Memphis is a fun loving, full of life Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix. You would never know, looking at him now, that he has had a pretty complicated past. By the time Memphis was 6 months old, he was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia. Memphis underwent two major surgeries just weeks apart followed by four months of strict recovery. By the time he was fully healed, he was just over a year old. He missed the critical stage in his life for developing social skills with other dogs. When we were finally able to walk him down our street, we noticed quite quickly that Memphis was very nervous of other dogs, becoming excessively vocal, and a true nightmare to the neighbourhood. We were extremely embarrassed passing other people and dogs as our sweet little boy would turn into a growling, barking dog. We had tried many things to get Memphis back on track with socialization, but it proved to be beyond our control.
That’s when we made the phone call to Ted at MangoDogs. We had contacted a few trainers in the area, but the moment we explained our situation to Ted was the moment we realized that this was the right person for the job. Ted understood our situation and explained he was very experienced in dealing with dog aggression of all types. The first time Ted met us, he brought his own dogs to help with the initial assessment so he could find out what was triggering the aggression. His dogs could not even step foot in our yard without Memphis freaking out uncontrollably. After a few lessons with Ted, we were making progress. We could see a huge difference in the way Memphis acted. His methods have become a daily ritual in our house. With guidance, and a lot of homework on our part, Memphis was ready to participate in semi-private lessons. Before we knew it, he had graduated to group class! Now he’s able to play on and off leash with other dogs! We couldn’t have made it to where we are now without Ted. It is an amazing feeling to have such control over your dog, and not worry about how he will react. Memphis has learned to focus on us and our commands instead of other distractions. We look forward to attending group class every Saturday. Memphis loves it so much, that we can’t even say “Ted” in our house without him going crazy with excitement. Thank you Ted, for everything you have done. You have given us our fun loving sweetheart back, and now he can continue living the happy and healthy life he deserves!