I’m Lisa Beach, the proud human companion of Mack. He literally showed up at my front door about 7 years ago. He had most likely been dumped - he had a collar (but no tags) and he wasn’t chipped. I did all the things one does to find previous owners but to no avail. I was overjoyed to “unofficially“ adopt him after a few weeks of looking. He’s a good buddy!
Mack sometimes has leash aggression issues (we’ve worked with a trainer) so if we avoid you when out walking, it’s because I can tell he’s feeling fearful.
He has done well off leash with other dogs - but he tends to mind his own business and isn’t very playful. I’d be happy to give a play date a try and see how he does.
We initially did the Reactive Rover classes at MDSPCA. He did great in that environment and the level of training there was incredible, but he was still exhibiting issues with leash aggression issues, particularly when close to traffic. I live on Kelly Avenue where people tend to speed, so walking him close to home is the biggest challenge!
I decided on private training and was referred to Tiffany Stearns/Follow My Lead - followmyleadbmore@gmail.com. She is amazingly observant and identified some of our issues had to do with me (surprise!) and that helped tremendously in continuing his training. It's still sometimes a challenge, but much better than it was.
I should also note that the two trainers I remember from MDSPCA I later found out also do private training - Amie also owns Oscar Winning Behavior and Stephen Lewis, who was (perhaps still is) a Mt. Washington resident.
Hi Mack! I love the photo with the Baltimore bench. And I love that he just showed up and adopted you!
Who was the trainer you used? I know John over in the behavior thread is working with someone on aggression for his new dog. Maybe you have tips for him?