Testimonial 66 - Honey

We rescued Honey who was given up twice. When we first got her, we could not leash walk her without our arms and shoulders feeling like they were getting pulled out of our sockets. Honey lunged and tried to attack other dogs, and we could not keep her from barking aggressively while out on the deck or next to the windows in the house when dogs and people walked by.

Our veterinarian recommended we reach out to Mary Huntsberry. Mary sensed that Honey may have been traumatized and suffered from severe anxiety. She helped us talk to our vet about putting her on anxiety medication and she worked closely with us with private classes and recommendations for how to reduce Honey's anxiety. It was a difficult 6 months and we almost gave up on Honey a few times, but Mary's encouragement and support helped equip us with the necessary tools needed to continue to help Honey trust us and reduce her anxiety. We just completed a handling class to help train Honey to be more comfortable around other dogs.

Honey is a completely different dog! You would never know she was so bad in the beginning. We get compliments about how well behaved and obedient she is. We can now pass other dogs (with lots of rewards) and can take her to the pet store to get her nails clipped. Honey is going to be evaluated to be trained to be my service dog. A step we would have never been able to take without Mary and her expertise. Mary saw potential in Honey and helped us kindly and gently, with positive reinforcement, train Honey. We are extremely grateful. We recommend her any chance we get when we see dogs give their handlers a hard time :)

Sarah H. from Odenton, MD