I am a long-time Dogboys loyal customer. My two dogs, Lambert and Keaton started going to dog camp at the dog ranch in 2000. I traveled a great deal for work and have felt that there is no better place for my dogs to be well cared for and have a great time other than at Dogboys. Over the years, Lambert began to age and became a regular under the desk in Reception.  What other place on earth do you feel like your dog actually has a second home that she is completely comfortable in?

Sadly, we lost Lambert in November of 2005.  In March 2006, I knew that Keaton needed a new companion, so off to the Humane Society we went.  It was there that we fell in love with Hazel.  A Doberman/shepherd and something else mix. She was a great puppy and a good addition to our family.  As she got house broken and leash trained, she started to show aggressive behaviors.  My husband and I watched, many, many episodes of the Dog Whisperer and tried many ideas that were delivered on the show.  We would see some progress and then yet another type of aggressive behavior would appear.  We even started calling her a 'red zone' dog.  She would charge anything and everyone on our walks. She would nip at Keaton and even at our knees to try to get to a neighborhood cat, dog or squirrel.  It was getting to the point where my husband and I dreaded our usually peaceful and relaxing morning and evening walks.  Everything in the house seemed fine as far as we were concerned. She was quite the 'lover' dog and she did not jump on people nor was territorial.  It seemed as if the walks were her setting off point.

Later in 2006 we found out we were expecting our first child in January 2007.  We kept saying that we needed to do something about this dog.  I would not be travelling anymore, but my husband would for his job and I needed to be able to walk 2 dogs and push a stroller.  And at her current state, Hazel would have to stay at home.  This defeated the whole purpose of getting some exercise and getting in some good sniffing. We tried the treadmill and throwing balls for both dogs in the back yard before walks to get rid of some of her energy.  That didn't work.  We knew we needed professional help.

So, in December, I called Bart "Dogboy" and made an appointment.  He came down to our house right away and took us through his program and Dog University.  He assessed out household and how we interact with the dogs inside the house, in the yard and on our walks. All of this with positive feedback instead of corrections.  It only took 2 hours one evening.  One hour for consultation and 1 hour of walking.  It was really great to have both my husband and myself there to listen and watch Bart that evening.  It helped us remind each other of how to behave, etc., etc.  She made SLOW progress.  Some days, she would be absolutely fantastic and others it was like she had no training at all.  I was getting more and more concerned as the baby was arriving the next month.

After a couple of months of being diligent humans, we saw a big change in Hazel.  She has become that great dog on walks.  Other regular dog walkers in out neighborhood no longer turn the other direction when they see us coming. They now smile at us and don't think we can't control our dog. She walks like a happy dog, getting plenty of sniffs in and now just takes a look at other dogs and cats on our daily adventures.  We make quite a sight when I have the baby strapped in the Baby Bjorn and a dog in each hand.

Thanks to Bart for everything!  It was some simple things that we were just not getting anywhere else and believing that we needed to make changes almost everywhere in our interaction with our dogs.  He really understood our particular needs.  He did not try to put us in a particular category, but took the time to understand our household and that the dogs are treated as children, just furry ones.

We have moved a little further away from Dogboys Dog Ranch, but we will ALWAYS make the drive to take our dogs there while we are out of town.  I have never come across a better place that treats dogs exceptionally well and lets them be dogs.  It is truly like dropping them off at camp!  They are always asleep in the back of my car by the time I get out of the drive.

Thanks Bart, Courtney and everyone at Dogboys!!!

Love,

Keaton and Hazel's Mom and Dad

Diane and Stefan Mueller ( and Kai)