Shasta's Story

Shasta is our four year old German Shepherd. She came to us when she was one year old. Before then she had done part of a guard dog training program, and was fully obedience trained. Unfortunately she lost her obedience quickly due to her very restless energy temperament. She is good with our two children, 7 and 9 years old, but showed aggressive behavior whenever she caught sight of another dog. She would bark furiously and bare her teeth. A number of trainers worked with her but no one was able to even get her near another dog without Shasta reacting. My mother, who lived next door and shared yard space with us, had been without a dog for a few years because of concern about Shasta's aggression. My holistic vet gave me Manuela's information and recommended giving her a call.

Manuela started to work with us and showed us a technique that would help Shasta to calm down and focus. She also took Shasta a few times to her home to work on socializing her with other dogs. During Shasta's 4th visit Manuela was able to take her for a walk with Manuela's own three dogs. From there on she made rapid improvements.

Once Shasta was able to interact peacefully with other visitor dogs at Manuela's, we decided perhaps it was time to find a new dog for my mother. We bought a Spaniel puppy, Casper, and asked Manuela to keep both dogs for a week for socialization. Shasta not only befriended Casper, she also learned to play. Another visitor dog at Manuela's home became fond of Shasta, and was determined to play with her. Manuela described how Shasta copied the play "bow" that the other dog showed her and made a few shy attempts to play. Pretty soon Shasta was running around with the other dog enjoying mutual play! Now Casper is living next door, and my mom is happy to have a dog of her own again. It's great that Shasta can be around other dogs - and we can finally take vacations!

Shasta's family
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