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Success Stories From Happy Clients
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Maestro Masters Dog Training and So Does Her Owner
Suzanne Goodman describes her dog, Maestro, as an “SPCA pound-puppy turned princess.”
Maestro, a mixed-breed dog, was between 8 and 12 weeks old when Suzanne and her husband, Tony, adopted her. Suzanne immediately enrolled her in Park Cities Obedience School’s Board and Train program.
This intensive two-week overnight dog training program was created for owners who do not have the time, energy or desire to train their own dog in a group dog training class or private dog training lessons. It focuses on all of the basic dog obedience commands with special attention given to the commands that make life more enjoyable: attention to name, sit, down, stay, come when called and walk on a loose leash.
“I’m a firm believer in having a well-trained dog,” says Goodman.
She previously owned a golden retriever and a chocolate lab, both well-trained and bonded to her and each other. A testament to their closeness, they died only a day apart. When the 16-year-old golden retriever had to be put down from vestibular disease, the 12-year-old lab, who had gone with Suzanne many times to visit the older dog at the animal hospital, died the following day.
After she moved to Dallas and married her husband, they cared for his dog until she died at age 15. About a year later, they adopted Maestro.
Judging from both her owners’ past history with animals, there seems little doubt that Maestro will live a long and happy life with the Goodmans. And any behavioral problems were staved off before they could start, when she was enrolled at Park Cities as a puppy.
“Maestro’s a smart dog; she potty-trained within a week,” Goodman boasts. “She is so smart, she’s scary some days!”
So it was no surprise to Suzanne how well-behaved Maestro was when she completed the Board and Train program at Park Cities Obedience School. Yet, she stresses the importance of not just training the dog, but training the owners, too.
After the two-week Board and Train period, the owners come in to train with their dogs, which Suzanne says is crucial. Four follow-up classes are included in the cost of the program.
“The dogs behave differently around their owners. All the dogs want to go and do their own thing. There are lots of distractions in a group.”
So working with Maestro in the group sessions, they learned how to reinforce her good behaviors and teach her to focus despite the distractions of other people and dogs.
“I had already gone through these steps with my previous dogs. It was time for my husband to be trained.”
The cost of the Board and Train program, which includes the two-week in-kennel program and four follow-up classes, is $875. Households with multiple dogs qualify for discounts.
For Maestro and her family, the dog and owner training worked perfectly. Maestro quickly became a well-trained puppy and a beloved family pet. She’s three-years-old now, and still boards at Park Cities Obedience School when her owners go on vacation or travel, and she occasionally joins her friends for a fun day of play at doggie day care.
“She loves it there,” Suzanne says.
For more information, or to enroll your dog call Park Cities Obedience School at 214-369-7267 or email pcoschool@sbcglobal.net.
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The Board and Train Program: Strengthening Family Bonds
Sometimes, the best opportunity to train your dog is when you go on vacation. You can leave your dog with the dog training experts.
Scott and Blake Barclay-Just decided that the perfect time to enroll their new puppy, Sargeant, in Park Cities Obedience School’s dog “boot camp” Board and Train program was when they were away on a cruise. They also boarded their other dog, Duke, so the two weimaranars could be together.
“They get anxious when they’re not with each other,” Blake says. “They are inseparable.”
Scott and Blake adopted Sargeant, a silver-gray, rambunctious weimaranar pup, when she was almost three-months-old. They talked with the breeder and discovered that weimaranars are prone to anxiety and restlessness, and they need companionship.
As a visual designer working for clients such as Chanel and Gucci, Blake sometimes travels, and Scott is gone often through the day with his job at the Dallas Morning News. So they decided Sargeant needed a playmate.
They adopted Duke, a rescue dog that had already been through two homes, just before he was one year old. He had already been orphaned twice in that short time. His first adoption saw him spending 15 to 16 hours locked up each day. His second owners already had two other dogs, and when fighting broke out, Duke was no longer welcome.
Duke, a blue weimaranar, came to Scott and Blake already well-trained. Sargeant needed a little help.
“She was very hyper, and hard to control around other dogs,” Blake tells us.
She also displayed the typical puppy behavior of excitedly jumping on people; with dogs of the size and strength of weimaranars, that’s a big problem. So Scott and Blake enrolled Sargeant for two weeks in the Park Cities’ Board and Train program, and boarded Duke there during that time as well, because they knew the dogs would be too anxious if separated.
Dogs enrolled in the two-week Board & Train program stay overnight at Park Cities Obedience School. During the day they participate in a training regimen administered by each of the school’s animal behavior experts, and all training is supervised by Phil Marr. The dog training emphasizes quiet commands, showing the dog what is expected and then quickly rewarding a correct response with love and affection. The expert dog trainers use repetition and consistency to shape the dog's behavior until it becomes a habit.
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Helping Dottie the Frightened Dalmatian Embrace the World around Her
Crystal Gray turned to Park Cities Obedience School as a last resort in November of 2007. She didn’t really think anyone could help her or her six-year old Dalmatian, Dottie. Today, she tells people who need help with their pets, “Take them to Park Cities Obedience School. You can’t imagine the miracles they worked on this dog.”
Dottie, a rescue dog that had probably been abused, was four or five months old when Crystal adopted her. Though Dottie bonded with her owner, she remained terribly frightened of other people. Fear made her aggressive with animals and people. She even suffered from stress-related health problems.
As a Senior Vice President – HR of an investment banking firm, Crystal travels frequently. Only close friends and family members tended to Dottie while Crystal was away. “I’d tell them just let her in and out, and feed her. Don’t look at her, don’t touch her.” Crystal’s mother, who’s on the board of an animal shelter, expressed her concern that if something ever happened to Crystal, none of them could handle her dog.
Crystal tried behaviorists, Prozac, and even an obedience class at a big box pet store. But they immediately told her the dog was too aggressive, that they’d have to stand outside the ring, where employees lined chairs around her and Dottie so no other dogs could approach them. Recently divorced, Crystal knew that if things didn’t change, it was going to be difficult to move on in her own life. So after almost 6 years of attempt after failed attempt to help Dottie, she called Park Cities Obedience School.
“I didn’t want to have to give her up. I love her too much,” she tells us now.
She called and explained her situation, and they told her to drop Dottie off for day care. “Nicole just came out and took her. No one else had ever been able to do that.” Still, Crystal was sure before she could get out of the parking lot they’d be running after her. That didn’t happen. “I called later, because I was so sure I’d hear from them, begging me to pick her up right away. When I called, they said everything was fine, she’d already been with other dogs. I couldn’t believe it.”
That day was the beginning of a change in Dottie that most people, including Crystal’s mother, found hard to believe. They all agree, though, that she’s a different dog. Crystal thinks they just have such a way with animals that Dottie sensed it and trusted them. “It’s the socialization that makes the difference,” Crystal says, “and Nicole. Nicole worked with her and did such a wonderful job.”
She even has informed Nicole that Dottie is willed to her, just in case!
Dottie goes to day care about two days a week now. “When we get there, she prances and cries to get out, like a little kid who can’t wait to go play! She’d be traumatized if she didn’t get to go.”
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Teaching a Stubborn Dog New Tricks
Don Crook adopted Minute, a red heeler and hound dog mix, from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals when she was two months old. Minute was a happy, well cared for puppy that became his daughter’s pet. While there were no serious behavioral problems, Minute displayed typical excited puppy behavior.
“She didn’t respond to any commands,” Don says. “When you walked her, she would charge ahead. Normal puppy stuff.”
When Minute was six months old, Don took her to Park Cities Obedience School for the Puppy Kindergarten group classes. The classes meet for an hour, once a week for six weeks, and the owners take part in teaching their puppies basic commands such as sit, stay, how to walk on a leash and to come when called.
The classes also serve to socialize the dogs, and can even help with house training, though Minute was already housetrained when she started the classes. The owner’s participation is key to the success of the training.
“She needed to be trained, and we needed to learn how to train her,” Don says.
The Puppy Kindergarten classes at Park Cities Obedience School helped Don and his daughter understand what they needed to do to teach Minute good behavior. Equally important: it started a routine of spending some time every day training their dog. While Minute’s behavior wasn’t perfect, the classes helped guide her and her owners down the right path. Don laughs and says, “Red heelers are supposed to be pretty stubborn, and Minute is really hard-headed.”
While the puppy classes helped them know what they needed to work on and they did make progress, Don decided to take Minute back to Park Cities Obedience School for group Basic dog obedience classes when Minute was one year old. The classes meet once a week for six weeks, just like the puppy training classes, but they’re designed for an older dog that might be more set in its ways. That seemed to be the key to changing Minute’s behavior.
“Those classes made the big difference. We were able to train her pretty well.”
When asked for his general impression of Park Cities Obedience School, Don is enthusiastic. “They do a great job. They know every dog’s name, they know their personalities. They’re attentive to all the dogs. I’m very happy with the experience.”
Minute is 4 years old now, and still goes to Park Cities Obedience School for doggie day care. With indoor and outdoor play areas that are segregated based on the size and temperament of the dogs, Park Cities Obedience School offers a fun, safe and active place for dogs to spend the day.
“Even if our schedule doesn’t require it I try to take her there at least once a week or every 10 days,” he says. “We take her to a local park where she can play with dogs, but it’s not the same as going to Park Cities Obedience School’s doggie day care and spending the day with all her friends.”
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For Ruby, Long Term Boarding is Fun!
When Cindy Gleason adopted 8-week-old Ruby, a Toy Poodle, she enrolled her in the puppy classes at Park Cities Obedience School.
"It was a beginning. The classes actually taught me, more than her, which I think was the plan."
In January, Cindy began traveling with her job, so she enrolled Ruby in Park Cities Obedience School’s intensive Board and Train Program in which dogs stay a full two weeks – including overnight for training.
"I wanted to take her with me, so I wanted her to be well-behaved in the hotel."
Cindy says that there was some difference in Ruby's behavior after the training, but not a great deal, although she admits not following through with Ruby as well as she should. However, the big breakthrough came when Cindy's job required her to work in an area where there is no doggie day care available and no hotel within a reasonable distance that allows pets. She began boarding Ruby at Park Cities Obedience School during the week while she worked.
"There's a big change in her since she's been boarding regularly. She's good around other dogs, and around children. I think the socialization has really helped her.”
Unlike other kennels and pet boarding facilities, Park Cities Obedience School does not charge extra for overnight guests to take part in play sessions or doggie day care while boarding with us. During the day, boarding dogs have free access to play and interact with their doggie day care friends in one of the many indoor and outdoor play areas at Park Cities Obedience School.
“Before, she was alone all day. I miss her, but I think right now it's working out for the best. She's always had a lot of energy, but she's getting so much play during the week that she's more settled down on the weekends."
Though Cindy doesn't like being without one-year-old Ruby all week, she's glad she has a place like Park Cities Obedience School to take her.
"I feel that they're very good to her. When I pick her up, she's happy to see me, of course, but she's not crazed, as if she's been locked up all day and is grateful to be out! I think she's having a good time there, and she's well cared for. That makes leaving her so much easier."
She also likes that Ruby has had a bath when she picks her up on Fridays, a nice touch that makes her life a little easier. “I'm completely pleased with the service, and the staff. They're just friendly and sweet, and I feel that they all really care about the animals."
For more information, or to enroll your dog, call Park Cities Obedience School at 214-369-7267 or email pcoschool@sbcglobal.net.
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A Good Dog Still Benefits From Day Care
Greg Hustis was a long-time client of Park Cities Obedience School before he adopted Liza, a Whippet and Terrier mix.
"I had gone to Park Cities Obedience School over several years, because I had taken other dogs there. I've known them for a long time."
Greg had been without a dog for a few years, and decided he couldn't stand it anymore, so he went to Operation Kindness last year and adopted Liza when she was about 12 months old.
The first summer he owned her, Greg needed to be gone for three weeks, so he took that opportunity to enroll her in Park Cities Obedience School’s Board and Train Program. In the program, dogs stay for two weeks and are taught basic commands such as sit, stay, down, how to come when called, and other good, safe behaviors.
"She’s a good girl. She was already well-behaved, but training is always a good idea, and since I was going to be gone it was a convenient time to do it."
Dogs enrolled in Park Cities Obedience School’s Board and Train Program stay overnight as part of the intensive training. During the day they participate in a training regimen administered by each of the school’s animal behavior experts, all under the supervision of Phil Marr.
The training philosophy of Park Cities Obedience School is to emphasize quiet commands, showing the dog what is expected and then quickly rewarding a correct response. By using repetition and consistency, the training shapes the dog's behavior until it becomes a habit.
Greg is Liza's third owner, and says that when he first adopted her, she was a little nervous. Aside from the Board and Train Program, Greg took advantage of Park Cities Obedience School’s doggie day care services. Conveniently located for people who live or work in Highland Park, University Park, Downtown, Uptown, North Dallas and Lakewood, Park Cities Obedience School’s doggie day care offers a fun, safe and active place for dogs to spend the day while their owners check off their things-to-do lists.
"I'd leave her for day care and she'd be nervous, which made me nervous. Now she loves it. She's happy when we get there."
Liza, now just over two years old, goes to day care at Park Cities Obedience School about three days a week. Greg is grateful there is a place like Park Cities nearby.
"I like Phil and Deirdre very much, and I like Nicole and the rest of the staff. They have a good crew there. It's a great place. Park Cities makes my life so much easier. It takes away the guilt if I have to leave her, because I know she's taken care of during the day."
For more information, or to enroll your dog, call Park Cities Obedience School at 214-369-7267 or email pcoschool@sbcglobal.net.
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