About
Me and my boy!
We got home after a 2 hour drive in which Hunter just sat quietly in the back seat. It was late so I brought him up to my room, he jumped up on the bed and we went sleep. Two minutes later he jumped off and slept quietly on the floor until the morning.
We had hit the jackpot! A perfect rescue. Having not had a rescue before I didn’t know it takes months for the real dog to show himself.
In October 2017, my daughter decided to adopt a dog on a Thursday night and found one who was supposedly good with dogs, cats and everything on Friday. By that night we were driving back with Hunter from the rescue.
We went on a walk and he was crazy and turned out reactive, loud and obnoxious. I was glad when we got home without injury.
When we got home we also learned he did not like cats as promised too.
He was wild, crazy, anxious and needed constant attention.
What did I get myself into? It was exhausting.
I needed help. Literally when I needed a brake from him barking, mouthing and being a pest, I’d go sit in the garage because it was winter and cold and he didn’t handle being locked in a room well nor being in a crate without me in sight.
So I called a few trainers, a few came out and one or two scared me at what they did.
Finally I met Heesun at Pet Karma Dog Training and that’s when things started to get better. She was force free and we concentrated on behavior modification and training. Mostly it was training me.
She also suggested nose work. What a difference maker.
Hunter is a working dog breed being half Lab along with some German Shepherd, Chow and Alaskan among others. He needed to work his mind to feel content and calm down and be able to relax.
Nose work gave him a job, motivation, improved focus, and gave him an outlet for all his energy. 5 minutes of nose and scent work can be more fulfilling and tiring than a 5 mile jog!
Hunter was a crazy high-strung rescue and now is an awesome well-behaved (for the most-part) dog.
I decided to build this app because I couldn’t find one. I do it in my little spare time when I am not working or spending time with family or doing nose work with Hunter. If you like it, consider buying me a coffee below or upgrade to pro version or a subscription. It’ll help defray some the costs involved.
Hunter and I continue to train and are starting to compete with nose work.
If you are in NJ, the following are both highly recommended trainers for getting started with or continuing to train in nose and scent work and training in general.
Heesun @ Pet Karma Dog Training
Lisa @ Canine Partnership
