A Dog Aggression Success Story - Home Dog Training In Phoenix, Arizona

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"I have a 6 year old Rottweiler named Karma and an 8 month old Rottweiler named Maxx.
I want to share with you the problem I had and then the successful ending.

Then we had the idea to get a puppy so Karma would have a friend to play with and snap her out of this depression.
We went looking for a puppy and we found, or I should say, that's when Maxx found us. He was a 10 1/2 week old
male Rottweiler and he was perfect for us! We brought Maxx home and Karma was not crazy about him for the first day
and then suddenly they were best friends and they played day and night together. I called Steve from Phoenix Valley
Dog Training back and told him the news. A few days later we had our first session together and everything went very
well. Steve went over the house rules and how pack structure works and things I can do to be a good pack leader. I
have to admit I was not a good pack leader at all, and after hearing what I should be doing I was wondering how I was
going to make so many changes. From the looks of it I had my work cut out for me, but I was committed and
determined to be a great pack leader.

I started slowly with putting both the two crates side by side and
alternating each of the dogs in the crate for an hour for just a few days at
a time every 2 or 3 weeks. I really kept tough and consistent with the
house rules; one of the hardest habits for me to brake was no sleeping
in bed with me. I did this re-introduction for 2 months and just kept
consistent and worked the rules and did all the commands and after 6
months of separation I was able to get Maxx and Karma together again
successfully! I still have to make sure I watch them when they play and
stop any over-excited behavior or any rough play. Karma now respects
me and responds to my voice. I became a successful pack leader and
all the hard work has paid off! The best advice I can give to anyone who
is put in the same position as I was is: 1) stick to the house rules no
matter how difficult it may be for you 2) you must be consistent all the
time 3) work the basic commands often - everything is earned with a sit,
down, stay, etc… 4) be confident and calm because that shows up in
your posture and in your voice.

We had started Maxx on puppy training and Karma had a session on the
leash and a session with the basic commands - What a difference after
just the first session! On our next session, which was about a week later,
we worked both Karma and Maxx that day and things were going great
when all of a sudden Karma had an aggression trigger and attacked Maxx.
Steve and I tried to snap Karma out of that aggression zone but she just
wanted to hurt Maxx. I was very concerned at this point! Steve, my Mother
and I sat down and talked about my options - even though I did not like any
of them we decided to re-home Karma with my brother. I was devastated
and Karma was very discombobulated for about 2 weeks, but then she
started to acclimate in her new home. Steve suggested crate training for
Karma to give her a little security and confidence, also to help me with
pack leadership. I had never crate trained before, so this was new for me
too. Karma did great with the crate!

Well, it all started a few years ago when I noticed Karma had some serious dog aggression issues while
walking her around the neighborhood. It made walking her a nightmare because every time she saw
another dog, it did not matter on the size of the dog, she would go absolutely ballistic.

Words can not describe how happy I am! I could not have done this without the guidance and help from Steve at
Phoenix Valley Dog Training. Thank you again Steve for all your help - we did it!!!!!"

Nicole, Karma and Maxx
Scottsdale, Arizona - June 2009

A Little Back Story On Nicole and Her Dogs, Karma and Maxx...

Nicole hired us in December of 2008. During our initial telephone conversation, Nicole outlined the troubles that she was
having with her Rottweiler, Karma. Dog aggression, basic obedience and leash manners were the key areas that Nicole
wanted to address.

Prior to our first visit, Nicole threw us a curveball. She had met and fallen in love with a Rottweiler puppy that she had
named Maxx. If she had named him, that must have meant that she bought him. Flags went up all over the office, sirens
went off and the red light over the door started flashing - she had a rotty with dog aggression issues and now she had
adopted a second rotty. O.K...no problem Nicole...we're at defcon 4 people!

The day of our scheduled appointment came and I showed up at Nicole's door. I rang the bell and a wisp of a girl
answered. She was five foot nothing, very petite and very nice. Behind her was a 100 pound female rottweiler and a
male rottweiler puppy that was going to be even bigger than the female. My initial, naive, typical male reaction was to
look for the guy in the house who was going to help this little girl with these big dogs. Nicole was to show me that I
was a silly, silly man.

Dog aggression can be a dangerous, tricky behavior to handle.
There are many experts and professionals out there (including
myself) who will tell you that you may never be able to fix the
problem and the best you can hope for is to try to control it.

I had no idea, walking into that house that day, that Nicole
would prove all of us wrong.

The first session went well. The dogs were attentive and Nicole
soaked the information up like a sponge soaking up a puddle of
urine. The dogs worked well and we had no incidents. We had
no idea what was coming in the second session.

When the trigger happened, we were all taken off-guard. Karma
had been working obedience exercises and Maxx had been
hanging out in the background. Everything had been going very
well up to that point, but when Karma aggressed, she was going
in for the kill.

We separated the dogs and Nicole's mother joined us at the kitchen table for a serious heart-to-heart with Nicole. I can
still remember exchanging concerned glances with Nicole's mother as Nicole voiced her hopes for the dogs' future.
"We can rebuild them, make them better...stronger...faster..."

Nicole proved to be the wisest of all of us at the table that day. She knew the effort that she was willing to dedicate to
these two dogs that she loved so dearly. They were her friends and she was going to help them.

Nicole and I worked together a lot over the next few months. She took the instruction and advice and implemented every
piece of it. She worked her dogs consistently and elevated herself into the pack leader role. She took control of what
looked like a really bad situation and made it work.

Maxx and Karma are back together now, living in the same house. They play together, eat together and share Nicole's
attention and affection without any signs of aggression. Nicole has learned how to get ahead of Karma's triggers and she
has shown her dogs that she is the pack leader in her home.

We decided to give Nicole, Karma and Maxx their own page on our site because their success can be an inspiration to
every dog owner who is experiencing a similar situation. We are so incredibly proud of Nicole and the effort that she has
put in with her dogs. She deserves all of the wonderful results that she is now seeing from Karma and Maxx.

Steve Wood
Phoenix Valley Dog Training

It seemed to progress over the years and then escalated into fighting
with my mother's female dog in our home. A few years had passed and
my mother's female passed away and then her male dog passed away
and it seemed like Karma had some depression since she was close
with my mother's male dog. I had talked to Steve Wood from Phoenix
Valley Dog Training for some help with Karma in regards to some of the
bad habits she had picked up over the years and the aggression she had
shown on our walks and I was hoping to give her a refresher on basic
obedience. It had been so long since I had her in obedience class that I
had forgotten the basics myself and I knew nothing about pack structure
and how to be a great pack leader.

I worked Karma at my brother's house consistently and worked Maxx at
my home and I slowly re-introduced the two of them together after about 4
months of separation. By this time Maxx had exceeded Karma's height
and weight and his hormones and scent were different from when they
were first together, so I felt this would be a good time to start the
re-introduction process.

"Thanks for the timely follow
up. I was going to write last
night to tell you that Dudley and
I had two of the best walks
yesterday. They were in fact
the best walks I have ever had
with a dog companion. Dudley
was well mannered and
focused the entire time. He
responded well to "heel" and
we worked on his "sit " when I
stopped. We need more work
on that!"

Tim and Kate
Chandler, Arizona

Second Email:
"Dudley and I just got back
from a great walk. We met
three women, mother,
daughter, grandmother. We
were heeling along, we
stopped, Dudley sat, waited
while they passed and went
on. The mother commented on
how well mannered Dudley
was and the grandmother
thanked us for stopping to let
them pass. IT WAS FREAKIN
GREAT!!!!!!!!"

"...After researching on the
Internet, I found Steve's web
site. Perfect! Our little Sidney
needed to learn how to
behave and she needed to
learn it in her own...uh, I mean
OUR own house! Steve was
full of information on the first
visit and he got a pretty good
idea that Sidney was a dog
who had her mind made up
that life was going to go HER
way. He also completely
understood the "nighttime
crazies"! Today she is a much
calmer, better behaved dog
than she was when we called
Steve. She still has her
moments when she barks, but
she quiets down very quickly
and clearly understands the
"enough" command. She's the
dog we wanted when we
adopted her. Steve was so
helpful; always there via email
or telephone to offer support,
encouragement, and ideas to
resolve the issue of the day.
When he came to the house,
he demonstrated first hand
how to teach Sidney to be a
well behaved dog. I am so glad
I found the web site and made
that call!"