A technician at our veterinarian’s office recommended we talk with Nick after our 9-year old German Shorthaired Pointer (Belle) attacked our 4 month old Shorthair puppy (Maddie)—twice. We knew Maddie was annoying—she has LOTS of energy—but we assumed our older dog was the major problem. We were very close to either finding a new home for Maddie (who was a Christmas gift, and future hunting companion, for me and my daughter!) or moving Belle (my long-time hunting companion) to my parents’ house. But, Nick offered several options to help us out—in-home visits, individual training sessions at his facility, or ‘puppy boot camp’ to work with both dogs at his facility for a couple of weeks. We chose the in-home training sessions because of our hectic schedules, and he was happy to oblige. It didn’t take long for Nick to realize that, although our older dog Belle has a “quick trigger” that needed attention, our pup Maddie had tremendous drive, attitude, energy, and stubbornness. All of this under one roof, along with our 4-year old daughter, was just too difficult for Belle to handle. Nick put us on a program to work with both dogs together, each dog individually, and to change up their typical routine. With the combination of Belle’s routine and Maddie’s drive and energy, it took a true commitment from us (parents and child!) to do the work, but Nick’s advice, training sessions, and ‘re-programming’ has worked. Our dogs are now civil with each other, play together, and practice pointing each other in the backyard. They love to hunt and run together now, and we have the household back under control. Because Maddie has such drive and intelligence, Nick has taken Maddie on as a personal challenge—we are all working to prepare her for various levels of obedience certification in the coming months and years. If you want to see a success story, come visit our household; if you want to hear some funny stories, simply ask Nick about “Maddie the GSP!”
~Written by Brian W. Smith and Rebecca Smith of Frankfort, Kentucky
