Jacob, the German Shepherd

Jacob is a 3-year-old German shepherd dog who began training for obedience and aggressive behavior in January 2018. Read on for his story and frequent updates about training, as reported by his owner, Terry.

In the series of videos below, you can observe the frustration and despair from Jacob’s owner, as well as see the damage he’s done to their home from unrestrained behavior, even after a year of “training” with a different trainer.

I show you all of the devices that the previous trainer required that have made no impact on his destructive and out-of-control behavior.

Also, I do an assessment of his basic obedience, demonstrating that he has negligible obedience skills, in spite of the outrageous cost of previous training.

Jacob - An Exasperated Owner, tells of her frustrations.

Jacob - Damage to the house from dog.

We are having issues with our 3 year old German Shepherd, Jacob. Jacob would act aggressive to friends and family when they came over for a visit. Even when someone is pulling up in the driveway, he is acting aggressive and scratches up the front door.

This session, Rick walked in with a friend of ours. Jacob was able to behave on leash and off leash, both while our friend was sitting and walking around. We have a long way to go but this is a great start.

“On today’s session with Rick we met at a public park. We worked on Jacob heeling left and right and positive reinforcement. I am still feeling clumsy with working the commands with the leash. It just doesn’t feel natural for me. We encountered two women with a boxer/pit and older boxer who showed a lot of interest in Jacob. We redirected ourselves and Rick walked me through the situation.

We discussed certain warning indicators, not because of the breed of dog but the behavior the dogs and handlers were displaying. I am not comfortable walking Jacob past another dog, let alone two dogs but Rick said it is something I’m going to have to work through. I am still very tense during training and it shows in my handling of the leash. We did a new training exercise today which was fun and worked on Jacob walking next to me off leash. I am seeing some progress in Jacob since we began trading. Well actually, I am seeing progress in myself also.”

“On today’s session with Rick we met at a public park. We worked on Jacob heeling left and right and positive reinforcement. I am still feeling clumsy with working the commands with the leash. It just doesn’t feel natural for me. We encountered two women with a boxer/pit and older boxer who showed a lot of interest in Jacob. We redirected ourselves and Rick walked me through the situation.

We discussed certain warning indicators, not because of the breed of dog but the behavior the dogs and handlers were displaying. I am not comfortable walking Jacob past another dog, let alone two dogs but Rick said it is something I’m going to have to work through. I am still very tense during training and it shows in my handling of the leash. We did a new training exercise today which was fun and worked on Jacob walking next to me off leash. I am seeing some progress in Jacob since we began trading. Well actually, I am seeing progress in myself also.”

In this video, Rick interviews Terry about what he saw when he came for a training appointment and rang the doorbell. Terry discusses the substantial improvement in Jacob’s manners in his 9 appointments so far. Before training, Terry had no control through basic obedience, in spite of several training sessions with a previous trainer. Jacob would not listen and was unruly and destructive. After these 9 sessions, Terry now has voice control over Jacob, without using any training tools, because he has been trained with tools that are humane and effective.

This is the real beginning for Terry and her husband and Jacob. They now have a different life for themselves because they have a different relationship with their dog. Many opportunities open up for them that were previously inconceivable, such as going out of town on a trip and boarding Jacob at a facility. We are continuing to work with these owners and Jacob to expand what they can do together. There is even more in store for them in being able to have social and family gatherings, which Terry has expressed much enthusiasm for in the past. Terry’s close friends and relatives are beginning to see that Jacob is an obedient and valued pet, rather than an unruly terrorizer of the home of his owners!

In this video, Terry discusses how Jacob is doing now that he is integrated into sessions with other dogs. This would have been impossible for this dog one year ago. She is enthusiastic about how far he’s come and looks forward to being able to trust him in social situations with strangers. The fact that she’s building a kennel for him outside is remarkable improvement, as one year ago, he could not even be trusted outside without serious supervision and a leash.

Terry also talks about the effort required to consistently work with Jacob with his exercises and socialization, especially as the holidays sneak up on her.

“Jacob is doing fantastic right now.” He has one more session before he can graduate! I will stay in close contact with Terry for the next few months, in the event Jacob has any serious issues. If we act fast to correct mistakes, both Jacob and Terry can settle in to trusting each other and knowing that Jacob is a reliable companion.