Ginger is a mixed breed dog of German Shepherd, Rottweiler, Doberman, and Pit-bull lineage. I know it’s quite the handle full of dog breeds to be mixed but she has turned into one of the most affectionate and loving dogs we have ever known. Cuddle Monkey is an appropriate nickname.
Initially, when my wife and I adopted Ginger, she had a natural tendency to react to most situations with fear and some anxiety. Most of the time she would have her tail tucked between her legs and would never allow any stranger to touch her. It was something we assumed would improve over time and disappear as she got older. However, that was a false assumption and as our time together grew so did her fear of strangers and other dogs. Going on walks became an exercise in patience as Ginger would spend most of our walks barking and whimpering and we were left with trying to take walks whenever we thought strangers and other dogs would be at a minimum. We finally decided to get some help once Ginger started displaying some fear aggression. Taking into consideration the 4 breeds that are in her genetic makeup, we started to think that maybe adopting this dog was a mistake and were now fearful that we might get into a situation where she could bite someone.
Enter Olive Pearce and Doggy Do’s & Don’ts. By far the best decision we have made regarding the health and well being of our dog was to enlist the help of Olive. You can imagine the relief and elation we felt of seeing our dog improve almost immediately once training began. With some very simple, very basic, and very easy to follow lessons that strike at the heart and instinct of a dog’s psyche, Ginger started improving after our first lesson. She started to learn her place in our pack. It was unbelievable to be honest. We were flabbergasted and incredibly relieved to know that we could move forward with Ginger in a way that would allow us to help her overcome her issues and fears. As Olive says, “we now have a toolbox for dealing with any situation.” You definitely need to put the work in with your dog as the lessons themselves are really about teaching YOU how to behave. But the simplicity of the training and the ability of Ginger to absorb the lessons was surprising and incredibly rewarding.
Today, Ginger is a fun, loving and very social dog. We have absolutely no worries regarding Ginger’s behaviour around other dogs or people. In fact, most of the time we now have to watch her because her true puppy nature has been realised and she is usually overcome with excitement whenever we head out to the dog park. Playing has now become Ginger’s new identity. This dog loves, LOVES, to play, and chase, and run, and play some more. This is all the result of Olive’s extensive knowledge and the application of her lessons.
On a more personal note, working with Olive has been incredibly easy. It never feels like we have a weekly session with a dog trainer. Instead, we would say working with Olive feels more like hanging out with an old friend. Most of the sessions are very laid back and social, and the work we do is very easy to follow. We always have unlimited access to Olive whenever we need advice or guidance. And everyday we met and expressed a new concern; Olive always had a solution at the tip of her tongue. It’s been really impressive to see that any situation we found ourselves in, Olive had an immediate and impactful solution ready for us to implement.
We would 100% endorse and recommend Olive and Doggy Do’s & Don’ts to anyone needing help training their dog. But as we usually joke, Olive doesn’t train dogs, she trains people. And we can say with confidence, we passed with flying colours…
Sincerely, Craig & Arlene
