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This is Hudson |
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Hudson's owner Andy from Northants sent me a great client review. Here's the unedited version of what Andy wrote about his rehomed dog and their experience with Dogfather dog training. Very readable and funny too. Check out the priceless picture! Just 1m 38s to read..
 "This is Hudson, He came to us around six weeks ago. We adopted him from an excellent local rehoming centre, where he had made quite an impression on the staff. Described as: 'Very friendly, very gentle and very very lively'. I don’t think he had any real training and didn’t know, or was just choosing to ignore, any commands. We started, as I always did, with lots of walks, praise and treats. Just to try and build up trust before trying any real training.
"He settled in very quickly, and started to relax. So we began some very basic training. I am not a dog trainer, so basic is about as good as it gets.
"As you can see in the photo on the right, things did not start well. This was the protest after being left out of a shopping trip - which I found strange as I often feel the same way if someone makes me go shopping!
"The second main problem was when let off the lead, He only had one direction. That was "away", quickly and for about a quarter of a mile! Nothing I did: calling, whistling, shouting, bribing, jumping up and down or waving would have any effect until he had decided the time was right to come back and face the idiot that had been chasing him for the past twenty minutes.
"I had been kidding myself. I soon realised that I hadn’t trained any of my previous dogs. They had learnt from the dogs I already had, they’d just come in and followed the pack. I had just been taking the credit!
Enter 'The Dogfather'...
"I was the one that had to get some training if I was to have any chance of giving Hudson what he needed.
After some research and speaking to a few dog trainers, I came across The Dogfather (or Graeme). After a long phone call, and explaining that it was as much human training as dog, we agreed to meet for a one to one session.
"It was an excellent few hours. We talked about the psychology behind training and what is needed of me to allow Hudson to follow and get the leadership he needed. The insight to how Hudson was thinking made many of his actions completely understandable. Much of what we discussed seemed so obvious when pointed out, as correct answers often are. Nothing suggested was difficult or complicated. But it had to be consistent and the timing had to be right.
"The recall training session was after a few weeks of sticking to the “rules” - and a real corner has been turned. Hudson was never a bad dog, just very excitable and on a bit of a hair trigger. He’s now learning how and when to let that excitement out. How to behave in different situations and how to greet people without bouncing all over them! I have a much greater appreciation of what he needs and how to encourage and reward the progress he is making.
"Thank you Graeme for your help and excellent instruction, and, I’m pleased to say, so far no more cushions have had to be sacrificed to the cause!"
Andy, April 2011
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Graeme Hall MGoDT, 'The Dogfather' is an
independent professional dog trainer and dog behaviour expert based in
Northamptonshire, covering the UK. I'm a Master Dog Trainer with the Guild Of Dog Trainers. I
can come to you wherever you are – and
wherever there is a dog behaviour problem to fix or dog advice
needed. Contact me today!
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