I adopted Diesel from an animal shelter about 9 months ago. He started off as a super quiet, adorable, cuddle bug, but as soon as he became comfortable in his surroundings, what was adorable and loving, turned into him running our lives. Instead of him adapting to our lives and our schedule, we started to notice that we were adapting to what worked for him. It was almost easier to do so. We would never leave him alone, never placed him in his kennel, because it was just easier to transfer him from home to home and have someone watch him, then leave him. When we tried leaving him in his kennel and he still had his puppy teeth, he chewed on the cage while we were gone so hard that he broke and cracked every single tooth. I figured the only thing I could do after that is get him and us help. I wanted Diesel to be independent. Sure it was cute when we were around and he followed our every move, slept on our feet, would cuddle between us, but it wasn’t once we realized that he thought he was the leader of the “pack” not us. Once we realized what happened, and made the mistake of never making any ground rules, we felt our only option was to break his habits before they became worse.
I always planned on taking him to obedience classes, but never even heard of puppy boot camp. I searched for one-on-one classes, mainly because I felt it was important that I learned how to control him, more than a trainer just doing it. I needed training too, so when I stumbled across Megan, it seemed it would be a great fit. From the beginning Megan was very friendly and down to earth, so I felt very comfortable leaving Diesel with her. After the two weeks of puppy boot camp, I knew I made the right decision. Diesel made eye contact, came to me when called, would not move till he was told, walked without pulling, and even would walk straight into his kennel when told. He of course tested me once I brought him home, but I wasn’t going to break and go back to the old ways. The roles finally reversed and I was the leader now, and he knew it. To this day, Megan is only a phone call or a text away, if I have any questions or thoughts, Megan gets back to me. She didn’t think twice about continuing the help once the two weeks were done. The training continued once the two weeks was up at home, and with or without Megan’s help he still listened, and that is what I was looking for. She told me what to say and do so he knew who was in control. I now enjoy Diesel so much more, I appreciate that he is now independent, but is still his same cute self at the end of the day. His personality didn’t change, his actions did and I couldn’t have done it without the help of Megan. Thanks Megan!
Andrea and Diesel
Midway Dog Academy - Chicago's Best Dog Training for Dogs
