"Two days before Christmas 2014, I rescued a 110 lb, 8 year old Airedale Terror named Boots. His previous owner was 86 with dementia, and she was forced to hand him over to animal control. He bit two people and was quarantined with only 5 days left before he would be euthanized. The Airedale Terrier Rescue contacted me and I decided to take on the challenge and rescue Boots. I have always had Airedales and am very familiar with the breed. He was a mess with numerous medical conditions. He had to be sedated just for an exam, as he tried to bite anyone that touched him. Both of his ears and skin were infected, his thyroid levels were low, and he had a large tumor on his tail. After a few months of medications, daily baths, tail amputation, and teeth removals, he was feeling much better. He finally started to trust me a little by allowing me to massage his ears during baths, so that I could clean them. The next step was house training and he is a very mischievous 8 year old. He was obviously allowed to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. I attempted to correct him, by yelling No, after he grabbed a candy wrapper. Once he dropped it, I mistakenly thought that I could then pick the piece of paper up, and he bit me. It was so hard that I thought that he broke my hand. I was stunned as I have never experienced being bit before. A week later, I had a similar incident and he tore a hole in my pants.
I'm retired Navy and consider myself to be a leader or alpha, and felt that I have definitely met my match. I also noticed that he was always on guard outside during our walks. He would lunge at people trying to walk past us. I did have control of him, but that made me very nervous. He doesn't have any strikes left, and I didn't want animal control to knock on my door.
I walked into the vet's office (Shelter Island Veterinary Hospital) and saw a brochure from Lorenzo's Dog Training Team. and it had two Airedales on the front of it. My vet, Barbara, asked me who was going to train Boots. I replied and said that I am training him. She offered me a free consultation with Lorenzo's Dog Training Team and at first I declined. Just a few minutes later, the vet tech came in to take him for his blood work. All I could hear was a bunch of growling and barking from Boots. I swallowed my pride and when Barbara walked back into the room, I asked her for the free consultation.
A week later, Leanna and Emilio arrived at my home to meet Boots. I was amazed at how well behaved their dogs were and wanted the same for Boots. Their recommendation was to take Boots for several weeks for training. That was really hard for me, but it was the absolute best decision that I have ever done for my dog and for myself. We also went through several training sessions together and Boots was amazing. He still tried to test me, but I was given the tools that I needed to make the corrections. It is a lot of hard work and it has definitely paid off!! A few things that I remembered Leanna and Emilio stating is that you should never have to yell at your dog and just because your dog does things for treats doesn't mean that the dog respects you. Boots will now do whatever I ask of him and I don't need to give him a treat to do it. He lies down and is relaxed and is no longer on guard all of the time. I get compliments about how well behaved he is and I am such a proud momma!
Lorenzo's Dog Training Team is amazing and I am so thankful for their honesty and integrity! Leanna and Emilio are wonderful teachers. I will be able to use these dog training techniques forever and am so grateful for the education and experience!"
#8-1 Lomonosov Airedale Figurine
We are so happy for you, Boots! You're onto a great life, buddy!
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