My friend found a pit/dobie mix on the street and adopted him. He was covered in old bite marks and you could see in his ripped ear, eyelid, and tounge tip that he had gotten chewed up probably more than once. My friend named him Jackson.
He was a mess but sweet. He got along with my dog just great but any other dog he saw on walks would send him in to a frenzy and often, whoever was walking him got badly bitten.
It didn't matter if the dog was walking in front of us a half block, heading toward us on the opposite side of the street, he was terrified and wanted to attack them. No dog was too small or too young to pose a threat. When he couldn't get to them he'd go for our legs if we weren't quick enough to stay out of his range.
My friend tried a personal trainer and while she made some headway, we would still run into trouble and we had no tools other than getting away from the other dog to avoid the danger and that wasn't always possible.
It was stressful and scary to think what might happen if he got loose. The trainer took him to her house for week for intensive training where he ended up attacking her cat while left unsupervised and crated in her house. It was clearly time to find another option. The pound? Euthanasia? We were almost at a loss.
I said, "Try Man's Best Friend. They've been around for at least 20 years. I know they deal with training protection dogs maybe they can help."
We weren't too sure if MBF was anything more than a dog training factory, or a place that might train him into a fearful, cringing dog. We met with Eric, who obviously loves dogs and he answered all our questions and told us loads of stories of dogs that came in way more aggressive than Jackson. He was confident Jackson was trainable and my friend signed him up for the following month.
On returning home that evening he got loose on a walk and went careening through the neighborhood and attacked two other dogs on a walk with their owner. Somehow my friend got there in time to pull him off before anyone was badly hurt but it was terrifying to think how badly things could have been. Jackson went to MBF the next morning.
Malcolm was his trainer and he was able to do what we and the other trainer could not. More importantly, he's taught us how to do what he does so we can reinforce what Jackson learned in his 2-week stay at MBF. He's been out now for month and we go to the Saturday group classes every week. Today during the "down, stay" portion of class, Jackson was lying down and rolling over while surrounded by dogs! I almost started to cry, it was so wonderful to see him relaxed and enjoying himself.
Walks now are great! No pulling and almost no reactions to other dogs and if there is a reaction we know how to correct it quickly and well before the frenzy sets in, thanks to Malcolm.
Jackson's so much happier now and he loves being praised when he's just walked past another dog without reacting. He actually prances a bit! And he adores Malcolm!!! Loves seeing him each week and getting attention from him.
Everyone that I've talked to at MBF adores dogs and it's such a great feeling knowing how much they care about your dog. MBF is definitely not a dog training factory. They are a wonderful, talented, and passionate group of people who probably have saved hundreds of dogs from the pound, euthanasia, abandonment, or imprisonment in a backyard.
Jackson is becoming the dog we dreamed of, balanced, relaxed, and happy. We're looking forward to seeing how much he progresses in the months to come!
P.S. My own dog just started his training at MBF this week!
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