Geordie
“Geordie, a very active beagle with a fire in his belly came to my Father at 2 ½ years old, as a gift from my sister. Dad only had Geordie for 1 ½ years before he passed away and Geordie became my sister’s dog by default. As my sister worked very long hours, out early, home very late, Geordie’s behaviour become incredibly challenging. Geordie began escaping and would become aggressive when being recaptured. After many escapes and as a result, fines, my sister was at the end of her tether but desperately wanted to do the right thing by Geordie.
I sought help from Mark Vette who, within minutes of meeting Geordie, was able to explain why he was behaving the way he was as well as providing possible solutions and contacts to aid in re-homing Geordie. He also had Geordie obeying commands, which we had been unable to do for a while.
At Mark’s suggestion I contacted the Auckland Beagle Club. With their help we eventually re-homed Geordie and he is incredibly happy in his new environment; an environment perfect for his breed, personality and individual needs.
Without Mark’s help Geordie would have been put down. Mark helped save Geordie’s life.”
“I can’t thank the Vette family enough for the amazing work that they have done with my ‘pack’. It started with me approaching Jaz about our anti social terrier who was acting aggressively with other dogs and getting a bit snappy with strangers. Jaz quickly understood that her problem was anxiety rather than dominance and showed me different ways of dealing with her that calmed her nervousness and rewarded her for good behavior. We were all absolutely amazed when within literally minutes, Jaz had her responding to the DOWN command, something she has never done in all of the five years that we have owned her!! There was still more work to be done though as we had just taken on a foster pup Wish and there was some problems with the dynamic of the ‘pack’. I hadn’t quite anticipated how difficult working with three dogs would be as they all had their different issues! Wish went up to stay at the Vette’s behavior clinic for a few days and the training that Koan and Mark did with her was fantastic. When I went up a few days later to collect her she had progressed in leaps and bounds and was responding brilliantly to basic commands. Koan spent a lot of time with me, sharing his extensive knowledge of dog behavior and teaching me how to work with my three dogs and how to anticipate and respond to any issues. He also supplied me with a detailed training manual and follow up ‘homework’ as well as the chance of on-going support if we struck any on-going problems. I would highly recommend the services of the Vette team. Not only are they all incredibly knowledgeable about dog behavior but their deep compassion and care for animals (and their owners!) shines through in every aspect of their business.”
“Molly, our crazy labrador, attended the Behaviour Clinic with Koan at Mark Vette’s. We are so impressed by the training, experience and knowledge of the staff and how much they did for Moly in the three weeks she was there. She has come home much calmer, responds to an array of commands and we now love taking her for a walk as she is so great on a lead. Very pleased a friend recommended we call!”
Helen & Wilfred
“Our relationship with Wilfred has come on in leaps and bounds since he came to the Behaviour Clinic. I honestly don’t think we’d still have Wilfred if we hadn’t made the choice to enroll him at the Clinic. The biggest changes are that Wilfred has learnt boundaries and we have leant, and become confident in, how to enforce those boundaries. The result is that we are getting much more enjoyment than stress from him and we are able to take Wilfred out with us to public places with much more confidence. We are all still learning and Wilfred is far from being a confident, sociable dog but we continue to move in the right direction.”
“Thank you, we are so happy with both Chillie and Latoya’s progress in the time they have been with you. An absolute turnaround for both dogs.
Chillie went to the vet today where she normally cowers, shakes and won’t let me put her down, but today, her tail was wagging so hard her bum was flying firm side to side! She was social with the dogs in the waiting room and the staff ...who all wanted me to leave her there!
Thank you all so very much!”
“Can’t thank you enough for the work you did with Tiki. When we got him he lacked social skills and was very aggressive to other dogs, addicted to his kong toy, not happy with the vet and we felt he couldn’t be trusted with our son. We had no idea what to do and thought we might need to put him down.
It was a big decision for our family but the best one we ever made for the happiness for our furry member of the family. Mark and his team not only trained Tiki to be great off lead, around other dogs, be happy in the water, less anxious, be able to function with out his kong and they sharpened up his commands but he also trained our family to be aware of his needs, read his stress and know how to follow through.
Never would I have taken him near another dog or let him off lead, now he is in heaven chasing his ball amongst dogs he has never met, swimming at the dog beach and having the time of his life. ”
“Thanks to Mark Vette’s Behavioural Clinic we got our old Daisy back!
I was so frustrated with keeping her on lead and avoiding other dogs, that our daily walks had become a dreaded chore. My sweet gentle Daisy had become actively aggressive towards other dogs (as a result of being attacked herself) and despite my best efforts of reassurance and treating, she was not improving.
After a 3 week stay at the clinic we were delighted with her progress. Her behaviour had been modified and she was happier and more relaxed as a result. I was worried she wouldn’t enjoy staying in the kennels and would miss home (since she sleeps in our bedroom and is generally spoilt) but far from it – she thrived. She absolutely adores Koan – literally jumping in delight at the sight of him.
Post clinic, Daisy was on the right track but my confidence with her needed work and the team were fantastic with instructions, reassurance and follow ups. Koan met me a the local park for follow up sessions and in addition we arranged weekly sessions at the clinic where Daisy got to run with a gang of dogs she knew – reinforcing her new good behaviour and where I got to watch and understand her body language.
It was such a huge relief to find an experienced team that could help. If you are still weighing up whether it’s for you – I totally recommend a consult session with them where you discuss your situation.
Now I enjoy running Daisy again each morning at the park ‘off-leash’.”
“Thank you to all of you for the hard work you put in with Roxie and for the great help with us knowing how to deal with such a strong willed, unconfident, stressed and determined, possessive little dog. She certainly was a challenge but now we have a little girl we can take anywhere, anytime and to meet any dog or person. We are so relaxed with Roxie now. We find ourselves just treating her as our other dogs have always been treated. Your wonderful intervention has ensured that we have been able to train Roxie without breaking her beautiful spirit.”