Our Success Stories
Amie and Liberty
When I started my dog training odyssey in Texas, I was assigned two rescue dogs to train for the certification process. I had completed an interview process and advised the instructor that I wanted to work with male German Shepherds, as I prefer large dogs, and my pack at home was males (I wanted to keep with that trend). I got Dakota… SHE was this smaller fox-looking psychopath who couldn’t stand still or stop barking. This dog was way out of my league and eventually made me into the well-rounded trainer I am today.
After being bit multiple times and getting a black eye, I realized I needed Dakota more than she needed me, so Dakota was adopted and renamed Liberty Eire; Eire is an Irish word meaning Ireland, I love Ireland and I LOVE Liberty.
Liberty taught me about reactivity, leash pressure, confidence, consistency, patience, and grace; she is now the most crisp in her cue response compared to the rest of my crew, she listens to the first request (except sometimes when there’s a squirrel or rabbit), and she stands in the tub for her monthly bath without pitching a fit cause she knows it’s going to happen one way or the other.
This is a success story for both of us; Liberty, who went from the streets of Houston, Texas, to a kill list, to a Shepherd rescue, to Starmark Academy, to home in Waite Park, Minnesota and me from a timid, well-intentioned newbie to someone who knows that training a human is hard work and takes perseverance.
Jeannine and Doug
I wanted to express my appreciation for your work with my Doug. I had concerns with regard to him being aggressive toward my son and his friend. You were immediately responsive to my concerns, picked up Doug and completed an evaluation through experiences and through dialogue with me. It was determined that Doug was resource guarding versus being an overall aggressive dog. Some strategies were shared with me, and they have been successful. You've continued to provide me with strategies and suggestions specific to working with Doug. I also follow your facebook page for ongoing tips to be a good dog owner. I appreciate you and your services!
Robert and Griffin
My observations of her work with dogs of all types have been outstanding. She cares for the dogs she works with and does everything she can to achieve the best results.
There is nobody I would trust more than Amie to work with my dog.
When Amie tells me of the things she has done at a local nursing home it brings me to tears.
Laurie, Ole, and Lena
A dogs behavior is a reflection of its owner's commitment to structure. 18 months ago, I found myself staring in the mirror, seeing some pretty hard truths about myself that were negatively affecting my family and life.
We have always been a Golden Retriever owning family, one dog serves six of us, and I find myself being the primary caregiver of the family pet, but every Hayward interacts with our Ole. Ole was a COVID puppy. Potty training was a breeze, but after that was mastered, training ended due to my little knowledge regarding canine behavior, Ole was as behaved as he could be with the chaos and inconsistent direction he received from our family. When the family went back to school and worked due to COVID restrictions lifting, Ole became very stressed, anxious, and difficult to manage. Once again, without a second thought, I added to the family a second Golden Retriever puppy to help with Ole being lonely because, after all, puppies always make things better. 8 weeks in, I realize my marriage is stressed, my job suffering, and I do not have a solution. This is where my K9 Odyssey Academy experience with Amie begins. Within 72 hours of contact, we had an observation session scheduled. At that session, I received information and resources on how to interact with my pets to begin to try and reset alarming behavior. We discussed objectives and strategies that, if put into practice, with help with behavior. Amie followed up with a written report/ brief synopsis of her observations and recommendations moving forward.
After that meeting, I learned there is way more to canine training than just potty training, and I was not capable of doing it all by myself.
In the weeks ahead, amie came into my home and worked individually with Ole and Lena establishing a pattern of behavior and teaching them expected communication outcomes. They thrived. Each week, she added time to communicate with me about their needs and gave me homework with them to support the progress she made. When I put the time in, we saw the benefits.
Not only did Amie add structure to my pets' lives, but she educated me on why it is so important to them. She taught me how to think and communicate with my dogs so they can understand what is expected and meet those expectations.
Throughout the course of training, if I had a question or concern, Amie addressed it and answered quickly and completely explaining why it is related to my pets individually. In situations where there were different options for training, I always felt like Amie gave me honest, educated facts and allowed me to be the decision maker for my pets.
The amount of peace brought to my life and home from properly training and communicating with my pets is immeasurable, and without K9 Odyssey Academy and Amie, we would not be a two-dog family.
For about a year now, Amie has been working with myself and Letty as a dog trainer at the nest and it has been a great experience for us both. As a result of Amie's guidance, Letty has made tremendous progress over the last year. In addition to socializing her with people, we have had the opportunity to work on her reactivity. The time Amie has taken in learning both myself and Letty has enabled me to work as a team with my dog in training her. In her work, Amie takes great care to understand the dog and dog owner in order for us to be able to work together and bring joy and understanding to both pets and owners. Amie is an excellent dog trainer who I would highly recommend to anyone who needs personalized training for their dogs.
Red and Letty
