Tag Archives: positively success story

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.

As a lifelong dog lover who lives in a flat and works every weekday, I can't own a dog – my lifestyle wouldn't allow it. Instead, I make do with a cat. But I love amateur animal training, and a little thing like species won't stop me!

We rescued Marley, a double merle deaf Australian Shepherd, when she was just under a year old. She was one of several available puppies at a rescue, and we were the only ones that considered her.

My wife and I are proponents of positive reinforcement training, and our situation gives us a unique opportunity to practice and observe the results on a daily basis. One of the first questions people ask is "do you have to break up a lot of fights?" The answer is no. We've kept dogs of all shapes, sizes, and dispositions, and there's seldom more than a brief snark and deferral.

A success story of how positive training helped an abused dog overcome her fears and blossom into a wonderful family pet.

We adopted Duke, our Staffordshire Bull Terrier crossbreed, when he was 10 weeks old. His mother had been adopted and the family shortly after adopting her found out she was heavily pregnant! Along came Duke! I'd like to tell you taking on a beautiful puppy was easy, but the truth is it was not! Duke Read More

I adopted Mushu (a patterdale terrier cross) when he was just 8 months old. He had been abused by the first family and given to another family who didn't have the patience for him and abused him also. He was given to a third family who could not take his aggressive behavior around their children. Read More

This is my baby, Loki the Gentle Mischievous Pittie. As an Animal Control Officer in 2009, I was patrolling the local State Park in the area with the Park Rangers when we came across a cardboard box left on a picnic table in a camp ground. As we approached the box we could hear small Read More

Until Wednesday, walking Chev was like walking a plow horse. There's no indication she's had much, if any loose-leash training. We decided to take the time to do it right.

I rescued my dog Sammity Sam in 2010 from a shelter. After having been born there, he was adopted once & surrendered back into the same shelter again. He was a 2 yr old German Shepard cross that had some very difficult issues. One of which was complete panic & destruction every time I left Read More

Fifteen years ago when I trained my first puppy of my own the training classes were all about choke collars and rough training. Now I have a new puppy and while puppy classes are gentler and more positive there still have been some questionable techniques we opted out of. The leave it command for example Read More

I adopted Libby in May of this year from our local animal shelter. She initially showed up last December at approximately a year old as a stay that no one claimed. She was adopted once but was returned because she continued to scale a six-foot fence and roam the neighborhood. My husband and I are Read More

First off, thank you so very much for being a ray of light in such a dark world of training methods. I'm 20 , and I've had dogs my whole life, Boxers. So when I decided to get a dog of my own, it had to be a Boxer. To me, it's just not home Read More

This is the story of Jasper. Jasper is 5 year old Hound/Retriever Mix that we adopted from a local rescue group when he was 3 months old. Jasper completed Puppy, Intermediate, Advance training and his CGCC with a great positive trainer. Jasper also is a K-9 Blood Donor. When Jasper was about 2 years old, we Read More

One evening in December 2011, my wife, Karen, was picking up our lab Lily from day care and noticed a scruffy little black mutt in the corner of a pen. His name was Inky and he needed a home. Karen was told that Inky had been a stray puppy, that he and his brother had Read More

I had just lost another Chihuahua, Tink, due to the blatant irresponsibility of a roommate (won't go into that tragedy), and I wasn't ready to take in another dog. However, a friend – who works in rescue – knew about my dilemma, and called me about a week later to tell me about a dog Read More

Humphrey was rescued from a puppy mill 1 year ago after spending approx 5 years in a cage. His health issues were the easiest thing to overcome. For the first 3 months he cowered in a hole he dug in the backyard. He would not look at you and would not stand when you were near Read More

We brought my dog home as a 3 month old pup. He hated cars. They made him so nervous, he puked and drooled all over himself to the point of needing a bath every time. As he got bigger, it got harder to get him in the car when we needed to go somewhere. Finally, Read More

After losing my longtime canine companions, I decided to bring a new dog into our home when the time was right. I was looking for an older pup who was already trained and a breed that did not have many well-known health issues. I like to say that I found Scarlett but I really think Read More

Stella, my big girl lab mix, was rescued from a high kill shelter a day before her time was up! We planned on fostering her and instantly fell in love with her. She was super sweet and smart and loving with people, but was scary when she saw other dogs. This was a problem cause I Read More

I am the proud mum to two enormous newfoundland dogs, aged 8 and 6. My eight year old I have had since he was three months old and he has always been treated almost as an equal. I learned very early on that with a dog that size, and a working breed as well, if I Read More

I adopted a 3 year old German Shepherd named Kimba from the local shelter. I had never trained a dog before, so I enrolled in classes and read several books on positive training techniques.

I adopted my first dog Sam from my local Humane Society in 2010. I was looking for a younger and active dog, so when the shelter introduced me to this 10 month old heeler mix, I was sold. He was attentive and calm at the shelter, however; when I brought him home it was a very different story.

Has your life or your dog's life been changed using Victoria's positive dog training methods? Submit your success story and you could be featured on the upcoming brand new Positively website. Join the Positively movement, and your voice can help encourage others to take the leap and commit to using only force-free methods with their Read More