Scout is the first dog we have as a family if I’m being honest, he’s not what we expected after years of having pets with our parents. Scout was big practically ran our household to the point where we’d retreat to our bedroom when things got too hectic. Even after just one session with Pedro, which was the session where he got to see how severe the case was, we immediately implemented the tips that he gave us to start correcting Scout’s behavior. Things felt weird and foreign because we had an idea of a trainer in our heads but then it was explained to us that Pedro is a *behaviorist*, which meant that he wasn’t just going to teach our dog commands and it would miraculously hit a switch in his brain to change our dog. We had to put in consistent work and effort to make sure we were teaching our dog that it was okay to rely on us. By the 2nd session, Pedro had already seen a difference in the way scout was acting. In conversation, it came up that Scout was probably an 8 of 10 in the difficulty scale but that didn’t deter Pedro, or ourselves.
We had six sessions with A Better Canine 4 U, and each time Pedro came to visit he noticed the growth that our once hard to get through to dog was exhibiting. From barking and snapping nonstop at day one to walking side by side with Pedro (no muzzling) and even sniffing on him like he was one of us, the difference is real.
One of our original concerns was having a dog that was out of control when we decided to start a family— thankfully by session 6, that fear was thrown at the window and up until the very end and during Scout’s final “test” we were given tips on how to help introduce our coming baby to Scout in a seamless transition. This training, or behavior coaching, worked because we were willing to put in the work to get the results that we wanted and I’m so grateful that we stuck to the methods because our home life, and Scout’s quality of life has improved so much as well as the bond that we’ve strengthened with him.