“Camp at Developing Dog - what a wonderful experience!

I have a 3 year old Boxer, Buck, that is a goofy sweetheart at home.  But, on walks he would lunge, bark, and growl at other dogs, and to a lesser extent, at people.  It made for very stressful walks.  But, I love Buck and we both need a lot of exercise - so I made a commitment to resolve this problem.  And watching "Dog Whisperer" and "It's Me Or The Dog" weren't enough!  

Over the last few years, I worked with two other local dog trainers before discovering Michael at Developing Dog. The first, and most advertised, trainer talked a good talk.  For almost $500, Buck and I would get training to correct the initial problem and a commitment of additional sessions as long as we needed help.  I believe the quote was "for life".  Our graduation goal was to take a calm Buck downtown to Heritage Square.  We had just two sessions - and then several subsequent phone calls to the trainer went unanswered.

The second trainer was one that I admired and respected.  His approach was positive training using a clicker, food treats, and gradual introductions to other dogs.  I loved his approach and it made sense in theory - but unfortunately it didn't work with Buck.  I worked on this for over a year with little success.

Last August, the day before I was going to board Buck for eight days, I saw a Developing Dog ad.  Michael came to my home for a consultation and we decided it would be more productive for Buck to camp at Developing Dog rather than spending time at a kennel.  For eight days, Buck lived, socialized, ate, walked, jogged, and learned from Michael's dog pack.  Full immersion.  I believe there was peer pressure from the pack - they showed him that it wasn't necessary or acceptable to react to other dogs like he did.  When I picked Buck up, we went for a walk and passed by several other dogs. He noticed them but then calmly kept on walking.  What a drastic improvement.

I look forward to Buck and I doing some follow-up work with Michael.  It wasn't just a one time fix, but rather a foundation that we will continue to build on.  I can highly recommend Developing Dog to anyone that is frustrated trying to resolve an issue with their dog.  He seems to understand how dogs think and utilizes his dog pack to assist in the training.”

Amy Hetzer

“I was totally desperate when I called Michael at Developing Dog.  In a little over a month, we would be leaving our home in Flag which sat on several acres of land for a home in a suburban Phoenix neighborhood. But I was unable to walk our dog, a 6-year-old Australian Shepherd , "Patches." She pulled so hard my arms and back ached and I had to constantly switch hands to hold her.  Worse yet, if we encountered any other dogs she became extremely aggressive, barking and lunging at them. I told my husband if we couldn't improve her behavior, we would have to find another home for her.

We had adopted Patches at age 2. She immediately displayed aggression toward other dogs. We took traditional dog training classes to help with her socialization but the short weekly meetings weren't enough. In addition, Patches barked so aggressively at a neighbor that he threatened to sue us. Our imperfect solution? We built a fence within our fenced property and managed to keep her contained and quiet for four years.  

Then we found out we were moving to Phoenix.

After her first group walk with Developing Dog, I could already see a difference in Patches. She responded more readily to commands and was less anxious around other dogs. The 2-hour training sessions were extremely beneficial. Michael showed me how to manage the dog in my own home. He showed me how to feed Patches and our other dog simultaneously after years of feeding them separately due to Patches' aggression. Often during the long sessions, something would come up after an hour that hadn't happened before. Michael was there to spot it and show me how to handle the situation.

At the end of just 4 weeks, Patches wasn't pulling on the leash any longer and had so many successful encounters with other dogs. She was truly a different dog.

Now we are in Phoenix, and Patches is doing great. We give her lots of exercise, something we were unable to do before because of her pulling. On one of my first evenings in our new neighborhood, I marveled that I was walking Patches with her lead loosely held in my hand. I would have never dreamed it was possible.

I see huge improvements with her behavior toward other dogs. And with the training I received from Michael, I feel confident that I can handle her behavior now even when it is less than perfect.

Best of all, I like my dog again!  Developing Dog made a huge difference to our family.” 

Stephanie Kohnen