Cases Deemed Impossible

Charlie was a wild dog living behind the prison in West Nashville. Guards in the towers saw him running with a pack of coyotes until one trapped him, brought him home, chained him to a tree and beat him for 9 months. The rage filled Charlie was relieved from the situation by a guy that dumped him on his girlfriend with a note, "I'm moving to Florida."  Sounds awful, but this was the best thing that could have happened. His cat loving new mom never gave up on him. After helping his mom better understand pack psychology, Charlie morphed from a rage filled dog to a lover boy and later became a resource to other challenged dogs in  rescues. Kind of a doggie mentor. Charlie is very loved and deeply loves all humans and critters in his life.

Andy was a large male blind Great Dane, found chained to a tree in the middle of no where, starving and left to die. Before being left, someone used something sharp to scramble the insides of his ears deafening him and mangled his tail. The person that found him got him to a Great Dane rescue that placed him in a loving foster home.  Andy was deemed a dangerous dog, so the rescue pointed the foster to me. His foster mom resisted significant pressure to give up on him and followed the path I set for her. She turned Andy from a hazard to a wonderful  love filled family companion.

Hania was adopted by a talented horse trainer that quickly learned she didn't have the skills to handle this large predator. Her excitement about owning a wolf was quickly replaced by fear. Hania made it clear that mom would make a good lunch. His attitude towards humans revolved around who he deemed leader. When he viewed human as leader, he was a fun loving affectionate companion. Submitting to Hania was not a good option. As his owner adopted the behaviors I gave her, they could develop a very strong bond.  As mom changed from being lunch to leader, Hania changed from hunter to lover.

Jordan was a long time resident at Williamson County Animal Center. A young couple, that volunteer there,  did well handling him and agreed to foster him. They loved this boy and wanted to adopt him. The problem was that Jordan would rattle a crate to pieces to get at their cat, Pierre. To most it seemed impossible to have both in the same house. Following our session, they diligently implemented my advice and brought more success than they thought possible. I still receive notes of thanks and videos of Jordan playing and snuggling. with Pierre the cat.

Martin was a 180 lbs dog deemed very dangerous by a rescue. His aggression worsened as he went from foster to foster. His time seemed up when his last foster saw the rage in him. Apparently, she was making dinner one night when Martin jumped up on the dining room table, crashed through the chandelier as he jumped to the kitchen counter and crushed the glasses in the sink as he went airborne again launching himself at his foster mom standing in front of the stove. From the floor she saw him pull the pot with her dinner off the stove dumping it to eat. When she tried to get up, Martin flashed a threat letting her know getting up was not an option.  I can't say this was an easy case, but Martin ended up being a devoted loving companion.

Duke was the best because he was not only one of my alumni, but I adopted him about a year after rehabilitating him. Duke was a Mastiff/Great Dane mix that grew up as a bait dog. A dog used to train others to fight. Needless to say, Duke had issues and his previous owners knew they were in over their heads. I remember first meeting him, fight and flight were taking over back and forth as he released his bowls and bladder lunging then frantically retreating. After a few sessions, Duke found peace through their leadership and they had control over what seemed like a hopeless cause. Duke remains a testament to the forgiveness and grace inherent to dogs. With his history, no one could expect such love and devotion to abound.