Four Legged Scholars LLC – SLC Dog School

Shana and Bryan are dedicated and experienced dog owners of a newly adopted 2-year-old small poodle mix, Dino.

This adorable guy is spunky and affectionate, but he had one problem that was stressing his owners: he barked. A lot!

Dino’s owners noticed that he barked and lunged at other dogs and some strange people. They were somewhat disappointed, as they’d initially felt Dino loved other dogs!

It appeared that Dino had some fear toward certain dogs and people, and was also exhibiting some “leash frustration,” or “frustration aggression.”

It is very common for dogs to become reactive when restrained, such as by a leash.

Dino started out attending our basics group obedience SLC dog school class. Barriers made it easier to slowly accustom him to the presence of dogs and people without reacting.

Fortunately, Dino is highly treat-motivated and his reactivity and demand barking were dramatically reduced during the four week group SLC dog school class.

In addition, he learned skills such as watch me and touch (his favorite!) that would come in handy during walks.

Shana contacted us after class, requesting further training, as Dino was still struggling with reacting during walks.

Living in a dog-friendly apartment complex, they passed dogs and people at close quarters regularly. Walks in the neighborhood were also still a struggle.

Over the course of 5 sessions, she purchased “The Good Dog” program. W worked with Dino in the apartment’s parking area as well as local parks, helping him build a positive association with dogs and people around him.

Dino was able to learn to stay calm and focus on his owners while passing dogs and people from a few feet away, and even around dogs that were running and playing near him.

Shana and her partner, Bryan worked hard and kept the training positive and are now able to walk Dino. He stays calm for the majority of his walks!

They also now have the tools to continue generalizing this happy attitude toward other reactive dogs, and to help him stay calm when dogs appear out of nowhere.

If you are feeling frustrated with a dog that is out of control on leash walks, contact Four Legged Scholars LLC – SLC Dog School.

We can help you feel calm and peace on your walks too.

“Alyssa, the trainer based in Salt Lake City, is great! She always made sure that every step both worked toward our goals for Dino and also strengthened our relationship with him.

Her techniques were simple enough to master ourselves for long-term practice. Even so, we found that having Alyssa there to demonstrate, observe, and correct the training methods was really helpful.

The group training they offer is very reasonably priced, and though the private training isn’t cheap, I believe it’s comparable to other trainers in the area.

After 5 private training sessions, Dino still occasionally barks at other dogs, but he and his humans are way ahead of where we started!”

–Shana Fielding with Dino – Trained with Alyssa Giles with Four Legged Scholars LLC – SLC Dog School

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