Herbie Comes to Doggy Boot Camp!

This week, we at Metropawlitan Dog and The Collared Scholar were going about our daily routine when a call came in. The caller was very upset. She was calling regarding training for her 5 year old English Bulldog, Herbie. We scheduled her in for a consultation and into the Met she came.


When I pulled up, she was waiting for me, obviously desperate for some reprieve. Sitting next to her was the biggest ball of love I have seen in a while. She proceeded to tell me Herbie's story. He had been to several trainers, each claiming they could help. In then end, she was left with a dog with aggression issues. She told me that Herbie was human and dog aggressive and had attacked her and her husband on multiple occaisions. As dogs passed on the street, I could see her tense up, nervous as to what Herbie's reaction would be. This was a very serious case and I could tell she was distraught - she loved her dog very much and all of his life, she only did what she thought was best for him. But after being bitten, she no longer felt safe with him. She decided to enroll him in our in kennel doggy boot camp.

While she filled out the necessary paperwork, we took Herbie back to his own doggy suite. He was obviously nervous so I decided he would come home with me for a little TLC. His first night he was a bundle of nerves. Poor guy. He just kept to himself mostly - I gave him his own private kennel run so he could relax and get used to his new surroundings. The next day, I spent quite a bit of time with the little man - I wanted him to get comfortable with me and I didn't want to push it. I sat with him in the kennel run, letting him approach me on his terms. In the beginning, he was growling at me but it didn't take long before he was sitting in my lap, begging for pets!

Herbie has been with me for only four days and has since come completely out of his shell. Yesterday, trainer Katie Earle and I took him out to a populated area and let him meet people of all ages. He did great! No aggression whatsoever! He has been running the yard with my dogs as well with no incidents and has had several controlled interactions with other dogs on the street without incident. We have given Herbie boundaries and structure and a little TLC and he is already starting to turn his behavior around! We still have quite a bit of work to do but stay tuned and we will update the blog regularly with Herbie's progress, pictures and video!