update on miss hotlips' new life. yeah, not good.
i posted this review on yelp this morning-
mark twain once said- i’d have written a shorter letter, but i didnt have the time. that’s how i feel about writing this review, but here goes.
the only reason they r so highly rated is that the rly bad reviews disappear. look through the reviews, u will see fabian watches this page like i watch my twitter. there were 3 1stars when i checked b4 handing over my pup, all saying their dogs reverted to their problem behavior once home. they‘re all gone now. that’s cuz it happens all the time and they know it, so they blame the owner and make the reviews go away. whether they use threats or bribes, i guess i‘ll soon see. but fabian, dont even bother. u cant bully or bribe me.
so, i had what i thought was a perfect pup. a female old english bully. well bred bright, engaged, responsive from day 1. never failed a recall, learned basic commands quickly, eager to please and got along well w my 2 other dogs, and old male victorian bully and a big male pyrenesse cross. they were the best of buds, playing all day. til, at 15 mos, they werent and she decided she wanted to kill him. not exaggerating. viscous fights that were tough to break up.
now, this was my 12th puppy, my 16th dog. i have been training my own dogs and studying dog training/behavior since 1980. neither ignorant or stupid.
after 3 mos in hell, trying to fix it, and keep them apart, my age and health led me to turn her over to found. i’d sent 2 other dogs to them in the past and they were fine. at her evaluation, i told the trained what went wrong, what the root of the problem was, and why sop measures had backfired. no need for them to figure anything out.
i enrolled her in the 4wk program for aggressive dogs. i got back a dog that was worse. way worse.
the program is fundamentally flawed. they ignored my goals, did not even attempt to address the root cause- food guarding. such a common problem, but never addressed. they totally discounted my knowledge and experience. the head trainer pissed me off so badly i demanded someone else to do the weekly 1-1 sessions. at least i got that. her main trainer was great. she poured her heart and soul into my girl.
but because their methods r so flawed, she got much worse. she performed well there, but when she came home, and i wasnt shoveling high value treats at her all day, she reverted immediately. she had a ‘red zone’ reaction the morning after she came home.
she’s made a lot of progress since i got her back. cuz i know what i am doing. but the only benefit of her time at found was- everyone got a break from her, including me, and i found out she didnt want to attack every dog she saw, but wanted to play. this was seen in the rare ‘report card’ vids i got. the 3rd 1 of which was her w someone else’s dog, w her totally unrestrained, running around like maniacs, in and out of a room where the trainer had no sight lines. i asked them if they were insane. i told them i didnt want her to play w other dogs. i dont use day care and i dont go to dog parks. said i wanted her to work around other dogs, and ignore them completely. but play time is the staff easy time, so they continued to let her play. now, she sees another dog on a walk and goes completely berserk. from 30’ away or 100’, she whines and tries to get away from me.
my plan was to take the other dog in for a ‘tune up’, he is a graduate of boot camp, plus a week of ecollar training, then take her back for the second week, so they cd b reunited on neutral territory, and worked together. after i made my goals clear, ie, eating together in peace, i sent them a vid of the 2 bullies, eating perfect peacefully together and asked them to replicate that the best they cd. i was told this was dangerous and they wouldnt do them.
so, i bailed on that plan, picked up the other dog and will fix this myself.
i cd go on for days here about the flaws in the program, but i’ll end w- this is a persistent problem, they know it, they dont care.
i’d also advice anyone considering them to check their glassdoor review. former employees describe understaffing, and even 1 complaint of sexual harassment. i’m happy to answer questions in the comments. do not let these ppl anywhere near your dog. but
and fabian, dont even bother. you’ll be hearing from my lawyer soon. you’ll only make it worse.
y’all have f’d w the wrong old lady.
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