triggers that could help us begin correcting the unwanted behaviors.
The Result
After the 12 week program Mary has reported back that they now have a wonderful, calm dog. However, we didn't get there by accident, it took a careful plan and plenty of practice between Mary Beth and Mayday! We addressed Mayday's night activity by introducing intentional usage of his crate and adding additional exercises before bed. As for Mayday's chewing, we started by introducing clear limitations as to what was his to enjoy and what was not to be chewed. By providing Mayday plenty of unique options he caught on quickly! With any aggression issue it is important to work carefully through them. In Mayday's situation we began by teaching Mayday a specific place to go in the home when guests came over. This would not only provide a control at home but also a system for meeting new people. Once we had successful response in this area, along with weeks of obedience training, we then expanded our training to the families neighborhood and eventually parks and greenway spaces. By the end of the 12 week program we were successfully walking him past dogs and people in all these areas! Mary Beth says that Mayday is now a joy to walk in the neighborhood and he has learned what is appropriate to chew on. In addition Mary Beth has even been able to have friends over without any fear that Mayday would misbehave!