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-----Original Message-----
From: Melissa J Dujnic <melissa.dujnic@gmail.com>
To: coche123@aol.com
Sent: Tue, Mar 9, 2010 4:06 pm
Subject: Many Thanks
Paula and Dave
I know it has been almost a year since I first contacted you, but I wanted to officially say Thank You!
When I first called Complete Canine I was looking for help trying to get my dog, Gabby, and cat, Mollie, to get along – or at least tolerate each other. Gabby had several issues – loud noises, fast movements, cats, door bells to name a few – all stemming from before I adopted her, some known at adoption and some discovered as the weeks passed. Both of you, at the initial home visit for behavior modification, taught me, very patiently and without making me feel like an idiot, how to be alpha in the relationship with Gabby and how to begin to address the many issues she has. You addressed everything from posture and tone of voice to feeding practices. All of which made an immediate difference in my and Gabby’s life – for the better.
We also began to address Gabby’s issues with my cat – which will always exist, but are now at least manageable.
Although I had initially just wanted the in home behavior session, I elected to continue with training and behavior modification sessions with Complete Canine tailored to Gabby and her needs. Through these sessions, you taught me how not to enable Gabby’s fears and that what may be comforting to me and make me feel like everything was okay, would only reinforce or make Gabby think that her fears/stress/anxiousness was warranted and that everything was not in fact okay. We measured success in small steps, and I still do today – she no longer cringes when I shake out a clean garbage bag and she no longer jumps when I drop pots and pans – rather she comes to investigate. Though she still has issues with men –they get to be fewer and farther between and she has now been known to greet total strangers on walks or at the dog park and decide that that man is her new best friend.
The best success however, was our recent move to the Washington, D.C. metro area – Gabby traveled to DC with no problems, and upon arriving tolerated the moving men and chaos of the day better than I could have ever imagined. She also adjusted to her new surroundings within a week and has completely adopted the place as home. This would not have been possible without both of you training me in the proper way to address situations that are stressful for Gabby. Our successes have been many – and we do have our set-backs – we are constantly a work in progress, especially on walks where she still thinks that one day I will let her lead (fat chance!).
Mollie by the way - she is still alive and kicking and taunting Gabby through the baby gates. Gabby tolerates her so long as she remains in “the cat area” of the apartment and charges at the baby gates are few and far between as she has learned that they will not get a response out of me. I want you to know that although I elected not to continue the training with respect to Gabby and Mollie, I fully believe that you would have achieved complete success in getting them to exist in the same room had I had the strength to continue it.
I always recommend Complete Canine to my friends in the CNY Area – my experience has been the best, and I am thankful that I can always shoot you questions I have.
Thank you – for making our lives better
Melissa, Gabby and Mollie
