Alfie’s Story

by Lewis & Helen Back

When Helen and I decided to get a dog we thought that we should get a Lab because of the age we are, in a few years we would probably have a child. So we wanted a family dog that would be nice and calm, easy to train, not eat the house, not hump everything in sight (sofa, cushions, us, friends, family, other dogs, ANYTHING AT ALL). OH HOW NÏAVE WE WERE.
We first met Alfie when we went to Jasmil Kennels to look for a dog and he was the first one we looked at. A member of staff bought Alf out to us and he was jumping up and down, tail wagging and couldn’t be happier to be out of his kennel and we instantly fell in love with him.
When he came home he was extremely hypo and was into everything, which we thought was fairly normal for a dog in a new home.
But as time went on he was continuously being naughty and was quite destructive when left alone even if it was for only five minutes which was getting hard to deal with. He would also try to “make love” to everything, he even had a cushion in his cage that was practically his girlfriend. It was also hard to take him out for a walk because when we first let him off his lead he was ok at first but then kept running away. We both lost confidence to let him off the lead and when he was on the lead, he would pull like a dog possessed. This meant he was not having enough exercise on walks and was even more full of beans at home and even more naughty.

This is when we decided he needed to be castrated which did help a lot with the humping but he was still a little out of control so we looked at dog training and I am so glad we did.
I phoned Kevin and we had our first one-to-one where he gave us some basic stuff to start on, we also took Alfie for a walk and Kev showed us the benefits of a gentle leader to stop with the pulling which was really good and made life easier straight away.
After a few weeks and a couple more one-to-one’s, we started going to classes.
Doing the heel work has improved his walking on lead second to none, also the sit and stays and down stays has helped him to calm down and enjoy being told what to do because he gets treats for doing it.
Getting him off lead with other dogs in class is not only good for me to watch but great fun for him. After a few months of doing classes and getting Alf off-lead with other dogs then calling him back successfully (which took some time) and getting further away from him when doing sit stays, his behaviour at home got a lot better because we started to let him off lead, so he was a lot more tired and calm.
Alfie by this time was really settling into our home and we had a cage which doubled up as his bed which we put him in when we were out but gradually, we left him out of his cage for longer periods of time until he could be trusted not to eat the house as we wanted him to have a bit of space when we were out. On the whole the improvement was more than visible which made our life a lot easier as Alf was becoming more of a pleasure than a burden.
We were still going to classes, now more because me and Alf both enjoyed it, especially when we started doing agility which he did really well in and I’m happy to say that he only got better and better with more practice in class and at home over a period of time.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a two-year story cut right down, it was not all a bed of roses and was a lot of hard work and stress in the early days. But now, Alfie is a different dog to what he was, very calm around the house, loves to sit with us in the evening and taking him out on a walk is a million times easier. He is still hypo and a bit of a nutter and not a serious contender for Crufts but that’s his character and what we love about him.
Alfie is now part of our family and we wouldn’t change him for the world, he is always happy to see us no matter what mood we’re in and we get a lot out of having him in our lives.

I really couldn’t have done it without Kevin’s guidance because the class’s taught me a lot on how to train a dog rather than just getting Alfie to do something.
I would like to thank Kevin for everything and would recommend his classes to anyone thinking of taking a dog training as its done Alfie the world of good and was good fun.
Good luck to everyone that are currently going to class and hope you all enjoy your time at class.
 

Kevin’s Comments: I would like to thank Lewis for his very kind words and for sharing Alfie's story with everyone. It has been an absolute pleasure working with Lewis and Alfie over the last couple of years and all that has been achieved has been as a direct result of the commitment Lewis and Helen have made to Alfie. As Lewis has said, it has been hard work at times with the occasional backward step but they have both stuck with it and the results in class and at home speak for themselves and should be an inspiration to anyone who feels that they can’t overcome any issues they may have with their dog….so long as you are prepared for the long haul! Alfie is a great dog, friendly and very willing to learn and I am so pleased for him that he has Helen and Lewis as his mum and dad.