4 Paws Academy - Dog Training, Obedience, Agility, Daycare, Day School and Boarding in Rutland, VT

Please help us congratulate the oldest member of the DOTM club.

Bailey is a 9 year old lab who came to us with a number of bites on his record. He is as sweet as could be but he had a few triggers that lead to bad situations. We started by creating a clear pack structure, good basic obedience, self-control and focus on the owners. From there we worked on his triggers and got them to a point where he now realizes that his desire to go forward is the cue to turn and leave the situation and focus on something else.  At this point in his training he is working on staying in the situation and being able to function in a social and appropriate way, at which he is doing great.

So congratulations to Bailey and his owners on a job well done. Keep up the good work.

Stoli is a 5 year old rescue Malinois owned by Lisa Wood. She came to us as an over stimulated dog with a low threshhold for threat, low bite inhibition, and a very small amount of focus but lots of desire. Lisa has been driving here from NH to get Stoli some help.

With all the work that they have put in it is great to see such big improvements. She has seen people that knew the old Stoli and they can’t believe that she is the same dog. Lisa and Stoli still have a lot of work ahead of them but they are off to much more than a great start. Keep up the good work.

Please join us in congratulating Stoli and Lisa on putting in the work and beginning to reap the benefits.

For those of you who don’t know her, we would like to introduce you to Scout! She is a 1.5 year old Border Collie mix with all the energy, intelligence, and herding of a working Border Collie and none of the qualities of whatever she is mixed with.  She is a sweet and loving dog that came to us with some “aggression “ towards dogs and a desire to kill the neighboring farms chickens (and she had already been successful at least once).

Now, with a lot of thoughtful work and the help of a small amount of day school she is doing great. We have seen vast improvements in her social skills, obedience, and a lack of killing chickens. Every week when she comes in we can see improvement which is the sign of an owner and dog team that is working hard to get things right.

Acer is a 9 month old Australian Shepherd whom was so crazy when she had first came to us; her owner contemplated whether she was going to be the right dog for their family.  Ann Marie buckled down and really focused on all the important parts of a good foundation in pack structure, engagement, and basic obedience.  After working for a few weeks she was already starting to see good improvement. Then after a few more weeks she was able to take Acer for short runs and would run alongside her bike.  Although she took a little time off for the winter and will be continuing classes in the spring, Acer continues to improve through hard work and some help from day school.  So just remember if you put your mind to it and really focus on the training you can help mold your dog into that dog you want.

Sienna is a very special dog. She is lucky to be alive, to have the owners she has, and to have found a place that would help her through the tough times to come.

Sienna was found in an abandoned apartment and had been in there for around two weeks. When she was found she was on the table and they thought that she was a garbage bag because she was so emaciated and almost dead.

When she was back in good health she was adopted with the understanding that she loved people and dogs. Come to find out she was so dysfunctional that she wanted to eat most people and dogs. Now most people would have sent her back to the rescue but Danielle decided that Sienna was her dog now and that she was going to do all she could to give her a good life while at the same time keep everyone safe. She was told to put the dog down, that she was un-trainable, and or too far gone until she came here. I told her that we would do the best we could but it would be a lot of work.

Danielle has done every bit of the work that she has needed to do over the last 4 ½ years. At this point she can go on trial rides with the horses, walk in town and be social, she even had a German Shepard jump the fence, run up to her and bite her in the head and her response was to back away and look to Danielle for help.  Danielle even was able to adopt another dog.

She is doing fantastic and is still getting better. We are very proud of her.

Congratulations Sienna and Danielle!

Tango is a 1 year, 5 month old male Belgian Shepherd.  He came to us at 11 months old needing human/animal socialization, confidence and basic obedience.  He has done the Foundation program and has moved on to the second level where he is excelling. Tango is a bright young dog and his willingness to work is really showing as he continues on in his classes and day school.  He has great focus and is extremely devoted to his owner.

Join us in welcoming him to the Dog Of The Month club here at 4 Paws Academy. Congratulations Tango!

Jett is a boxer mix and was rescued with the rest of his litter at 8 weeks old. When Jet first came to us at 3 years old he could hardly handle being in the room with other dogs.

Classes were a struggle but his owner was determined to help him through his aggression to a happier life. She worked hard and it has paid off. Even though he is not perfect with his owner, they are moving in the right direction. He now happily plays with other dogs and works hard during day school. He has made a great turn around.

We are looking forward to the day when he is as good with his owner as he is with us.

Sadie is an 8 month beagle, and as everybody knows beagles can be very difficult to train. Sadie proves to be an exception to that rule, she loves training and pleasing anyone and everyone that she meets. Despite not feeling quite ready for this gift puppy, her owner has done a wonderful job being consistent and clear in her training and everyday life.  With the knowledge that she already has and experience she will gain in the next program Sadie is quickly becoming one of those dogs that she will be able to take anywhere and do anything with, which is what we all strive for with our dogs.

Please join us in giving Sadie and her owner Michelle a congratulations on being our newest dog of the month.

Help us congratulate our newest dog of the month “Phoenix”!

Phoenix is a 1.5 year old mix that her owners Brian and Rebecca adopted at 9 months old.  When they came to their second class they had their hands full with a blur of something on the end of the leash.   Through their hard work, clear expectations, and consistency you can now tell they have a nice calm and polite dog with a real zest for life on the end of that leash; although she still has her moments because after all she is only a puppy.  Not only are they diligent in their training but they also give Phoenix the appropriate amount of exercise needed to help her stay in a settled state of mind.  They are in a very good spot heading into their second round of classes, and if they are not yet they should be considering therapy dog work with her.

We are happy to have her as a part of the 4 paws community and now as one of the few dog of the month inductees.

Please join the 4 Paws team in congratulating the dog of the month for August 2012, Apollo. Apollo is a handsome three year old German Shepard dog. He has just finished his first round of classes (the foundation program) in the “We Train You Maintain” program and is looking forward to furthering his education.

Apollo and his owners Ausra and Josh have done a fantastic job of being clear with their expectations and following through with the consistency needed to create such a great dog that can go anywhere and do anything with them. Thy also really invested themselves in the marker system and are seeing the benefits to having a dog truly understands the markers and is there for able to learn new behaviors and understand what you want fast.

We look forward to working with them some more, having Apollo in day school, and seeing him grow into that we all would love to have.

Congratulations again

Nathan and the 4 paws crew