PARKER MALONE

Parker is a rescue Border Collie who Lisa found on Petfinder.com and adopted in 2004. Parker demonstrates class exercises (and provide comic relief) and helps out during in-home training sessions. 

Border Collies are sensitive and can be highly reactive and Parker is no different. His tendencies toward problem behaviors with people and aggression towards strange dogs have been prevented through the use of positive training methods.

Parker earned his Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification in 2006 and he and Lisa compete in Disc Dog sports. Parker's second name, Malone, is in honor of an old friend and great frisbee dog.

DUGAN 2003-2004

Dugan was a very special Great Dane/Coonhound mix that was adopted by Lisa when he was 6 months old. Dugan had never been socialized to more than a handful of people and had only lived with other dogs. For the first 2 months that he was with Lisa, he would not leave his crate or take food from her hand. With patience and positive methods, Dugan slowly began to trust Lisa more and even attended some group classes.

Sadly, Dugan died at the age of 15 months after a short but brave battle with cancer.

MAC 1993-2003

Lisa didn't know much about dogs 15 years ago when she saw a box of free puppies outside of the grocery store. The puppies were only 5 weeks old and the mother was not present. Over the years, Mac developed into a wonderful family pet. Smart, affectionate and a bit of clown. As he grew older, however, he began exhibiting some disturbing signs of aggression towards strangers and other dogs.

It wasn't until Mac was 7 years-old that Lisa started working with a trainer who used positive reinforcement to change Mac's behavior. Through those methods, Lisa and Mac made huge strides, in spite of the other trainers who told her he was too old, too dominant and/or too aggressive to help.

It was because of Mac that Lisa discovered a passion for working with dogs and learning to help them become happier, more well-behaved family members.