Training for Male Dogs

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MarkOut^® Success Stories!

One and a half years later...

It has been about one and a half years since I contacted you and we began a dog training program for our two poodles, Cocoa and Rascal.  I just wanted to let you know that we think its one of the best decisions we could have made.

As you remember, our major concern was with Cocoa, our 14½  year old poodle, who has been a problem for as long as I have had him. (All 14½ years)  Although he always had his doggie door and knew how and when to use it, he had a bad habit of wetting and marking many areas in the house.  A year after my first husband passed away, my daughters and I moved in with my sister and my two dogs had to become outdoor dogs for the first time in their lives.

About 7 months later, I bought a townhouse and the dogs were once again indoor pets.  Cocoa began his usual bad tricks again, marking and wetting.  When I married Russ, it didn't take very long before he became upset with Cocoa and we decided something had to be done!  That's when I called you.

You came to the house and surveyed the situation and offered what turned out to be invaluable suggestions.  We decided to put both dogs through your At-Home dog training.  Its not true that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

The idea of confining Cocoa to a single room or outside was not an option.  It had been tried, and he about destroyed everything around him trying to get inside or out of a confined room.  However, when you thought of the idea of wrapping an ace bandage around him with a pad inside, we thought it was worth a try.  He was to wear it all the time when we were gone.  The doggie door was closed.  If Cocoa decided to mark anything in the house, he would have to wear the wet wrap until we were home to let him out.  He didn't like the wet wrap.  He slept in our room at night so that he couldn't wet anywhere during the night either.

After several months we tried it without the wrap and allowed him to use the doggie door all the time.  Even at his age, he had learned tht it was better to go out the doggie door than to wear that wrap. He quit wetting everywhere and we were delighted.

Both dogs are much better behaved and more responsive after their training.  And what a difference it has made with Cocoa!  We have just recently moved into a new house.  We were worried that since it was all new to him, that he would need to mark everything.  It did happen - only once though.  Without his recent training, I just know we would have had the same problems we used to have.  You can imagine how pleased we are with his good behavior!

Thanks so much for your help in making our lives much more pleasant and helping our dogs to be happy and proud of themselves.

Sincerely,

Pat Stephens

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