“As much trouble as he may give you, you love your dog. He’s your family. But you’re at your wit’s end, stressed and overwhelmed by issues that are just beyond what you feel you are capable of handling. Maybe you’ve tried, and nothing is working. Maybe you just don’t have time for dealing with this. Maybe you don’t have the money for a trainer.

Think of it this way: What if one of your kids is struggling in math. You do flash cards with him every night. You teach him every tip and trick you can think of. You supervise his homework. But he still is failing. You wouldn’t just throw in the towel; you want your kid to succeed. So what’s the next step? You’d probably hire him a tutor because a tutor has experience in getting through to kids in a different way than you know how. That’s what a trainer is to dogs.

These were my thoughts when I was where you are now. I may not know the specifics of what you are dealing with, but I’ve been there. When I adopted Alfie, we didn’t realize he had behavioral problems. They didn’t manifest until about a year after we adopted him. Our other dog, Remy, was really well behaved and super easy to train, so we had no idea what to do with Alfie. It was the last thing we needed because I was pregnant. I was really nervous about having him in the house with a newborn. He was destructive. He was mouthy. He had some excitement-triggered aggression and reactivity. It was all way more than I thought I could handle and I felt like I had bitten off way more than I could chew. After the baby was born, there were a couple of incidents that had me panicking, and I was in tears thinking that Alfie would have to go back to the rescue. We decided to try a trainer as a last resort and he gave us a whole bunch of different tools for working with Alfie. When it came down to it, we found the time for training Alfie, even though we had a newborn baby–because it was important. Our trainer put us on a payment plan so that we could afford training. It was an incredibly valuable experience: we learned that Remy and Alfie just don’t learn the same way, so the way we were training Alfie (the only way we knew how) was, of course, not working. Alfie is a totally different dog from her and requires different things. We still have Alfie and now that we know how to deal with him (and he knows what we expect from him), he is so much better behaved. It was totally worth it because my heart would break every time I thought of our family without Alfie in it and it would have killed me to return him. Alfie isn’t perfect. We still have issues from time to time, but we now know what to do with him when he misbehaves and he is much more manageable. Give your dog every opportunity to succeed. You are your dog’s entire world, and he’s counting on you.”

“We recently adopted Brice from Response-a-Bull organization (RAB). RAB did a fantastic job in caring and providing a superb professional service in his placement with us. I have not had a dog for over 30 years, and needed training in proper dog handling. I was suggested by RAB to reach out to Misguided Mutts and look into some training. Well, after discussions and sorting out the logistics, one Friday Brice arrived with Rich. Right out of the car, Rich was on top with behavioral training with me and Brice. He showed me how to take a calm and assertive role. He can read the dog in ways I have not seen before and is always a few steps ahead of it (which I think is the key to properly handle a dog). Rich has been here now for couple of times and I am looking forward to seeing him again shortly. Being in MD, he drives all the way from West Chester. Brice and I enjoy great times together due to great work RAB did and awesome training Rich did. Many times, when we sit on the bench and watch the sunset together, I think of Rich and Caitlyn for all their help in making the moment happen. I highly recommend Rich for anyone who is looking for a dog for the first time or not. There is a lot to learn and mostly reinforcing proper behavior. We need folks like Misguided Mutts and RAB who give their lives to such a noble and just cause.”