Ginger’s Story

Ginger is a four-year-old German Shepherd we adopted at 3 yrs old.  She had been in 2 other environments and had suffered abuse, neglect, and severe depression after losing her puppies.  Ginger has been through more than I can imagine, yet she has the most soulful sweet brown eyes and such velvety soft ears.  I wanted to give her a good home.

A few days after we adopted her, we started to notice some odd behavior.  She would greet people in a friendly manner and then suddenly growl, bark, and snap.  Then her behavior continued to deteriorate; every time I left the house, I would leave her gated her in the kitchen and dining room.  I would return to everything in the kitchen trash being out all over the place and any food that was in the trash eaten.  It did not stop there; every time we have people over she growls, barks and lunges.  As much as she and I had bonded, I feared for my friends and relatives every time they came over.  Then it happened – she nipped my stepson.  I was certain we were at the end of the road.  Then I heard about Sit Means Sit.

I went to the free demo and was immediately shocked and surprised to see that after 5 minutes with Lisa, Ginger was a different dog.  I was also very taken with how much Lisa cared about my situation.  She is running a business, of course, but she really wanted to help me keep Ginger.

First we figured out that Ginger got very anxious when I left the house.  So Lisa recommended I get her a kennel.  I had only used a cage during puppy training over 15 years ago; to me it seemed mean to make Ginger be cooped up while I was gone.  But much to my surprise, I introduced Ginger to it over the next 3 days and then had her go in it when she would have been unsupervised.  I was shocked – she loved it!  She would happily go in it whenever she walked past it.  Now, leaving Ginger at home alone is no problem.  She loves her “house” as we call it.  She even sits in when the door is open and just hangs out.

That was a quick fix.  Her growling, barking, and lunging has taken a lot more work.  I have worked with Lisa through private sessions and a couple months of group classes.  Slowly, Ginger has begun trusting other people, and lets others walk her, pet her, and I have been able to introduce her to new situations with a lot less anxiety.  Ginger and I now have successfully taken several out of town trips with overnights with new people and even new dogs without issue.

I have been very impressed by how the training has helped her build confidence.  She is not a perfect 4 legged companion; she still has little quirks, but she is much more obedient and listens a lot more in distracted situations and I wouldn’t trade her for anything!

Lisa has a big heart and she is very easy to work with her.  If you have training needs for your dog, I whole-heartedly recommend Lisa and Sit Means Sit.

– Barb, Pittsburgh