The Scott Family - "Louisa" Shepherd/Malamute Mix
The phrase “no bad dogs, only bad owners” comes to mind for various reasons when I think about my Louisa. She is now 21 months and is a well adjusted dog though a bit excitable at times. She has come a long way because of the fine work of Lisa and her staff at Canine Academy. Louisa got to spend six fun filled weeks at their Off Leash Program and came back a much better dog.
Louisa’s history is a bit lacking. I know when she was born, and I know the day I got her but the in between part is mostly unknown. There times that I would like that knowledge of her early months but I am better off not knowing because she had really bad owners. What I do know is that she was chained to a tree with little or no shelter. Food and water was scarce. So she would not get away, the people had the chain around her neck so tight that it became embedded in her neck. Fortunately, someone had the good sense to call the Michigan Humane Society once winter came. Once MHS got her in to the Detroit facility they found that she was a very sick dog plus being pregnant. She soon became a favorite of the workers and she was there for five weeks of recuperating before being able to be put up for adoption.
This is where I come in. I had lost my last dog a year before. I needed a break after losing three dogs in three years especially since they all had lived into their middle teens. I knew that I would have another rescue dog and I knew the challenges they can pose. I started looking for a training program that would help me with the dog. Lisa was the first one I met and it was a pet show. Spoke with her for a long time about her different programs but the thing that I came away with is that she is not really correcting bad behavior; she is just giving the dog a new set of things to do. I spoke with numerous other trainers and almost always the first question they asked was, “what behavior do you not want the dog to do”. Well, I have been around dogs long enough to know if you correct one bad behavior it is not long before the dog finds another and you are back at the beginning. This is why Lisa’s program is totally different because it trains the dog so that the owner does the thinking and the dog follows. If the dog is not thinking it is not having behavior issues. You do the thinking, the dog follows and the two of you have a fun well adjusted life. The thing that is important is Lisa and her staff create the foundation and it is your responsibility to continuing working with the dog. I had mixed emotions the day I dropped off Louisa for her to start on her adventure but knew it was the right thing. I and others watched her daily on the webcam and believe that for Louisa, it was one big dog party. Today, when we go back for the follow up classes she gets very excited about being back and I think disappointed when we leave that she can not stay. I believe that the Off Leash Program will benefit any dog and if they are a bit more unruly then even more so. Lisa and her staff treat the dogs as if they were their own. I doubt that there is a better program going.
Louisa is living the good life now. There are no chains around her neck, plenty of food and water. She comes to work with me daily where others get to play with her and rub her neck and belly. There is still more work to be done with her training but that is on me. She is a changed dog but she is still the same dog and one that is happy and secure.
I am not enough of a wordsmith to fully express what Lisa and her staff did for both Louisa and me. To say, thank you, is woefully inadequate but it is a start.
Tim Scott