Austin Dog Boarding

In 1995 I adopted my first German Shepherd.  She was a cute, fluffy, adorable 4 months old puppy and I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.  By the time she was 6 months old, she was a holy terror.  She had every bad trait a dog could have.  She had separation anxiety, didn't care much for anyone outside of our immediate family and was reactive towards children and other dogs.  So much that even though we had a storm door, we had to keep our front door closed because if she saw a child or dog walking down the street, she knew how to hit the storm door just right to pop it open.  

Her issues were not as a result of her being a German Shepherd or being what most think is an aggressive dog.  She was a fearful and reactive dog, the most unpredictable kind, because I had screwed up and not socialized her and started lessons with her when I got her.  By the time she was about 9 months old, I asked myself every day, what have I gotten myself into and how can I get rid of her.  But I wasn’t the kind of person to pass my troubled dog on to someone else to deal with, even though to be honest, I did think about it.  But instead we enrolled in a basic obedience class.  That didn’t work out very well because I was so focused on keeping her way from the other dogs and people, I didn’t really learn anything and neither did she.  It was a group class and it really wasn't fair to the other dogs and people for her to be there and the trainer had no extra time to help us, so we quit after the third lesson.  

I loved this dog so much, baggage and all, but was embarrassed by her behavior and my lack of knowledge and was in total despair.  But I put my heart and soul into somehow coming up with a solution because I was bound and determined I was not giving up on her.   She was MY dog.  I felt I had nothing to lose by trying and we both had everything to gain.

I did my research and decided on a private trainer and that changed our world. By this time she was about 18 months old.  She was no longer a puppy but a full grown adult dog.  At first I was very hesitant because I didn’t know if a dog her age could be helped but we went anyway.  After about 4 private sessions, Halo and I learned so much about each other, it was remarkable!  The first thing I learned was... I needed the training... not just her.  She had been looking for something I had never given her before.  Leadership.  We worked on basic obedience commands but mostly teaching me what being a fair and consistent leader was, learning to redirect her behavior and desensitizing her to the things she was fearful of.  As she matured and I kept up what we both had learned, in less than a year’s time, she was a totally different dog than the one she had been.  She accepted other dogs, new people and once I gave her more exercise than just a daily walk, her separation anxiety went away.

Did Halo have a bad temperament?  She sure did.  But in reality, the real issue was ME.  I had gotten a breed of dog I knew nothing about and I did everything wrong when I first brought her home because I had not truly prepared myself and done my research.  But once she was mine, I was committed to her and to learning and I did not give up on her or myself.  

We had been through so much; had learned so much and she became the dog she and I both dreamed she would be.   I lost Halo in the spring of 2001 to congestive heart failure.  She was only five years old.  Before then, I had never grieved over losing something so precious to me and I thought my heart would never heal or be the same again.  Until Nitro came into my life.

Nitro was 4 months old and a family with a three year old son was "getting rid" of him because he wouldn't stop jumping on their little boy.  I was looking for another dog to help heal my heart from the loss of Halo and Nitro sure fit the bill!  My husband and I wanted him and could see they would “get rid” him to anyone that came along and didn’t want him to become another shelter or backyard dog statistic.  

By this time with my experience and educating myself, I had learned a lot about dogs and dog behavior and could see Nitro was exactly what I was looking for.  He had a nice temperament and THIS time, I was going to do everything right!  

One thing I learned from my mistakes with Halo was that dogs must be socialized as early on as possible so that was first on my agenda.  I took Nitro everywhere I could, even if I was just running up to the convenience store to fill up the car, he went along for the ride.  If my husband and I were going someplace that didn’t allow dogs inside, we took him anyway and spent my time outside invited anyone that wanted to give him a treat and pet him.  He was amazing and loved the attention.  

I immediately enrolled him in a group puppy class.  Once we finished that, we enrolled in a group basic obedience class.  Then when he was 8 months old, we enrolled in an AKC Canine Good Citizen class and he aced the test and received his Canine Good Citizen Certificate!  I really wanted him to be a social with every person and animal he met, be well behaved and a good ambassador for his breed and that is exactly the dog he is.  He is still the love of my life.

I may not initially have done what I should have with Halo but I was devoted to her and learned from my mistakes and I want to help others not make the same ones I did.  As time went on, I became involved in rescue and have had hundreds of dogs in my home, teaching them whatever I could in the short time they were here.  By doing that I knew the next step was to become a professional dog trainer and help others as I had been helped.

Nitro, Photo by Studio Nauta