ELIZA

When we decided to bring a lab puppy into our home, I was a bit unsure. We already had a 5-year old pug along with three young children, ages 6, 4 and 2. Our home is busy to say the least, and I told my husband the only way I would agree to getting a large breed dog was if we would commit to it being a well trained dog. Assuming I was going to be doing this “training” myself, I bought and read up on all the techniques I would need. HA! After just a few weeks of living with our new addition I knew I was in over my head!

Enter Vicky Kirkland, trainer extraordinaire! At first meeting, my “baby” bit her new trainer in the rear end. I was so embarrassed and was sure Vicky was going to fire us! I’m not exaggerating when I say that by the end of our first private training hour together, my excited, rambunctious puppy was lying down with her head on her front paws, being as charming as she could possibly be. I was sold!

Over the next couple of months, Vicky taught me (very patiently, I might add) how to procure amazing behavior from our dog through positive reinforcement and encouragement. It was such and gentle and kind way of interacting with our puppy. I was shocked at the effectiveness and speed at which her techniques work.

As if all of this weren’t wonderful enough, the skills Vicky teaches are literally easy enough for a baby to do. As the picture shows, my daughter, who is 2 1/2, is able to give the nonverbal “sit” command and the dog actually obeys! She also can give her the reward without having her hand bit off!

Overall, I can’t recommend Vicky’s training techniques highly enough. She is a patient, thorough teacher and this stuff REALLY works!