Ari & Ozzy’s Transformation: The Power of Force Free Training

Date: 2024-06-25   |   Author: Shannon Noonan

This is Ari and Ozzy. These two brothers are Australian Cattle mixes. We’ve had them for a little over a year, with their second birthdays being this August. When we decided to adopt, we decided to rescue from a shelter in Texas.

The adoption process was very smooth and their foster was great, giving us all the information we thought we needed. We knew they were nervous. We knew they would need some ‘extra’ effort. Needless to say, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

It’s been a rocky road with the brothers and we’ve had some incidents that were really hard to come back from. There have been times where we thought, this is too much. But the most difficult one to swallow was a bite. One of the boys bit a human. It wasn’t a little nibble, it was a very frightening bite that sent someone to the hospital for several stitches. It was devastating for all involved. After this we began muzzle training—something I knew nothing about and had such a stigma about that I didn’t know if I could be seen in public with my dog again.

We knew at this point we needed outside help. All the online articles and training videos we were watching online weren’t going to be enough. This is when we met Shannon, with Spot on Dog Training. Shannon came to our home for a consult and very briefly met the boys. She told us that we might just need to be okay with the fact that sharing our dogs with others might never happen, and we need to learn to be okay with that. We didn’t really understand the methodology of force-free training at the time. So we looked elsewhere. With all the conflicting information, we ultimately decided we wanted the boys to feel as little fear as possible in this journey. So we chose Shannon.

Shortly after, our boys had a fight—a vicious brawl, leaving punctures and blood everywhere. Shannon was the very first person I reached out to after their vet. She walked me through what to do. Shannon helped give us the knowledge and tools we needed to get to where we are today. She also referred us to the AVC to Dr. Karen Overall’s Behaviour Medicine clinic.

We don’t think we’ll ever be done, as there is always so much to learn. But we can now take the boys out and you would think they were different dogs. We can take them just about anywhere with the right preparation and they can enjoy life with us. At our last appointment Shannon said something to me that nearly made my heart stop. She said, “I do believe that sharing these boys with people is now a realistic goal.” I can’t thank Shannon enough for all the time, effort and patience she’s put into the well-being of Ari and Ozzy. If you’re on the fence about force-free training like we were, hop down and give it a try.