"Josie"

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Our dog, Josie, was a semi trained 2 year old Australian Shepherd when we first met Lisa.  She did not walk well on a leash and had a tendency to become very excited upon greeting people.  She would vocalize (we called it her "Whale Song of Joy) and jump up. She also had issues with fearfulness.  She was protective of her food and some toys, particularly with our teenage daughter. 

She became very concerned when people ran in the house or over odd things like my husband and I holding hands.  She would initially bark but if the thing that worried her did not stop she would hide under chairs or beds. These fearful behaviors were increasing over time.  After discussing the situation with Lisa on the phone we decided to enroll in obedience classes.  Josie was extremely anxious in class but her problem behaviors did begin to improve.  My husband and I began to see that the more training Josie was exposed to, and the more new situations, the more happy and content she became. 

We have had Australian Shepherds before.  They are high energy dogs that need stimulation.  Our previous dogs could get what they needed by twice daily Frisbee/ball playtime.  Josie needed the same degree of stimulation but of her mental capacity not her physical capacity.  She is not very interested in fetch. We decided to enroll Josie in the off leash program for two reasons: to accelerate the pace of her training so she would be the kind of doggie citizen we could take everywhere with us thus ensuring intellectual exposure, and also so she would become exposed to many new situations (such as the farm) that we did not have access to and learn not to be overly fearful of new situations. RESULTS: Since Josie has returned to us she has been much less fearful.  When she is fearful her training (such as putting her in her 'place') reassures her that we are in control and she is safe.  I can now take her to any environment where dogs are allowed and know that her behavior will ensure she is welcomed back with open arms.  Her relationship with our daughter is much improved which is a bonus I did not even expect. She is a dog who wants to please and now we have the tools to clearly communicate with her exactly what we want her to do. I am very grateful we had the opportunity to participate in this program and feel the program and the ongoing support has stacked the deck to insure our ongoing success.

- Amy Johnson

"Trapper"

The Lee Family – "Trapper" Shepherd Mix

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We chose our rescue puppy from a litter of four that had been separated from their mother at birth. At three months, he was ten pounds of pure energy. We named him Trapper. Like some puppies do with their siblings, Trapper liked to circle, growl and nip at us. However, as he grew into a muscular seventy-pounder, the circling-growling-nipping behavior became a serious problem. When off the leash, Trapper would not come when called; but, when he felt like it, he would come at us with the circling-growling-nipping. No one was safe from his “attacks”. When on the leash, holding Trapper back was like trying to restrain a locomotive. Both my wife and I had been pulled to the ground by his sudden moves. With bandaged tooth-scrapes and torn clothes, we sought special group and individual training for him. After spending several hundred dollars and many hours, none of these efforts helped Trapper. The prospect of being able to take walks with him on our fifteen acres seemed to fall away; and his future activities seemed to be limited to restraint cables and separation from society. 

Then one day I spoke to Mark at Market Place Pets of Clarkston about Trapper. He said the only person that might be able to help was Lisa at Canine Academy. He knew of other tough cases she had solved. So, after some phone conversation and a thorough personal interview, we handed Trapper over to Lisa and her team at Canine Academy for six weeks of care and training. 

On the first of August, 2009, we were greeted by our new dog, Trapper. Lisa and her friends transferred the training keys to us. Our “new” dog Trapper will walk at our side or on a five foot leash without pulling us. Off the leash, he comes when he is called and no longer circles or growls or nips at us. He walks with us, with or without the leash. He is joy to be around. He sits and lays down on command; and he is socializing with family, friends and neighbors. With the ongoing training for Trapper and us (which is provided by Lisa and her friends at Canine Academy), we are now able to enjoy and treasure the time we have with our great, new dog.

"Turbo"

Evy Bishop– "Turbo"- Olde English Bulldogge

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I had done my homework and picked the breed I thought would best suit our family.  Before the arrival of our pup, I read a few current books on bringing a puppy into the home and establishing boundaries. I made lots of notes and taped them to my fridge and memorized them. I have heard stories of puppies coming into the home and taking over.  I was doing my best to prevent this. By 3 months old, he would retaliate to a “No!” by snarling and leaping at us over and over, leaving our fingers bleeding from his razor sharp puppy teeth.  I tried all the techniques I had learned, but nothing stopped the behavior.  I enrolled Turbo in a local puppy class.  During puppy play time, he tried to dominate every dog there by relentlessly charging and leaping on the other pups and pinning them down.  The instructor quickly lost control of the class and eventually couldn’t allow Turbo to play with the other pups.  This was not play behavior; it was dominating and bullying behavior.  I realized my puppy was unusual. I called a local and highly recommended trainer that comes into the home.  I paid a one time fee that lasts the lifetime of the dog. The trainer seemed intelligent, very competent and did have a short period of success with Turbo.  There was at most 24 hours of success, before Turbo would find a way around each strategy the trainer would come up with.  I was on the phone daily with the trainer. He did make huge efforts to help me, but eventually I quit calling, because he ran out of ideas. Turbo was getting worse.  Turbo soon became a 100 pound missile.  He was still leaping and biting my family and me, dragging me down the street on a pinch collar, attacking and dominating dogs, performing commands only when he felt like it, and running after kids to knock them down. He would even attack us in the car while we were driving him to get ice-cream. I loved the dog and knew that I couldn’t give him away.  If I did, I believed his fate would end up with euthanasia. He was so bad with biting that he would go right into attacking us within 5 minutes of being out of the crate, 90 percent of the time.  I kept trying technique after technique until every darn thing available was exhausted.  I know what it is like to feel hopeless over a dog.  I wanted a dog I could take hiking, walking every day, swimming, strolls through the park, camping, visits to friend’s houses, and trips to pet friendly stores.  I made every effort to give that kind of life to Turbo, but his life became one that was confined to the crate or on the deck, with us letting him out quite often in hopes that “this time he won’t attack us”. Turbo could only walk with my husband holding the leash.  I am a strong woman, but Turbo could pull me to the ground at the sight of a dog, a child or a leaf blowing across the street.  We did make sure he got walked many miles every day, but nothing wore him out. At the end there were times he would so aggressively grab and yank the leash from us, we would be in the street trying to find a way to get him home before he or someone else got hurt.  The day before Canine Academy boot-camp was to begin, we took Turbo for our daily walk.  In front of our house, Turbo snarled and ripped the leash from my husband’s hand.  He was leaping and biting us so fiercely that we had no opportunity to grab the leash back.  We lured him back into the house and left the leash on him until he calmed down enough to take it off.  His play had to be indoors, because his recall was unreliable and I was afraid he’d hurt a child or another dog.  He was so easily distracted that something going on 10 houses down the street would prevent him from hearing his own name spoken or a treat waved in front of his face.  He couldn’t even sit with us while we watched TV or read.  Playtime usually ended quickly, because he’d soon start leaping and biting us.  He was so out of control that he was hurting the whole family with his constant biting.  He didn’t draw blood, but he bit so hard it bruised us. Then I met Lisa from Canine Academy.   She was confident, but I was doubtful that anyone could help Turbo.   I turned Turbo over to Gretchen, Jaime, Staff, Tim and Lisa.  He was in the off-leash camp for 8 ½ weeks.  Turbo being a hard driven dog and having the long history of misbehaving with my family and I, gave me somewhat of a challenge when I took him home.  They have been there for me every step of the way.  The trainers at Canine Academy have changed my life so profoundly; I couldn’t possibly put it into words. I am about 1.5 months into my year of training and I see miracles happening right before my eyes. Now I can walk him in a heel past dogs and people. If the dog that is passing me is rambunctious, I can put Turbo in a down/stay while the dog passes.  I can play with him in my yard, because he comes when I call him.  He can join the family, because he is calm and relaxed.  People come over and he keeps his little behind on the ground while he gets petted. I can “Place” him at dinner time and he stays right there until I release him.  He waits to jump in the car until I give him the “Hup” command. He waits in the car until I tell him “Off”.  I can throw him a toy to fetch and call him to “Come” midway into chasing it, and he will turn right around coming back to me eagerly, before finishing fetching his toy.  I can put him in a down/stay and throw a toy he loves and he will stay in that down/stay until I release him. Instead of frightened stares from people I pass by, they are now commenting on what a well behaved dog I have.    He has become loving to his family and a joy to be around.  Through all of the misbehaver, I never stopped loving Turbo, but now an incredible bond has developed between us.  I am finding such joy in seeing Turbo responding to me.  It is so fun to have a dog that is a pleasure to be around. Things have so vastly improved in the 1.5 months since I brought him home, that I can only imagine what things will be like when I am finished with my 1 year of training.  I am enjoying the process immensely.  Don’t waste your money or time on books, TV shows or any of the other local trainers and classes. Go straight to Canine Academy and get it done right.  You’ll experience jaw dropping moments that you never thought were possible. Once your dog graduates from boot-camp the fun begins.  The trainers are always right there, every step of the way, guiding you to the next level. Thank-you Canine Academy, from the bottom of my heart, Evy

"Rosie"

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I can't believe what an amazing dog I have, and I owe it all to Lisa, the staff and the Canine Academy! 

My wife and I brought home Rosie, our adorable cockapoo, when she was just 7 weeks old. She was our first dog; neither of us had a dog growing up. We instantly fell in love. She was fun, loving and playful. 

Over time, Rosie started to develop a few bad habits, largely due to anxiety. She would bark at strange noises, had separation anxiety when we would leave the house, and would guard certain items, like shoes, paper and pens (and would growl if you tried to take them). She also would bark at the dinner table and beg for food, unless and until we fed her.

For nearly three and a 1/2 years, we lived around Rosie's bad habits and largely ignored them. But, earlier this year, we brought home our first "human" baby, and Rosie's habits couldn't be ignored any longer. She acted out several times, and her guarding got much worse. Her habits got so bad that we even considered giving her away, a thought that just broke our hearts. We tried a couple trainers, but they didn't work out.

Enter Lisa, the staff and the Canine Academy. We dropped off Rosie for her extended overnight stay in the off-leash program. Although we missed her a ton while she was gone, it was the best decision we could have made.  

We now have a truly amazing dog! She comes when called, stays until released, and drops or leaves items when told. We also go off-the-leash at the local park and she lays quietly on her "place" (her mat) while we eat dinner in peace. She was even recently certified as a "Canine Good Citizen" and, during the classes, she amazed the other dog owners with her obedience. The best part of her transformation is that she still has her loving, playful personality. That never left. But now, she obeys our commands, and she's more confident and proud when she makes the right decisions.

We are so happy that Rosie is part of our family and so grateful to Lisa, the staff and the Canine Academy. I highly recommend the Canine Academy to every dog owner! You will be amazed with the results. 
Birmingham, MI

"Rex"

Rex was quite a handful from the day he came into our family at ten weeks. We had already done two types of training with him, and he had gotten better each time, but we still had a dog that had "issues". 
We welcomed our first child into the world in March, and although we were so elated to bring home our new addition, Rex didn't quite feel the same way. Rex showed signs of aggression towards our son and that's when we knew we had a tough decision to make. We were contemplating contacting the Welsh Terrier Rescue because we knew we couldn't live with Rex in his crate 90% of the time when the baby was out. We wanted an environment for our son that was safe, healthy, and non stressful. Rex was adding stress because he would bark at our son's crib, any of the baby toys, and try to lunge at him when he was up.  
After numerous hours of talking about what to do, we finally decided to give it one more shot since he had been our first baby for the past five years. Speaking to Lisa before choosing to enroll Rex in Canine Academy was already putting our stress level at ease. We knew that this was an investment that would bring us big returns based on our conversation with Lisa.  
After spending seven weeks at the facility, we were amazed at the dog we picked up to go home. Rex was no longer bouncing off the furniture, lunging at our baby, he would walk with the stroller, and more importantly just had a calm demeanor. We truly wish we could post a video of a before Rex and after Rex around the house. 
The staff was fantastic. Not only did she train our dog, but she also trained two owners who had some bad behaviors themselves. It truly is so amazing, as we now have a dog that can hang out with the family in the nursery and even show affection towards our son. It's amazing that we now have a dog that is off leash trained, especially when another training facility told us Rex would never be off leash trained. We also dreamed of having a dog that would be best buddies with our son, and now with Rex's new and improved attitude and safe behavior, we are hopeful that this dream could be a reality in the future. 
We can't thank Lisa and her team enough for changing our dog. We were heartbroken to think we would have to find another home for Rex. We are so grateful for all of their hard work, time, and guidance. If you truly are on the fence about to enroll your dog, feel free to contact my husband or myself. We can't say enough good things about Canine Academy and all that they have done for our family. 
Thanks Again - The Kirians