5)

Dear Diana:

6)

Dear Diana, Bobby and Doug:

This letter is to thank you guys so much for all that you've done for our
family and for our sweet yellow lab, Lucky.  Lucky is a reformed dog because
of your dedication and perseverance.

The greatest joy for my husband Danny and I is our yellow Labador, Lucky.
Because we don't have children yet, we devote much of our time and energy to
having a great relationship with our Lucky.  We've had him since he was 6
weeks old and love him like family  

During the very early puppy stages in Lucky's life, we had my 18 year old
brother living with us which we believe attributed to Lucky's mouthiness and
aggressive tendencies towards his treats.  My brother, for fun, would take
things away from Lucky's mouth and play tug of war with Lucky with his toys
and treats.  This must have been when Lucky started to realize that he had
to guard with his mouth.  I believe that Danny and I also contributed to
Lucky's behavior by spoiling him and "humanizing" him in many ways.  We gave
Lucky free reign of the house, walked him when he whined, gave him treats
without making him do any sort of commands, gave him food first, and
basically allowed Lucky to feel like he was alpha in our familiy.

One weekend when my sister came over, Lucky took her piece of bread off the
kitchen table and ran under the bed with it.  When my sister went to go
retrieve it from him, Lucky bit her and she had to get 6 stitches in her
hand.  This initial shock made us panic and we called one of several dog
trainers right away.  The dog trainer that our vet had recommended, told us
to treat his aggression with aggression and punish him for any unwanted
behavior.  With much fear, we obeyed her, but only to learn that his
aggressiveness was only getting worse. 

On one fateful afternoon, we gave Lucky a treat before leaving to run
errands and as Danny went to pet Lucky, he raised his upper lip, growled and
bit Danny's hands.  That was the last straw.  We knew that we had to do
something.  Sadly, the thought of relinquishing Lucky became a topic of
conversation.  We knew that we could not have an aggressive dog when we were
planning for children someday.  My heart was breaking at the decisions that
lie ahead.

Through a very good friend at work, I was recommended to see Diana Foster at
Assertive K-9 Training.  I picked up Lucky and took him over to see her to
see Lucky's temperament and get her professional recommendation.  She advised
me to leave Lucky for 9-10 weeks for deep unconditioning and re-programming.
Although skeptical and very sad, I knew that the only other option would be
to put him down, which we were not ready to do until we exhausted all
possibilities.

The major issue was cost for Danny and myself, but I told Danny that if
Lucky needed a heart transplant or a surgery that would save his life, we
would absolutely do it for him, and this was no different.  We had to save
his life. 

After what seemed to be an eternity (10 weeks), we met up with Doug, Diana
and Bobby who advised us on what Lucky's new routine  - no more free reign
of  the house - and how we could continue Lucky's overwhelming progress. 

Since Lucky has come back, he is a totally obedient, loving and
non-aggressive dog.  No longer does he guard his treats, but he is more than
willing to give them up on command. 

Assertive K-9 Training really saved Lucky's life and during the 10 weeks,
they were more than willing to answer my questions and to support us.  Bobby
has been instrumental and amazing at working with Lucky and making his
training a positive and fun experience. 

Just in time for the holidays, Lucky is back with us, and we feel so blessed
at his new lease on life.

Thank you Assertive K-9 Training!!!

Grace & Danny Lee

7)

I am happy to give you our opinion of Assertive K-9 Referral. Do not hesitate if you feel you have an aggressive issue at all do not stop go directly to Corona and drop your baby off. You will never regret it. If anyone can help you with your Dog they can. Thunder is our second Rottweiler and has a wonderful temperament. As he approached three however he began to get a little "aggressive" by my definition. That is when we took him to Robert, Doug and Diane. They are incredible. They truly are. They can deal with all types of behavioral issues. For Thunder one of our biggest issues was focus when we had him out and about with other animals and other people. He also was getting a bit dominant when we had him at the beach at the park or around othe dogs. After having a VERY AGRESSIVE female Rottweiler I didn't want that again. The trainer really provided focus for Thunder. With all the other dogs around in a very safe environment your dog can be trained with focused attention while getting the appropriate socialization to work on his other tendencies. Rottweilers like to work, they like to be challenged. I believe that if you are having aggressive issues with your dog that getting him working will be one of the best things for him. By working I mean the training. They really begin to love it. Robert handled the majority of Thunders training and he was incredible. Doug and Diane also had significant roles in Thunders training. They were able to train Thunder to perform in ways I never thought possible. We live in Germany and Dogs must be fully trained here. Thunder's training brought on the results necessary for us to take him with us anywhere in Germany. He goes to Restaurants, markets, trains everywhere.

An Aggressive rottweiler is difficult to deal with, a trained focused rottweiler is an incredible gift. Take him to Diane, Robert and Doug and have them let you know what they can do. They will not pull any punches with you. If there is something in the Dogs temperament that is the issue they will let you know. If it is something you are doing they will let you know. Be open. In the end we found out it was probably me that needed the training.

If you have any additional questions please don't hesitate to let me know.

Enclosed you will find a picture of Thunder this past weekend at the Kuekenhof in Holland (Huge Tulip gardens). We had groups of tourists all day taking pictures with him around the tulips... he had so much fun..... however the key here is that the gardens were incredible crowded and Thunder sat posing (if you will) for this picture with none of us holding on to him....we would have had a really tough time pulling that off with him before.

Dartanin 

Hello from KC and Ginger who writes to us…
I thought it would be nice for you to see how great they turned out.
They both are doing great.  Thanks for everything. 

Marilyn Hoffman, CEO

Positive Steps Inc. 562-938-8353

Owner of Dutch von Zathan 10 months old

From Zathan & Holly ~ 2004 ~

The Perfect Sunset