Testimonials

Professional Dog Training in London, Ontario!

 

In June 2008, my 4 year old daughter and I adopted a dog, a shepherd cross who we named Jake. After Jake had been living with us for a few weeks, he began to show increasingly aggressive and threatening behaviour towards both men and other dogs. He was also aggressive towards bicyclists and people on rollerblades or skateboards. He was very difficult to walk and to control because he would throw himself at the end of his leash trying to physically attack. On one occasion, late last summer and while on the leash, he bit another dog that approached him. Ultimately, last fall, Jake bit my upstairs neighbour in a completely unprovoked attack in our backyard.

I enrolled in the Foundations class with CanineLife in the hopes that training would help Jake’s aggression. We are now in our third session of classes with CanineLife. I highly recommend both CanineLife’s training program and Sharlene in particular. Sharlene has a wonderful way with people and an extraordinary ability with dogs. Her teaching is clear, easy to understand and she is always ready to offer one-on-one help in class. She is just as proficient at training owners how to deal with their dogs, as she is in training dogs to follow their owners.

Sharlene’s expertise and teaching has resulted in Jake making a 100% turnaround. He no longer exhibits any reaction to men, bicyclists or rollerbladers when we are walking, and 90% of the time does not react to dogs that we encounter on our walks. When he does react, Sharlene’s teaching has given me the tools to recognize the warning signs and properly counter-act them before Jake becomes aggressive. Just this past weekend, for the first time ever, I was able to take Jake to a coffee shop patio and have coffee with a friend while he sat at my side, not reacting to the many dogs that passed us.

Jake is finally a happy and contented dog and, thanks to Sharlene, I have peace of mind and an enjoyable life with him. I cannot recommend Sharlene’s abilities enough. She would be an invaluable addition to any dog training program.

Meredith Gardiner, B.A., LL.B.