In May 2013, my husband and I adopted a 3-6 year old Blue Heeler/Border Collie rescue. Being somewhat misled about the dog’s past, we quickly noticed that she was a resource guarding velcro dog with isolation/separation anxiety who exhibited bad manners, such as air-snapping and soft biting when urged to do something she didn’t want to do. Just prior to finding Michael and his reward-based training techniques, we had a horrific experience with a highly-recommended and well-established boarding “dog school” trainer who, for a month without us realizing it, was using very severe discipline-based techniques that incorporated violent punishment and force, including suspending the dog in the air with a leash to restrict her air supply, muzzling and pinning down by the throat, and shrieking commands in a terrifying growling voice. “This is the kind of dominant aggressive dog that gets euthanized,” was the trainer’s conclusive words to us. To say the least, the experience left us all — humans and dog alike — feeling completely defeated and utterly traumatized. Not wanting to give up on our dog, feeling very responsible for what the trainer did to her, and wanting very much to correct what had gone so awfully wrong, I decided to contact Michael after searching for trainers in Houston who deal with aggressive dogs. Michael’s first promise to us was that we would never again have to use violence or aggression toward our dog. Over the course of 4 home visits supplemented with a significant amount of reading, homework, exercises, and shared journaling, Michael has guided us on fresh path to success. Our dog has been very receptive to the curriculum and has made significant progress. She loves her doggie-human exercises! For the first time since knowing our dog, she now wags her tail and approaches us to demonstrate affection toward us. She is much happier, calmer, trusting and more obedient. Michael is an excellent instructor — he is positive, patient, consistent, skilled, and knowledgable. We are so happy we found him and we highly recommend him to those seeking professional evaluation and everyday tools for creating and continuing a positive relationship with dogs that need special attention. Thank you, Michael, for setting us in the right direction. With your wonderful help, we are more educated and equipped to maintain a happy, healthy and positive relationship with our beautiful pooch who we love so much. Thank you for helping us help our dog!
Houston, TX