The Ferguson Family - "Duke" Labrador Retriever
The Ferguson Family - "Duke" Labrador Retriever
When we adopted Duke from Leader Dogs for the Blind, we thought we had a great plan. The dog would be a little older, so we would miss the "puppy" stuff. Since he was with Leader Dogs, he would be partially trained. What we had totally forgotten was that he was a two-year old champion bred Labrador. Having trained two dogs from puppies before, we would only need a series of community based dog training classes and we would be set. Well, six weeks into it, after trying choker collars and gentle leader collars, and treats, and cajoling and whatever, Duke was still out of control on a lead.
We had heard about Canine Academy from other folks in the community and entered Duke (and ourselves) into the Beginner Program. Duke (and we) improved so we moved on to Intermediate. While these programs produced phenomenal improvements, there were still concerns about Duke's ongoing aggressiveness when confronting other dogs while on a lead. For Duke's safety and our peace-of-mind, we entered all of us in the Off-Leash Program. While Duke was the primary focus for the first several weeks, we were all involved shortly thereafter and Canine Academy made sure we have constant opportunities for continuing success. While Duke still has his "moments",the training and follow-up has put us in control of those situations resulting in Duke's safety and our peace-of-mind.