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The Mannerly Puppy Course Testimonials (5)

1) 2016 Student: Chris
Dog: Harley
Dog Breed: Lab
“The Mannerly Puppy Course sets a foundation between puppy and his family.
The class helps the family/puppy to trust each other, gain confidence, and excel in what they do.
Never having done obedience training before, I would highly recommend it to anyone that gets a puppy.”

 

2) 2015 Student: Robin
Dog: Summer
Dog Breed: Lab

“Hiring Roxanne was the best decision we could have made when searching for a new puppy.  Our family lost our long-time friend and companion, Breck, a wonderful yellow Lab in February 2015.  After Breck passed away, I tried to begin some research on local breeders for a puppy, which we planned to get in the fall of 2015.  We knew we wanted a Lab, and we knew the “look” in a Lab that we wanted, but that was the limit of our expertise. 

Through a mutual friend we met Roxanne, and so we reached out to her for help in finding the right dog for our family.   Immediately Roxanne began asking us questions both through the new puppy questionnaire and through conversations.  What has our experience been with previous pets?  What do we plan to do with a new dog?  Do we plan to train the dog for obedience or field work?  What is our life style like with our family?  What do we want out of a new dog?  The questions she asked showed her desire to fit us with the right dog. 

Roxanne found a local breeder that had exactly the type of dog we were looking for.  Once she found that puppies were available from this breeder, she asked us to read about them and make sure that we were comfortable with them.  After our review, we agreed this seemed to be the right fit. 

Roxanne quickly scheduled a visit to this breeder’s facility and performed the Volhard Temperament Testing on all the puppies.  This testing was great because it gave us all the traits that we could expect from the dog.  Roxanne completed the testing and decisively recommended a particular puppy to us.  We scheduled our appointment to meet the recommended puppy with our whole family.  We were extraordinarily happy with the breeder and the puppy Roxanne recommended. 

 Prior to bringing the puppy home we had many conversations with Roxanne about how to prepare.  The day we met and picked up our puppy Roxanne was in touch with us the whole time.  She never let an email or text go by without an immediate response.  We felt we were in good hands throughout this entire process. 

“Summer” is a beautiful, sweet, and confident black Lab.  Since we brought her home she has molded with our family seamlessly.  It almost feels strange how normal and comfortable we feel with this new puppy, and we truly believe that is a result of the service that Roxanne provided us in helping us find “the right puppy for our family.” 

 We look forward to working with Roxanne in training Summer to be an obedient and hard working girl. 
Thank you Roxanne!”

 3) 2015 Student: Claudia
Dog: Kit
Dog Breed: Labrador Retriever

“The Mannerly Puppy Course was my first experience taking a formal dog obedience course, and it was a wonderful introduction. This on-line course allowed me to learn and introduce basic, yet fundamental, commands to be used to develop a well-behaved puppy. The material was presented by Roxanne in a way that was clear, simple and made sense. After graduating from this course, my puppy Kit and I developed a connection that allowed us to smoothly transition into Roxanne’s Foundation Course.”

4) 2016 Student/Breeder: Ellen
Dog: Joy
Dog Breed: Labrador Retriever
“Would you recommend this Course to others? Definitely!!! As a seasoned breeder of Labrador Retrievers, Roxanne's Puppy Class has become a requirement for my adoptive families so that they can have great success with their new puppy!  It's a Win! Win! for all.”

5) 2015 Student: Jerry
Dog: Iko
Dog Breed: German Shepherd
“Now that Iko, our 19 week old GSD “pup” has had the benefit of Roxanne’s Puppy Training, I’ve had time to reflect on what I learned. I realize that all dogs and handlers are different, so outcomes may vary; but there are, in my opinion, a few key elements of Roxanne’s approach which are critical and priceless!

Boundaries: you MUST set strict physical and behavioral limits. You must delineate for the pup from Day 1 where he is permitted and forbidden to go in the house [e.g. dog bed is OK, but human sofa is not]. This, of course, also means where dog is allowed to relieve himself (outdoors!). Included in ‘boundaries’ Roxanne emphasizes the importance of teaching the pup “place” so he knows there’s a safe and secure spot in an area. Pups must also be taught their behavioral boundaries: chewing doggie toys is OK, but “mouthing” your hand is not. 

Freedom of choice: Within the physical and behavioral boundaries you have laid down, the pup must be allowed to make decisions. Licking my hand is OK, biting my hand is not; but if I never offer my hand, he will never learn what is appropriate behavior. Walking on a long line, the pup will be able to decide for himself to follow you; whereas if you drag him alongside you on a short leash, you’ll have major difficulty when it comes to off-leash training. 

If you have an older, well-behaved, dog in the house, let him/her help with the puppy training: we have been astounded by how much our older dog has taught our pup about appropriate dog behavior. Without Roxanne’s admonition that we have to “let them work it out” even if the big dog reprimands the pup sternly, we surely would have interceded to “protect” the pup. Now they have a wonderful, respectful relationship and the pup has a phenomenal mentor, instead of two jealous competitors each vying for our affection and protection. Also, if it weren't for Roxanne's good counsel, we would have brought a puppy into our house before "big dog" was mature enough to handle it. 

You don’t need tangible reinforcement: we do give the pup treats occasionally, but, as Roxanne emphasizes, it’s amazing how much he will work to earn your praise and stroking and affection. 

Finally, we learned that you, and everyone in your household, MUST be consistent in the way you interact with the pup. And you must be fair; i.e. you can't expect your pup to do things which you have not taught him.

These are just some of the "take away" lessons from our experience in Roxanne's puppy class.”