Saving Tia's Life

When I lost my husband 4 years ago, I turned to my 2 yr Boxer Tia for comfort and to share my overwhelming sense of loss. We both grieved together. I had no direction and was not providing her with any leadership. Out walking and thankfully on a leash, she lunged up at the face of a jogger who had stopped to ask if he could say hello. I agonised over what I should do and sought the help of a highly recommended trainer. I paid him a lot of money. I was using choke chains at the time as I didn't know any better and was told to alpha roll her and correct her with the choke chain whenever we saw another dog approaching. She did not seem to get any better, in fact she got progressively worse. I was faced with the prospect of having her put down as her behaviour was spiraling out of control.

I needed to find alternative training methods, that's when I enrolled in a class to teach people how to become dog walkers. It saved her life because I learned how to use positive, reward based techniques to help her gain more confidence and be a happy dog again. I am now totally committed to keeping her safe, her quality of life has improved, we now have trust and I am totally committed to learning as much as I can and sharing my story. This photo of Tia the Boxer is at doggy daycare where she learned to "speak dog" again.