04/15/2025
✨PHINEAS & LEO’S TESTIMONIAL✨
Leo is a 7-year-old (almost 8!) Great Pyrenees/Coonhound mix. We adopted Leo as a baby at about 8 weeks. Leo has always been a dog that asserted dominance at every chance he got, and very stubborn at times. He was selectively reactive with people and other animals, so his random behaviors made us nervous to have him around new people and pets. He would jump on people and bark in their faces, as well as pull on the leash and try to rush at other dogs and bark until they were out of view despite being socialized since he was a puppy (we work in a vet hospital, so he is extremely good at the vet and used for demonstrations). We were referred to G&S from a coworker where we saw the results for ourselves. We were initially hesitant to put Leo through training since he was older, but George and Sarai were fantastic from start to finish. They made us feel confident in us making the choice to start Leo and his brother Phineas together in training. We're so thankful for all their work with our big boy. Leo came back a gentleman after his two weeks puppy training. He is still the big aloof boy that we know and love and we see him happy in his training, but he is also much better behaved and with an understanding of boundaries. It makes us so happy that others see the changes in our Leo as well. We're so proud to see him in down-stay calmly as distractions pass him by. He has even allowed a couple of our clients at the hospital say hello and pet him!
Phineas is a 5-year-old Treeing Walker Coonhound/Beagle mix that we rescued at about 10 weeks old. Phineas has always been a sweetheart of a dog, but with an extreme amount of separation anxiety. It took us about a year to potty train him due to all his random accidents, and even re-trained him to ring a bell. He did not tolerate crate training at ALL. The first year of his life, he would have random accidents every day, peed and pooped in his kennel every single day followed by non-stop barking (to the point of multiple noise complaints) ripped up half of the carpet in our apartment, and overall separation anxiety. We had tried everything for him. We had done everything from training to calming supplements, to consulting with a veterinary behaviorist where we tried multiple medications that helped some but did not eliminate the problem. We were genuinely concerned he would not have a good quality of life, or have to rehome him due to his anxiety. Throughout his life, we essentially had to take him to work with us every day (to avoid coming home to accidents to clean up), and he was very much a Velcro dog (more so towards Denise). He was also somewhat fearful, and extremely attached to his older brother, but this led to him starting to pick up bad habits from Leo (reactive to other dogs). G&S has performed miracles for Phineas. Phineas came back a confident dog, and he always loves his training. Putting him through G&S training has helped build so much trust between Phineas and us, and he has only gotten better with every session. Phineas is so attentive to us, but also takes his own space and is overall so much happier and independent. G&S really helped us see how much potential Phineas has and how to help him achieve it. We are super confident with Phineas off-leash, and in every aspect like walking, down-stay, etc. He also now willingly goes into his crate and our dog cameras show him napping, or sitting quietly. No more panting, shaking, biting the bars, or barking constantly. This is the result we weren't sure we'd ever see with him!
George and Sarai's training was completely worth the investment. They made this whole experience feel not just like a client/business transaction, but we really feel like friends. They really gave us the space to be honest about our fears and expectations, ask questions without judgement, and listen to us fully. Their regular updates when the boys were boarded, answering all of our questions (we had so many), helping us become better owners, their patience as we navigated training and learning with our boys, and them celebrating our little victories with us, we can't thank you enough. We're so grateful for all you've done, and will take all of your teachings with every pet we get in the future. We will always recommend you guys!
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