Chantal from Scottsdale, AZ called us about her black labrador, Evie after she adopted her from the shelter. Chantal knew right from the start that Evie was timid and fearful and Chantal didn’t want to have her continue feeling this way. Evie would bark, run and hide from many things that would be considered normal [i.e. leaves on trees]. Chantal couldn’t allow this to continue or get worse since she had two young children at home.

We met for a visit at the facility and we talked all about Chantal’s concerns. We discussed Evie’s history, which was largely unknown and how that affected her past and how it would play out in the future. After we talked all the issues, concerns and goals over we both agreed that our Boarding School program was the right fit for Evie. When Evie arrived she met our dog Nike and built a lot of socializing confidence. She started to understand play signals and enjoyed knowing that play could be a lot of fun. Evie also learned how to walk on a leash without pulling and learned good commands like “place”, “come” and “down”. These were all commands that were helpful when she got stressed out and wanted to pace or hide from the things that scared her. Thankfully, after only two weeks with us, Evie’s fear had reduced significantly and she was listening really well to commands and leash training.

After Evie went home, she was much happier and enjoyed things with the children in the house like walks, flag football games and playing in the pool. While Evie was not a fan of the pool cleaner, she did stop barking and biting at the pool trying to get the tubing. Evie also stays with us for boarding when her family goes on vacations and through it all she still feels safe and comfortable while here. She listens to commands the first time and now enjoys pack walks with Nike and any other dogs that are here with her.