Jim helped us work miracles twice with Lily, our Schnauzer mix. Lily came to us from a shelter – scared and malnourished. She blossomed in our home, but along with her increasing health and confidence came some episodes of food aggression toward our Cocker Spaniel, Maggie.
We had no idea what to do, but we found Jim right before his famous “Dog Whisperer” article came out! One individual session with him and a follow-up group training helped us understand patterns of leadership and reward in ‘the pack,’ and we were able to turn things around very quickly. We all lived in peace for 7 years. It was a bit of a miracle!
Over the next 7 years, however, we lightened up on leadership and failed to follow through with the socialization training that Jim had also recommended.
We were satisfied with peace in our home, and we simply avoided other dogs and did all the wrong things during walks that actually increased Lily’s difficulties in getting along with other dogs. After we lost our dear Maggie in August, we wanted to add another dog to our home – but our first attempt to bring a dog home was a disaster, with all kinds of growling and snapping.
We decided that we needed more work with Jim before we could try again. In 3 sessions, he again worked miracles. By the end of our first visit with Jim, Lily (who was always afraid of men) was sitting by him, wagging her tail, looking for more treats! We diligently did our ‘homework’, and during Jim’s second visit, we were able to bring in a sweet ‘visitor’ dog we were hoping to adopt from Gulf Coast Cocker Spaniel Rescue.
Jim worked miracles once more in helping Lily ‘meet’ Max in a controlled way that allowed her to be successful and get rewards. By our third training session, the 2 dogs were playing in the yard, off leash. Our whole family was amazed at the transformation, and I couldn’t stop smiling as I watched Lily and Max chase each other and play politely.
There is still work to do, but I have the skills and confidence I need – and our family is now complete again, with Max as Lily’s new brother. Jim was fabulous throughout the process – always available for email Q&A and consistently encouraging and positive about what a good dog Lily really was. He was right – we just needed to learn how to encourage the right behaviors in a positive way.
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