Testimonials

 

 

Isabella

Breed: Border Collie - Mix

When we contacted LaBest this spring, our dog had fear aggression issues that had escalated over two
years despite our attempts at training and behavior modification with a behaviorist and two different
trainers.  After so many unsuccessful attempts in the past to correct the problems we were skeptical
that anything could bring lasting results; to say we were pleasantly surprised would be putting it lightly!

From the first home session with Deborah Walker and the LaBest team we saw positive changes in our dog unlike anything we had seen before.

In less than two weeks our dog was dramatically more calm and balanced throughout her daily routine.   She was not only less aggressive and fearful acting, but she was actually receptive to new people she met and was interacting well with other dogs on and off leash.

As we have continued training and daycare at LaBest we have seen her confidence continue to grow.   She has begun to approach new situations with curiosity instead of fear.   In addition we have seen her blossom into the friendly fun loving dog she was with us, out in the world wherever we take her.   She is now a full-fledged social butterfly - excited to greet people and other animals at every opportunity!

We could not have gotten to where we are today without the LaBest team.   We are extremely grateful to LaBest for providing a supportive and productive environment with a knowledgeable and caring staff where our dog has been able to learn, grow and play!   Working with Deborah Walker and LaBest has changed our lives.   They have provided us with the tools and support we needed to help our dog have the kind of balanced, happy life she deserves!!

Sarah & Nathan Sturycz

Glen Carbon, IL

 

 

Jake

Behavior Problem: Seperation Anxiety

Jake’s story…

We adopted Jake via American Brittany Rescue on Friday January, 12, 2007.  According to his write up on the
ABR website, Jake suffered from separation anxiety and was on daily medication for it.  With the input of our
vet, it was determined the meds were not doing any good so we stopped them.  Jake was an only dog and his
owners both worked during the day.  My husband and I both worked also, but we have 2 other Brittanys to offer
him companionship (one of which is also a rescue Brittany we learned of in a shelter via ABR nearly 7 years
ago).  No luck!  They both played with him some and were there with him when we left each day for work, but
that didn’t help with his anxiety.  We learned different “techniques” to desensitize him to separation, but they
had little if any effect on him.  In March, I even quit my job in part to stay home with Jake as I couldn’t stand
leaving him to the horrible whining and moaning each morning.  Well a month later and at wits end, my
husband made the statement “Jake has to go”.  Our other Brittanys were becoming affected by his behavior
and to say the least, our household had been turned upside down.

I contacted the adoption coordinator for ABR that we had worked with to get Jake.  She immediately suggested
LaBest and told me about their pet behavior specialist, Deb.  She had worked with her before.  I was willing to
try anything because deep down I knew Jake was a loving dog and had great potential.  My husband on the
other hand, he thought Jake had finally affected me in a negative way and I had lost my mind.  I went ahead
and made arrangements for Deb to visit our home, which is recommended so the dog isn’t out of their familiar
surroundings.  Deb visited our home along with Betty from ABR and 2 other girls from LaBest.  Good thing….
Jake really proved my point during the visit.  First thing we worked on was treats.  I just handed each one a
treat as I got them out of the package.  Little did I know I wasn’t just giving him a treat, but I was really “feeding”
his anxiety.  It was discovered Jake’s behavior was a result of low self esteem and fear of his dog crate.  I
learned techniques to let my dogs outside, feed them, keep them back when opening the front door when a
visitor arrives, walking them on a leash and relaxing them.  Simple things I thought, but little did I know.  Jake is
a new dog!!  His behavior started changing the very first day for the better.  His self esteem has greatly
improved.  All 3 dogs are now on the same level and no one feels less (or more) than the others.  Even my
husband saw the difference when he got home that day and has jumped on board using the techniques
LaBest taught me.  About a week later, my husband hugged Jake and said he couldn’t believe just a week ago
he had even thought of having Jake put to sleep.  The fear we used to see in Jake’s eyes is no longer there.  
He wouldn’t even LOOK at the crate when he would walk by it in the living room.  Now he goes inside it to get
his treats!!  Thanks LaBest & Deb for helping transform Jake into the boy I knew he could be.

P.S.  We are in the process of selling our house and I was telling our agent, Tiffany, about the training a
couple of days after you were here.  Thursday we were meeting with her and she told us she was at a friend’s
house this past weekend and her friend’s Rottweiler was really excited and acting up when the doorbell rang.  
Tiffany said she used her arm to mark “wait” and the dog stopped and waited there until she said fine’.  She
couldn’t believe it and neither did the dog’s owner!

MaryLou

Deb Walker has been able to do wonders with my little English bulldog MaryLou. ML has hip dysplasia. Deb started giving her spinal alignments and massages about a month ago, and the progress ML has made in that time is really amazing.

Deb Walker knows her stuff, and in addition she shows such a great affection for the animals under her care. MaryLou cannot wait to see her each time we go to LaBest. She has even started to enjoy her treadmill time, which I never thought would happen. MaryLou is having a much better life thanks to Deb Walker's expertise and heartfelt concern.

Susie

Behavior Problem: Seperation Anxiety
(Image of Susie from the Open Standard Agility Competition 6/02/07)

At the age of 3 ½, Susie came into foster care with Bill and Dorene Glotz. Rescue knew that she was originally purchased as a puppy for hunting only. At a field trail, a few months earlier, her owner advised the organizer that
she would not leave his side and would not hunt so he was going to shoot or dump her as she was no use to him. Dan asked, rather than get rid of her, leave Susie with him. He experienced in training and would try to train her for hunting. If it didn't work, he would find a home for her. At both places she was in a kennel environment. Dan had the same problem and called rescue. He advised Betty Hedquist that when he put a tracking collar on Susie, she
went crazy which probably is a result of severe over use of a shock collar. When his wife would visit her in the kennel Susie was fine and very affectionate but we don’t know if any other persons were with her.

Susie’s first day in her foster home, she was friendly with everyone from a 3 year old up to several adults. She then became very attached to Bill. He was with her 24/7 because he was home on sick leave. By mid week, she was showing her aggression to everyone that came into the house, frightened, growling and going after anyone except Bill. She became so attached to Bill that I couldn’t go near her when she was by Bill nor could I go by any item that had his scent on it. She guarded Bill and anything that belonged to Bill.
She was attached to Bill like Velcro. Because neither of us knew how to handle this situation, we called Betty Hedquist, of Brittany Rescue Illinois.

Betty got us on a three-way phone call with Deborah Walker. After explaining everything to Deb, she felt Susie was in a very delicate situation. Deb wanted to work with Susie as soon as possible. Arrangements were made for Deb and Betty to come to work with Susie in two weeks. In the meantime, Deb advised me to just ignore Susie and not to have anyone over. I also kept a daily journal of Susie everyday until Deb got here. The
journal gave Deb some insight on Susie’s behavior before she got here. Deb and Betty would spend the weekend at our house to work with Susie and other rescue dogs in the Chicago area that had problems that needed a behaviorist.

Deb and Betty arrived at our home around 10 p.m. on Friday night.  There were no introductions. Deb walked in the house and immediately started to work with Susie. Susie went by  Bill and started growling and snapped at Deb as she approached Susie. To get away from Deb, Susie went to hide under the kitchen chairs and table. (This was Susie’s low confidence and attaching to an object.) Deb moved the chairs and table away from Susie to break the attachment from these objects. After much commotion, Deb ended up having Susie backed up against a gate in our front hallway. To get down on the same level as Susie, Deb was sitting on the floor in front of Susie. Susie was growling and would not let Debbie touch her. Deb was talking to her and moving her hands up and down the walls making a tapping noise with her fingernails. Deb also slowly moved her hands back and forth in front of Susie.

This was to bring Susie back to the present as she was having flashbacks to her past. Susie was not there at all. Susie’s eyes were completely dilated, almost popping out of her head. Her head was shaking back and forth to the point it looked like she would have a seizure. Deb worked with Susie in this same manner for at least 3 hours before she was able to touch Susie. They even went through the house up to our bedroom bath as Susie tried to get away from Deb. They went through the same procedures as in the hallway and back down to the hallway. Though all of this, Bill could not let Susie see him. He had to be totally out of the picture. After about 4 hours, Deb had Susie on a gentle leader and leash. With much resistance, she finally had Susie walking with her. Susie could hardly walk.

She looked like she was crippled. Her back was curled up and her front and hind legs were stiff and could hardly move. Susie’s head was shaking so badly that Deb was watching her closely in case of any seizure activity. She was so emotionally upset that she also had no control over her bladder. Deb then gave us instruction on how to massage Susie by putting her on her back between my legs to try to relax her and to have her submit to me. Deb
wanted to sleep with Susie tiled to her in a room that did not have Bill’s scent all over it. Finally at 3:30 a.m., Deb and Susie slept together on the living room floor. Most of the night, Susie tried to pull herself and Deb out of the living room, but probably after about 1 hour of actual sleep it was early Saturday morning and time to start working with Susie again.

The next day instructions consisted of Bill and I going to all the areas in the house where Susie would be with Bill and growl at me. Deb instructed us on “back” “wait” and “settle” placement commands. Bill has to use this with Susie when she gets to possessive of him. We also use this at the back door when the dogs go in and out. When Susie would growl, the gentle leader would be put on as a tool we would use to correct her. When she would growl, we used the command “no growl” while pressing on the sides of her nose. We also had to expose her daily to different people and situations.

Deb explained that Susie had always been mistreated so when she got into a home where she received love and kindness, it was like a punishment to her. Susie had only known this one man all her life and not well socialized so even though he abused her, it was all she knew. That is probably the reason for her attachment to Bill. At this time Susie was not noticing any of the things a dog her age should notice. She didn’t see birds, she didn’t see
food when held in front of her. Susie couldn’t look at you and she would curl her front paws up into her body. Deb thought this occurred from the severe physical training that was done on Susie. This had caused Susie’s physical flashbacks. Deb would put food in her mouth and let Susie take it out. This was positive reinforcement to have Susie look Deb in the eyes and not be frightened. It would take time and patience for Susie to learn to trust other
people. Also, being with our 2 Brittanys gave Susie other dogs to feed off giving her more confidence. This is why Deb also worked with our Brittanys on the placement commands.

Because we were going on vacation in two weeks, Deb was afraid that being boarded would put Susie back to where she was at the beginning. Susie stayed with Deb 24/7 for two weeks. This gave Deb the chance to study and work with Susie even more. Susie never left Deb’s side. Deb tried to expose her to as many different situations as possible. On an overnight trip, that Deb took Susie with, at a rest area, Susie had an issue with a black car. When, by the black car only, Susie started to flip out when on the grass, but when off the grass on the asphalt Susie was okay. After Susie was back home on a nightly walk, we came by a big dark dumpster on the street. When Susie was on the parkway grass, she flipped out; but when I walked her on the street
by the dumpster, she was all right with it. She was afraid of going down stairs. Everything seemed to scare her. When situations like this happened, we walked her around whatever she was afraid of to help her learn to deal with her issues.

To expose Susie to more people, we invited friends over to the house. Now when people come over, they can walk into the house. We do ask that they totally ignore Susie. In time she then will come up to them and sniff them out. Treats are used to help reinforce in Susie’s mind that people are good. She will now go to other people besides Bill and I, but it is in her own time and that is okay with us. We walk her through the neighborhood and to the park to again expose her to more situations. To build Susie’s confidence, I took Susie to obedience class. This gave Susie a chance to bond with me, see other people and dogs. She did very well and of course, I thought she was one of the best dogs there. During class, the instructor used Susie as an example many times and talked about where Susie came from and where she is today. To build her confidence even more, Susie and I have been attending an agility class weekly. She does very well and is getting better each week. Susie still has some issues to deal with, but they are fewer and she is learning to deal with them.

If Susie had ended up in a shelter or Betty did not know Debbie Walker, she most likely would have been put down because of her aggressiveness toward people. Most important, if Deb Walker had not evaluated and worked with Susie and us, we never would have been able to keep Susie. When we first got Susie, she didn’t even see or notice birds or leaves blowing in the back yard. She couldn’t even look at anyone. She is now living a very good life making us happy. She is now chasing birds, playing and exploring areas she would never go before. Bill and I are amazed to see Susie progress every day even now almost 2 years later. Susie’s story is proof that a dog can be turned around. Best of all Susie has won over our son and daughter-in-law, who would not let the boys stay at our house or be with Susie. With Susie’s beginning, we could understand their feelings and concerns. Joe and Bryan can stay overnight again and when they come over they don’t ask to have Susie put in the basement. During Joe’s last overnight, Susie jumps in bed and gave Joe a good night kiss before we went to bed.

Because of Deb Walker’s knowledge and love of dogs and our willingness to follow through with her training, this is a very big success story. Debbie is the only person I have ever seen that seems to be able to get into a dog’s mind and know what the dog is thinking. It is totally amazing to watch Deb work with dogs that have behavioral problems of any kind. She has been blessed with a very special gift. It is proof that if owners would use a qualified, experienced behaviorist when a problem occurs with their dog and have the patience and follow through, there would be fewer dogs in the shelters and rescue groups would not be on overload all the time.